What do you think?
Rate this book
Thomas Knight #1
On the Fifth Day
The death of a priest is met with suspicion by his brother Thomas, who knows that his sibling died while researching Christian symbols. But Thomas and curator Deborah Miller aren't alone in retracing the priest's final steps. They're followed by fanatics desperate to hide the secret stumbled upon by Thomas's brother-and willing to kill to keep it buried forever.
405 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published July 3, 2007
20 people are currently reading
1478 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews
August 11, 2010
Conservative religious readers will find much to offend them in On the Fifth Day, but readers who don't mind opposing viewpoints will find much to like here. This isn't a perfect novel, nor even a very serious one, but it does spin out an interesting international adventure with a protagonist who is less than leading man material.
Thomas Knight learns that he's lost his teaching job, and his brother, Father Ed, on the same dismal day. While collecting his brother's belongings, Thomas tries to determine the cause of death, but no one's talking. He pokes around a bit, only to draw the attention of Homeland Security. Now Thomas is mad, and sets off to solve this mystery.
Thomas discovers that Father Ed was researching ancient Christian iconography, putting symbols together in ways that threatened the powers that be. As Thomas delves deeper, various bureaucracies throw stumbling blocks and professional assassins (with preposterous names) in his path. At this point in the story, it becomes necessary to "go with the flow", because as with most books in the genre, the incredible escapes and coincidences pile higher and deeper. But it's a fun adventure written with intelligence, and when the action shifts to Pompey and the Philippines, it becomes truly engrossing.
Thomas Knight learns that he's lost his teaching job, and his brother, Father Ed, on the same dismal day. While collecting his brother's belongings, Thomas tries to determine the cause of death, but no one's talking. He pokes around a bit, only to draw the attention of Homeland Security. Now Thomas is mad, and sets off to solve this mystery.
Thomas discovers that Father Ed was researching ancient Christian iconography, putting symbols together in ways that threatened the powers that be. As Thomas delves deeper, various bureaucracies throw stumbling blocks and professional assassins (with preposterous names) in his path. At this point in the story, it becomes necessary to "go with the flow", because as with most books in the genre, the incredible escapes and coincidences pile higher and deeper. But it's a fun adventure written with intelligence, and when the action shifts to Pompey and the Philippines, it becomes truly engrossing.
February 18, 2010
The book is readable enough, but the story is ultimately pretty damn pointless. I just could not bring myself to care about what the characters cared about and found myself scratching my head as to why the pivotal plot point was of any interest to the characters in the first place. Seriously, who cares!
April 4, 2011
A priest dies in suspicious circumstances. His brother follows the clues to his death and is threatened all along the path from Chicago to Naples to Pompeii and Herculaneum and eventually Japan as evil forces try to prevent him from discovering the truth. Quite interesting.
August 5, 2008
Mediocre. The story is pretty good, but the book isn't very well written, so that bogs it down.
February 25, 2012
An interesting and exciting book never heard of this author a most entertaining read, i empathised with all the characters.
June 9, 2019
Thomas Knight has been estranged from his brother, Ed, and pretty much, life, ever since the separation of his marriage. And because he can be often obnoxious, he has just lost his job as a high school teacher when he is told that his brother has died under suspicious circumstances.
Things get more strange when he travels to the church when his brother worked and is attacked by a stranger he thought was a church attorney. Then he comes under terrorist suspicion himself.
I really wanted to like this book — and the mystery itself was a pretty good one, despite being a little far-fetched. But I just couldn't develop any kind of feeling for the main characters. I disliked them all.
And I found myself reading without any real interest and passion. It was OK and it hung together but I just can't say that I was wowed by any part of this book - the pacing, the writing, the characters or really the conclusion -- of this book.
Things get more strange when he travels to the church when his brother worked and is attacked by a stranger he thought was a church attorney. Then he comes under terrorist suspicion himself.
I really wanted to like this book — and the mystery itself was a pretty good one, despite being a little far-fetched. But I just couldn't develop any kind of feeling for the main characters. I disliked them all.
And I found myself reading without any real interest and passion. It was OK and it hung together but I just can't say that I was wowed by any part of this book - the pacing, the writing, the characters or really the conclusion -- of this book.
