The Five: When five employers from a small Midwest county are assaulted, each losing one of their physical senses, a police dete

The Five is a mystery/thriller highly recommended for genre fans who enjoy either approach: each facet is well developed and contributes to a compelling tale as readers learn of Bernie Tennison, who is in love with new technology and the intersection between practicality and art. It's been a decade since he and his wife began a lucrative small electronics business, but now, thanks to a slowdown, both his business and his decades-old marriage are in trouble. Trouble is about to become even more personal, however, when he is attacked and blinded. Who could have done such a thing - especially to a man whom everyone likes? Everyone? An ensuing investigation proves otherwise, and as a string of disparate connections pose too many possibilities, it'll take some savvy detective work to uncover the truth. The Five is especially strong in its slow probe of double lives lead, multiple purposes uncovered, and the evolution of an elite group that embraces misfits, misunderstood, and brilliant minds unused: "Ted had eventually withdrawn from much of the human race and set out to find his true calling. He'd found his only high-level ability had been in numbers and equations. His memory for anything mathematical had become quite phenomenal. Had he an imagination and a touch of creativity, he could have been something incredible. Instead, he'd become a bean counter-a very accurate one, and reasonably successful as far as accountants go, but a bean counter just the same. It was The Five that had brought Ted the dignity that he'd felt he deserved." The Five is a force to be reckoned with - and as its members explore possibilities, psychic forces, greater truths, and principles that link justice with violence and deadly policies, Ted and others find themselves inexorably bound into the growth history of The Five and its ability to manipulate and direct peoples' lives. Add a jolt of romance to a dangerous circle of acquaintances and you have a thriller replete with many victims, historic associations, and a powerful group of individuals who wind up honing new purposes from their encounters. It's hard to review The Five without spoilers. Suffice it to say that its action is swift, the characterization well-drawn, and the surprises frequent and revealing: all the hallmarks of a superior mystery and thriller. Midwest Book Review