In On the Fifth Day by A.J. Hartley, former English teacher Thomas Knight searches for answers after discovering his brother, priest Edward Knight, died under mysterious circumstances. As he follows leads to Italy, Japan and the Philippines, he is pursued by several people intent on stopping his search, or worse, ending his life.

Although the depiction of the characters is weak (which I expect in most suspense novels, so I don't find it to be a problem), the book was well-written and the plotting good after a somewhat slow start. However, I actually laughed out loud when the quest object was revealed. I was enjoying the book until that point, but once the quest object was revealed, I found that everything that had come before (setting up Thomas Knight as a terrorist, the involvement of a Senator, a shady paramilitary group following Knight to kill him, etc.), was completely out of proportion to what I found to be a ridiculous object to kill over. I finished it, but only because Hartley doesn't reveal what everyone is actually searching for until close to the end of the book. ( )