September 11, 2019
What to say about "On the Fifth Day"? I liked the fast paced action and trying to figure out what was going to happen next. It kept building and building...which is maybe why at the end of it all I felt a bit let down. Like, this group is just some random radical Christians who want to suppress the discovery of an evolutionary fish? It seemed a bit flimsy to me, although I suppose wars and radical ideas are fought over much less substantive things. It just felt like it should have had something more.
February 12, 2009
I think I enjoyed Hartley's other novel, Mask of Atreus, a lot more. Hartley's writing style is palatable, but the story was a little weak and I had to work a bit to hard to suspend my disbelief. I'm totally a fan of religous studies and biology, but this just didn't jive for me.
June 5, 2012
Good read. At times a little hard to follow, but for those who like conspiracy you will enjoy!
October 21, 2021
Trebuia să se întoarcă în sat în curând. Înota de aproape o oră şi începea să obosească, deşi în cea mai mare parte a timpului făcuse pluta. Luna urcase pe cer şi, chiar dacă se obişnuise cu întunericul cerului şi al apei, nu se putea abţine să nu se scuture, cuprins din când în când de un fior, pentru care nu putea da vina pe apa călduţă. Marea era extraordinar de calmă, cu valurile rostogolindu-se atât de lin spre ţărm, încât abia le auzea peste sunetul propriei sale respiraţii şi peste cel al apei agitate de braţele lui. Trebuia să se întoarcă în sat, iar a doua zi să plece acasă. Nu găsise ceea ce căutase în aceste insule tropicale.
Doar că asta nu era pe de-a întregul adevărat. Nu găsise ce căutase, dar găsise, poate, altceva în liniştea mării, în aceste ultime trei nopţi. Trebuia să abandoneze căutările – lupta lui, la care se gândea mereu cu un amestec puternic de emoţii – dar timpul petrecut pe insulă putea uşura această renunţare şi putea bloca impulsul năvalnic de a se întoarce aici sau de a pleca în altă parte. Dar unde se putea duce în altă parte? Dacă nu era aici, poate că nu exista nicăieri altundeva.
Nu îşi îngăduise să se gândească la asta înainte, aşa că îşi zâmbi sieşi, se rostogoli pe spate şi se uită la stele, strânse cu milioanele în ciorchini cu forme pe care nu le văzuse niciodată în State. Îşi zise că, dacă ar fi avut timp la dispoziţie, ar fi putut chiar să le numere…
Se lăsă în voia curentului, simţind cum apa se răceşte uşor sub el. Ajunse la nivelul plajei şi se ridică pe mica platformă de piatră care pătrundea în mare precum coada unei şopârle vulcanice de mari dimensiuni. Îşi aminti de speranţa – nu, de convingerea – pe care o nutrise atunci când zărise prima dată acea limbă de piatră: cu siguranţă ceea ce căuta se afla acolo.
Dar nu găsise nimic, iar puţinele lui resurse se epuizaseră de mult.
În mod normal, golful ar fi trebuit să fie plin de felinarele bărcilor de pescuit, dar în noaptea asta el era singur, la fel cum fusese şi în nopţile precedente. Localnicii îl transformaseră, prin amestecul lor de ştiinţă şi superstiţie, în regele mării. Putea înota acolo încă o săptămână şi ar fi fost lăsat singur-singurel. Dar ce sens ar fi avut?…
Un al şaselea simţ îi spuse că sub el, în apă, ceva se mişca. O secundă crezu că îl atinsese acel ceva, dar se înşelase. Ceva alunecase pe lângă el. Ceva mare.
Într-o fracţiune de secundă deveni conştient de întunericul din jur şi îşi aminti de toate acele poveşti, pe jumătate traduse, despre rechini şi creaturi ciudate, pe care le auzise de la săteni. Se îndreptă şi bătu apa viguros cu picioarele, gândindu-se cum să ajungă cât mai repede la mal. Porni spre pietre.
