The Five

McCammon frustrates the shit out of me. He writes great stuff like Boy's Life, but he writes stuff like Gone South and The Five.

I really really wanted to like The Five. It has everything going for it. But it just never came together. And, I'm sorry, I'm more than willing to suspend my disbelief for some crazy stuff, but murders followed by attempted murders, followed by attempted rapes...and the band plays on? I don't think so. I don't care how hungry that band is.

Then there's the song. The fabled song that the band needs to write and all the forces are fighting against. Yes, the lyrics end up sucking, but there's many a classic rock song with inane lyrics, so that's forgivable. But the entire point of the story is that this band needs show more to somehow survive long enough to complete that song.

And what does it all lead to? A big, fat, boring old nothing.

I love McCammon's voice. I love his observations as he takes us on the journey. But it's absolutely unforgivable to ask a reader to put aside several hours of his or her life and to not have a point at the end of it. And don't tell me the point was family and friendship and loyalty, because that doesn't cut it. show less

After a decade of wondering if we would ever see a new novel from Robert McCammon, we were surprised with a very different form of storytelling that in the Matthew Corbett trilogy. Published over 8 years, those stories took us back to the 1700s, treating us first to a witch-trial legal thriller, and then to a pair of serial killer thrillers with some rather interesting psychological twists. Now, 20 years after the publication of Gone South, he has finally returned to the realm of contemporary horror with The Five.

The Five is as much a book that’s about something (the quest for music) as it is one that tells a story (the impending destruction of The Five). It’s a story about making music, about writing songs, and about the power of show more music. This is a book that’s steeped in musical history, and often written in musical language. Music is what brought Nomad, Ariel, and the others together; it’s what sets Jeremy on their trail; it’s what carries them through their trials; and it's what, ultimately, provides their means of redemption.

A fantastically diverse group of musicians, The Fiveare three men and two women (plus a manager) who we quickly come to care about. McCammon develops all of his characters carefully, balancing their rough edges with just enough sentiment to ensure we're fully invested in their fate, without robbing them of their grittiness. Even the deluded villain of the piece, Jeremy Pett, is a character who elicits our sympathy right from the start, even as he keeps us guessing as to his true motives. Depending on how much supernatural influence you choose to read into that motivation, his tragic fall may be just as important as the band's struggle to survive.

Although there are aspects of the novel that remind me of many of his earlier works, it’s his classic Boy’s Lifethat most often came to mind while reading The Five. Both are rather subtle tales, relying upon anxious tension and ongoing mystery to feed the horror, as opposed to outright gore and terror. The story touches gently upon the supernatural, exploring the same themes of good versus evil that McCammon has so deftly dealt with before, but leaves the interpretation to the reader. Depending upon how one chooses to read it, this can either be a novel about the all-too-human pain within our hearts, or the inhuman fury and deception that haunts the fringes of imagination . . . or both.

This uncertainty lends itself to a very interesting read, leading the reader to question almost every development. Without narrator who makes no effort to either confirm or deny to existence of the supernatural, and with such a wide variance of belief among the members of the band, we’re left to take sides based upon our own beliefs. It’s a brave approach to the story (especially since we're also being asked to weigh the political pros and cons of the war in Iraq), and one that demands the reader do more than just follow along, but it does make for an awkward and slightly unfinished ending.

If your taste in McCammon’s work runs more to Boys Life than Swan Song, then I suspect this is the book you’ve been waiting for. Even if it doesn’t, this is a well-told tale that is definitely worth experiencing. Personally, I quite enjoyed the period detour of the Matthew Corbett trilogy (and would not be at all disappointed to see a return to that world), but it’s still nice to be taken to masterfully back into the present. show less

Nominally about a band of touring rock musicians hoping for a break, what The Five is really about is music, how it speaks to us and touches our lives, about how sometimes, a song lyric seems to have been written with only us in mind, and about how sometimes, it is.

The Five are an Austin-based rock and roll band on the “knife and gun” circuit that takes them from city to city, playing boxlike structures that long ago began to all look the same, to drunk and unruly crowds. All five have been in the business a while, playing in dozens and dozens of bands before finding each other.

But after years of looking for their big break, of driving their van (affectionately known as the Scumbucket) throughout the southwest, of setting up show more MySpace pages and selling T-shirts and CDs at the back of the room, a couple of band members are tired and want out. This doesn’t sit well with John Charles, AKA Nomad, the volatile and often angry, tacit leader of the group.

Still, he can’t really blame them, wondering himself just how long he can chase the dream before either giving up or checking out. But he has hope that their new song and video, an anti-war anthem called "When The Storm Breaks," might be the thing to put them on the map. On a swing through Texas, the band stops and does an interview with a sleazy car salesman who also hosts a music-themed late night cable show.

Unfortunately, when the show runs and plays their video, showing American soldiers fighting in Iraq, it is seen by a drifting-toward-psychosis Iraqi war veteran who becomes more than offended by what he thinks he sees in the interview and finds himself with a new calling: Killing The Five. All of them.

I'll confess while reading it and learning that an Iraqi war veteran was going to be "the bad guy" that my toes curled a little, wondering if, a) that didn't border on cliche, and b) if even I (a pretty anti-war guy) might be offended by it. I should have known better. McCammon does his usual excellent job of humanizing even someone engaging in horrific acts, and somehow, giving him his own quiet dignity.

But I think the chase that comes afterward, the supernatural girl in the field, the story of Stone Church, the insertion of the FBI, all of that is simply a mechanism to delve into what the book is really about: music, the love of music, the sometimes heroic things people go through to write and perform music, and the transcendence -- the magic -- that can sometimes occur during live performances when musicians and audience become one.

