Book Review: The Five Fingers

Book Review: 'The Five Fingers' by Gayle Rivers and James Hudson

4 / 5 Stars

'The Five Fingers' first was published in hardback in 1978. This Bantam paperback edition (339 pp) was published in June 1979; the cover artist is uncredited.

According to a 1985 article in The Los Angeles Times that coincided with the release of a nonfiction book by Rivers, titled 'The Specialist', 'Gayle Rivers' was the pseudonym used by a 37 year-old British man named Raymond Brooks who, in his younger days, had applied for, but failed to join, the SAS. 

According to the Los Angeles Times article, experts in military affairs who reviewed 'The Specialist' were more than a little skeptical of Brooks's qualifications as a special forces veteran and International Man of Mystery. 

Under the 'Gayle Rivers' pseudonym, Brooks published a sequel to 'Fingers' called 'The Teheran Contract' (1982). Other thriller novels penned by Brooks include 'The Killing House' (1985)  and 'Hunter's Run' (1989).

So, if 'The Five Fingers' is fiction, how good of a story is it ? When I first read it back in 1979 I thought it was quite entertaining, and upon re-reading it, I have to hold to this assessment.

The book's premise is simple: in 1969 a team of seven special forces soldiers, code-named the Five FIngers, are given a mission to assassinate the North Vietnamese General Vo Nguyen Giap. The assassination will require the Five Fingers to march north from Thailand, through Laos, into North Vietnam and across the border into China. There, at the village of Ta shu tang, Giap is scheduled to be attend a conference between the two countries. Upon killing Giap, the Five Fingers are to re-trace their route, maintaining strict secrecy all along the way.

Other than access to to caches of supplies hidden along their infiltration route, the Five FIngers will be operating on their own, with no support from the American military. If they are caught, then the U.S. government will deny any knowledge of the FIngers, or their mission.

Needless to say, General Giap never was assassinated, so the mission of the Five Fingers obviously doesn't come to fruition. Without disclosing any spoilers, I'll say that the plot forces our heroes to fight for their survival against overwhelming odds. And the Commies may not be their only adversaries..........

The book's narrative is the first-person viewpoint of co-author Rivers, who, we are told, is a member of the New Zealand SAS. The narrative is simple and unadorned, which makes the book a smooth read. 

'The Five Fingers' also is very much a 'splatterpunk' novel. Author Rivers doesn't shy from providing detailed descriptions of various Vietnam War atrocities he purportedly witnessed, as well as the nuts and bolts of bodily mayhem inflicted on men during firefights.

The verdict ? As an over-the-top 'commando' novel, 'The Five FIngers' presents the Vietnam War in a much different light from other fictional accounts of the war. It's certainly worth seeking out; although copies in mint condition of both the hardbound edition and the Bantam paperback have exorbitant asking prices, it's possible to find 'very good' grade copies for reasonable prices from your usual online vendors.