După ce înotă câţiva metri, panica i se mai domoli. Nu vedea nimic în apa din jurul lui, niciun semn de ceva care se mişca şi niciun indiciu că ar fi existat ceva. Inspiră adânc, se linişti şi râse scurt spre întunericul de deasupra lui. Îi juca feste imaginaţia, cea despre care superiorii lui spuneau mereu că este mult prea bogată. Făcu două mişcări uşoare de apropiere de ţărm, întrebându-se cât de departe era de el. Se ridică în picioare, îşi ţinu respiraţia, închise ochii şi se împinse în jos cât putu de mult, cu braţele deasupra capului.
Doar că asta nu era pe de-a întregul adevărat. Nu găsise ce căutase, dar găsise, poate, altceva în liniştea mării, în aceste ultime trei nopţi. Trebuia să abandoneze căutările – lupta lui, la care se gândea mereu cu un amestec puternic de emoţii – dar timpul petrecut pe insulă putea uşura această renunţare şi putea bloca impulsul năvalnic de a se întoarce aici sau de a pleca în altă parte. Dar unde se putea duce în altă parte? Dacă nu era aici, poate că nu exista nicăieri altundeva.
Nu îşi îngăduise să se gândească la asta înainte, aşa că îşi zâmbi sieşi, se rostogoli pe spate şi se uită la stele, strânse cu milioanele în ciorchini cu forme pe care nu le văzuse niciodată în State. Îşi zise că, dacă ar fi avut timp la dispoziţie, ar fi putut chiar să le numere…
Se lăsă în voia curentului, simţind cum apa se răceşte uşor sub el. Ajunse la nivelul plajei şi se ridică pe mica platformă de piatră care pătrundea în mare precum coada unei şopârle vulcanice de mari dimensiuni. Îşi aminti de speranţa – nu, de convingerea – pe care o nutrise atunci când zărise prima dată acea limbă de piatră: cu siguranţă ceea ce căuta se afla acolo.
Dar nu găsise nimic, iar puţinele lui resurse se epuizaseră de mult.
În mod normal, golful ar fi trebuit să fie plin de felinarele bărcilor de pescuit, dar în noaptea asta el era singur, la fel cum fusese şi în nopţile precedente. Localnicii îl transformaseră, prin amestecul lor de ştiinţă şi superstiţie, în regele mării. Putea înota acolo încă o săptămână şi ar fi fost lăsat singur-singurel. Dar ce sens ar fi avut?…
Un al şaselea simţ îi spuse că sub el, în apă, ceva se mişca. O secundă crezu că îl atinsese acel ceva, dar se înşelase. Ceva alunecase pe lângă el. Ceva mare.
Într-o fracţiune de secundă deveni conştient de întunericul din jur şi îşi aminti de toate acele poveşti, pe jumătate traduse, despre rechini şi creaturi ciudate, pe care le auzise de la săteni. Se îndreptă şi bătu apa viguros cu picioarele, gândindu-se cum să ajungă cât mai repede la mal. Porni spre pietre.
După ce înotă câţiva metri, panica i se mai domoli. Nu vedea nimic în apa din jurul lui, niciun semn de ceva care se mişca şi niciun indiciu că ar fi existat ceva. Inspiră adânc, se linişti şi râse scurt spre întunericul de deasupra lui. Îi juca feste imaginaţia, cea despre care superiorii lui spuneau mereu că este mult prea bogată. Făcu două mişcări uşoare de apropiere de ţărm, întrebându-se cât de departe era de el. Se ridică în picioare, îşi ţinu respiraţia, închise ochii şi se împinse în jos cât putu de mult, cu braţele deasupra capului.
February 12, 2024
This book started off slow and didn’t really pick up my interest until 3/4 in. The use of historical places and the story lines use of those places was what caught my interest. The murder and the mystery aspect was mild not real intense. Slight romance story line was a bit weak. Overall this was an average read. The end was a nice ending.
December 11, 2017
Blind religion vs Faith
Very plausible plot of religious blindness vs religious purity of faith. The evolutionary plot aspect is just the juxtapose that leads the reader through this fight between pure God given faith and the corrupted faith of men. True page turner
Very plausible plot of religious blindness vs religious purity of faith. The evolutionary plot aspect is just the juxtapose that leads the reader through this fight between pure God given faith and the corrupted faith of men. True page turner
October 23, 2020
The book lost me in the last act, where one character went on a rant on how the Catholic Church would send assassins to disprove the theory of evolution. This is complete utter asinine, even in this genre.