I’ve heard too that this book has been on the shelf for a while, that McCammon had a difficult time finding a publisher for it. After reading it, I can’t say I’m surprised, for The Five is truly a "novel" in that it’s novel; something new and different and hard to categorize.

In fact, there’s a scene in the book where The Five face the corporate suits in the music industry, who only understand dollars and cents and not the music. In my imagination, McCammon himself faced some of those same people when trying to get this published, people who didn’t understand what they had, who didn’t smell the sweat coming off every page, people who didn’t hear the music contained in this book.

For what The Five really is, is a rollicking rock opera, and a remarkable achievement. show less

I just finished reading The Five over the weekend. I'm not ashamed to say that there were tears in my eyes as I did so.
I really loved this book. Anyone who has ever felt like a song was actually written for them or is speaking to them personally would like this book.
I am not going to get into the plot line as everyone else already has. Suffice it to say that by the 3rd or 4th chapter I was completely engaged with these well developed characters and I truly cared about what would happen to them. To me, that is the sign of a great writer. The characters also grew and developed throughout the entire book-a few of them were completely different people by the end. No cardboard characters here.
As with "Swan Song" these characters will be with show more me for a long time and "they will be heard". show less

I've been looking forward to reading The Five by Robert McCammon and I wasn't disappointed. The Five is a thriller that celebrates McCammon's love of music and includes in the mix an element of the supernatural along with the suspense. The Five are a struggling rock band following a brutal schedule playing at small venues during what will likely be their last tour together when an unstable veteran decides that their video is an insult to veterans and the members of the band must be killed. The murders will also serve as an example to prove his worth to anyone who wants to hire an assassin.

Before they knew they were being stalked and the first member of the band is shot, the members of The Five decide to write one last song together show more before they split up. Once the first attack happens, the importance of everything this last song symbolizes takes on a life of its own.

The Five is McCammon's ode to musicians everywhere. It is a study of human nature, the dark and light side of faith, and destiny. While the band members continue to follow their passion for making music and performing, they are also forced to display endurance, courage, and camaraderie as they continue on their tour schedule while working with the authorities to catch the killer.

The many readers who wanted another supernatural novel from McCammon (Swan Song, Boy's Life) may be somewhat satisfied with The Five even though it is not quit like his previous novels. Everyone should be able to readily concede that McCammon is a great writer and he deftly handles the development of both the plot and characters with ease. It should also be noted that at the end of the novel McCammon includes a long list of bands and musicians to whom he is dedicating The Five.

Very Highly Recommended; http://shetreadssoftly.blogspot.com/ show less

"The Five" is a book that will elicit a number of different emotions from its readers. I found myself frustrated, depressed, inspired, & enthralled at various times as I worked through the novel. As I read, I wasn't sure what to expect because this book was so unlike most of the others of his that I have enjoyed over the past 20 years. As his legion of fans know, McCammon has written a number of outstanding horror/thriller novels, including "Swan Song", "They Thirst", "Boy's Life", "Stinger", and "Gone South", just to name a few. A common thread of each of those books is that the reader generally knew right up front what he or she was getting into. Even though not necessarily a bad thing, I can't say that about "The Five".

"The Five" is show more a psychological thriller that follows a rock and roll band of five musicians as they travel the country learning more about themselves than they ever expected. This relatively unknown group of musicians becomes front page news as they are determined to finish their last concert trip together even while stalked by a crazed Gulf War veteran who interprets their music to be unpatriotic. Stubbornness does not begin to describe the attitude of the band as they dedicate themselves to finishing the tour on their terms, not that of their stalker's. McCammon does an outstanding job moving the plot along while adding enough twists to keep most readers actively engaged. There is a supernatural element to the book that I found hard to connect to and didn't feel needed to play such a major role in the novel, but others might disagree.

As with most McCammon books, the characterization is outstanding! He has a wonderful way of creating memorable characters by fully fleshing them out for the reader. This book has a variety of those types, ranging from quirky to straight-laced. My favorites, oddly enough, were primarily the non-band members. The other thing that jumps out with this book is that McCammon has certainly done his research of the music scene. His descriptions of musical instruments, other bands, song titles and lyrics are outstanding. It's clear that he has a great love for music.

While not my favorite McCammon work, "The Five" does have merit because it provides the reader with a lasting message and fairly inspiring story about hope, perseverance, and dedication to one's craft without becoming gloppy. Most of his fans will enjoy and appreciate the novel because of those qualities. To this reader, however, what I will take away from the novel is that it demonstrated McCammon's depth as a writer and how he has grown over the years. It also made me glad that he's started to become a more prolific again. show less

Decent but ultimately drawn out slightly supernatural character driven thriller that in the end doesn't hold up the contrived plot and the weighty length of the novel. This is obviously a labor of love for McCammon but he just doesn't quite get his enthusiasm across. Character is everything here so making characters we care about is essential and McCammon is hit or miss in The Five. The only really well drawn character is Nomad. The rest range from just alright to cardboard. It's also just too easy to see who is going to take the next bullet because of this.

McCammon also tries to cram too many types into the band in his quest to play homage to all the eclectic music he likes so there's a hippie, a rocker, prog. rock type, etc. He wants show more to be so inclusive he creates a band that could never be real, would never have cohered. You just don't quite believe it when they say they've got each other's backs.

The mystical healing power of music is overwrought and the author keeps pummelling the reader with it long after its effectiveness is lost and the novel should have ended.

I didn't hate this; it did drag at times and I couldn't believe it when the end wasn't the end.

A cool idea, a story about a band hounded by a maniac, just doesn't quite make it when you try to stuff all your favorite things in it as well. show less