April 14, 2023
Not that impressed really. This book was way too long, lots of the subplots seemed unnecessary and the overall scheme wasn't that convincing for me. It was good to pass the time, I guess but not much more.
April 28, 2019
A book in English that I found in a book box so I picked it up. Not a very captivating read!!! I didn't find it particularly well written.
July 8, 2019
1,000 times better than Dan Brown but less so than Steve Berry. Very good, and interesting nonetheless.
February 3, 2024
Excelente!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 12, 2025
Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code vibes. Religion and evolution battle it out.
December 5, 2025
Favorite book!
January 26, 2014
I would never have picked this book up in a bookstore or library, but since a friend passed it onto me and marked it as a book she wanted back, it merited a try because she’s turned me on to many good authors.
This is another book guilty of violating the ‘Truth In Cover Blurbs’ law. The way the one here reads, Deborah Miller will play a significant role in Thomas Knight’s investigation into his brother’s death. Yet she doesn’t come on-stage until well into the book and makes only sporadic appearances after that point – usually as a voice on the other end of a phone. Thomas’s ex-wife and other characters play bigger roles in resolving Ed Knight’s death.
Early in the book, I thought it might have a supernatural element – something I’m not a fan of – so it was hard to get into it. But as the tale progressed, Hartley turned the supernatural into something grounded in the real world and I got more caught up in the story. It wasn’t a ‘can’t put it down’ book, but engaging enough that I kept reading. It starts slow and, except for a few intense scenes, builds momentum slowly until it all explodes in a rush in the final chapters.
Those final chapters include so many characters doing so many things to other characters at the same time that it was a bit hard to keep them and what they were doing to each other straight.
One odd little quirk I noticed was Hartley’s early chapters often had several scenes yet the end of the book had many short (some as short as a page or less) chapters.
I won’t add Hartley to my must-read list but I won’t reject any of his books that come my way.
This is another book guilty of violating the ‘Truth In Cover Blurbs’ law. The way the one here reads, Deborah Miller will play a significant role in Thomas Knight’s investigation into his brother’s death. Yet she doesn’t come on-stage until well into the book and makes only sporadic appearances after that point – usually as a voice on the other end of a phone. Thomas’s ex-wife and other characters play bigger roles in resolving Ed Knight’s death.
Early in the book, I thought it might have a supernatural element – something I’m not a fan of – so it was hard to get into it. But as the tale progressed, Hartley turned the supernatural into something grounded in the real world and I got more caught up in the story. It wasn’t a ‘can’t put it down’ book, but engaging enough that I kept reading. It starts slow and, except for a few intense scenes, builds momentum slowly until it all explodes in a rush in the final chapters.
Those final chapters include so many characters doing so many things to other characters at the same time that it was a bit hard to keep them and what they were doing to each other straight.
One odd little quirk I noticed was Hartley’s early chapters often had several scenes yet the end of the book had many short (some as short as a page or less) chapters.
I won’t add Hartley to my must-read list but I won’t reject any of his books that come my way.
September 10, 2013
This started out as 3-4 stars, but sagged midway to 2 stars, and then recovered steam with a decent comprehensible ending. So I'll split the difference.
I picked this up cheap at a book sale for an escapist read...it's fairly dense archaeological stuff for that, but enlivened with a really creepy Dan Brown-ish character, and full of totally improbable escapes. But it's fun to tour Pompeii, Herculaneaum, Paestum, not to mention Japan and a remote Philippine island, and it seems to be quite well researched.
I kept expecting it to turn into an anti-Catholic rant but the author avoids this and other extremes quite nicely, putting the stereotypical atheist stuff and the canned anti-evolution rants in the mouths of his characters. The main character arrives at a belief at the end that parallels my own.
On the whole, a really well-educated example of this genre - a bit laughable at times but it kept me turning the pages. What more can one ask? Perhaps a little less ichthyology...
I picked this up cheap at a book sale for an escapist read...it's fairly dense archaeological stuff for that, but enlivened with a really creepy Dan Brown-ish character, and full of totally improbable escapes. But it's fun to tour Pompeii, Herculaneaum, Paestum, not to mention Japan and a remote Philippine island, and it seems to be quite well researched.
I kept expecting it to turn into an anti-Catholic rant but the author avoids this and other extremes quite nicely, putting the stereotypical atheist stuff and the canned anti-evolution rants in the mouths of his characters. The main character arrives at a belief at the end that parallels my own.
On the whole, a really well-educated example of this genre - a bit laughable at times but it kept me turning the pages. What more can one ask? Perhaps a little less ichthyology...
October 30, 2010
I met Hartley back in September at Dragon*Con while waiting in line for a panel he was appearing on with Laurell K. Hamilton, Jim Butcher, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Kevin Anderson, and Jonathan Maberry. I'd never heard of him before, but he came out to check out the line and see how long it was. He was very funny and self-effacing and talked to us in line for a while. Before long, the people in line were asking to buy his books, so he ran off to get some and autographed them all for us. I got Act of Will then, which was his new fantasy novel. Later on, I picked up this one and The Mask of Arteus. I enjoyed this one. It was a like The DaVinci Code, without so much of the literary puzzle, but heavy on the religious conspiracy. I liked it. I didn't love it, but I did like it.
June 13, 2008
Last night, I finished AJ Hartley’s second novel, “On the Fifth Day”, which I enjoyed, but I must admit, not as much as his first one (“The Mask of Atreus” was one of my favorite reads of last year). The storyline, while interesting, took some dead-end turns that I wasn’t sure why they were included at all, and his “take” on the “intelligent design crazies” left a bad taste in my mouth. (Granted, this may be only his character’s POV, but it still made me uneasy.) Having said all that, tho, I still enjoyed the story and found it highly entertaining. I’ll definitely look forward to reading his next novel.
March 17, 2014
An interesting adventure about the search for an ancient fish that was the missing link between fish and creatures that could live on land. The main character is a recently fired teacher who is searching for the cause of his brother's death. He begins recreating his brother's last days which send him to Italy and the Philippines. His brother, a priest, had been researching Christian symbols and may have found more than he bargained. Other characters, Death, War, Pestilence and a American Senator all play a role in the story.
January 2, 2009
I have been reading this book for over a year--only because I totally hate to set a book aside without letting it come to it's conclusion. But this one is just not keeping me interested enough to really just read it through and be done! When I'm bored enough I will probably try to finish it.
(1/2/09)I gave up! Just couldn't plow through it, nothing about it held my interest. The writing never compelled me to know the characters.
(1/2/09)I gave up! Just couldn't plow through it, nothing about it held my interest. The writing never compelled me to know the characters.
May 4, 2013
This is an interesting book with many twists and turns. Right when I thought it was over, I saw that I had another 2 hours to go. I was interested to see where the author would take us. There were many good surprises, I enjoyed it greatly. This was not your typical historical/religious thriller. There are enough ties to make it Davinci Codesque, but it quickly takes its' own place on the literary stage.
September 7, 2012
Really enjoyed this book, a religious and historical thriller. The vivid descriptions took me all over the world and through Pompeii and Herculanium (places i really want to vist). I liked the characters but with Thomas being a teacher i found the escapes etc a bit far fetched. loved the way that Deborah from "the mask of atreus" made an appearance, i didnt realise it was the same person until nearly the end lol. Overall 4/5...so not bad at all
July 27, 2016
Started out kind of slow, picked up with some decent action sequences, got slow again. I almost put this book down several times because the story would start to get decent again, and then it seemed like the author was trying to push his pro evolution ideas on the reader and that got pretty annoying. I have read The Mask of Atreus from this author several years ago and it was a much better story. I am glad to be finished with this story and hopefully my next read will be a lot more enjoyable.
August 29, 2008
If you love or hate the Catholic church, you will enjoy reading this book. Great tale that weaves early Christian history, world travel and archeology into a page-turning thriller. I really enjoy the fast pace of this novel, while still maintaining intricacy of a great mystery. Don't read this book if you are afraid of the dark!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews