Philip Kerr is a gifted writer, as anyone who's read his brilliant Berlin Noir trilogy (March Violets, The Pale Criminal, A German Requiem) can attest to. Unfortunately, he completely abandons the tight plotting and deep characterizations he capable of in this derivative South Florida hiest-at-sea thriller. Kerr ventures into territory already well covered by crime luminaries such as Elmore Leonard, James Hall, Carl Hiassen, and Lawrence Shames, and fails to add anything new. Protagonist Dave Delano is a stock character (as is everyone in the book), the guy who went to jail for five years and came out well-read and ready with a big score to take down. He enlists the aid of a cast of comic-book Florida mobsters in his scheme to steal $20-$60 million in cash being sent by sea to Russia to be laundered. Also on the boat is FBI agent Kate Kury and two other law enforcement types, who are tracking a shipment of cocaine. Kerr sets this up so that it's clear that Dave is intent on simply stealing from other thieves, and doesn't wish to hurt anyone, which makes it OK when he and Kate predictably hook up. From then on, the main tension is not whether the score will go off OK (that's pretty obvious), but whether workaholic Kate will turn her back on the FBI and join Dave in carpe-dieming as partners. Hmmm, thief and FBI agent fall for each other.... where have I read that before... oh, maybe in Elmore Leonard's Out of Sight, which pulls it off with a much more delicate touch. It's basic airplane/beach reading garbage, with not an ounce of originality, and is even more disappointing coming from a talented writer like Kerr.

Reading this book was as close as I believe I've ever come to actually reading a blockbuster movie. Not an artsy film, but an actual big budget big stars big production kind of a movie. Which is not exactly what I look for in a book. It was an easy and fast read, with smart cracking characters possessing the depth of a soapdish. The story line was simple enough to follow, with predictable twists and double crosses. The cover says that the book was optioned for a movie, so I'd reccomend waiting for the big screen treatment. After all, the typical things one normally worries about with a book adaptation, won't be a problem here. No depth or charm will be lost surely. Exept for maybe an occasional spark of wit, which in my opinion is the book's most redeeming quality. Should have given it less then 3 stars, but I'm feeling generous, after all I didn't fall asleep once while reading the book:)

Phillip Kerr is probably better known for "The Grid" or "A Philosophical Investigation" than his wonderful "Berlin Noir" trilogy which is sad, since Berlin Noir is his best ever. A Five Year Plan is completely different from anything he has previously written but is recognisably the work of the Berlin Noir man all the same.

Our hero leaves prison with a plan to make a lot of money very quickly, and therefore illegally. He approaches the boss crook, for whom he took the five year fall, for financial backing and sets off across the Atlantic on a yacht transporter. He is accompanied by multifarious crooks, millionaires, seamen and FBI agents and falls in love with an FBI lady on a mission to catch some other crooks. Will he get away with it? Will true love conquer all? Will he get everyone killed? It's always hard to know with Kerr and I'm not going to tell you.

I strongly recommend this book. Kerr is a wonderful writer, akin to Michael Dibdin in the quality of his craftsmanship and flexibility. He writes witty, fluid and keenly observed prose and can always keep you up all night to finish just one more chapter.

Once I got about half-way through, I found the book to be quite a page-turner, but not before then. Given the research on the himalayas, mountain-climbing, and anthropology behind the book, I expected to find it more plausible, but frequently found myself doubting the believability of the story. I'm no expert on mountain-climbing or CIA operatives, but Kerr creates a pretty convincing portrait of the Himalayas as the most inhospitable place this side of Antarctica and then expects us to believe that an ape-like creature can survive there indefinitely. I felt like Kerr didnt' do all his research-- a little on ecology and the needs of animals at the top of a food chain would have helped. Plausibility aside, it was a pretty gripping narrative. Nonetheless, I think I'll stick with the American Michael Crichton

Though not really a thriller, this story is certainly still a great book, I've read it 3 times and every time it effects me in the same way with great intrigue and amaze, I love it it is probably on my favorite list

Jack Furness is a mountain climber and by accident he comes upon a skull while climbing the Himalayan Mountains. And he just happens to have a girl friend that is an paleoanthropologist, Stella Swift. After smuggling the skull back to the good ol' US of A he gives Stella the skull. Which just happens to be the most unusal skull she has ever seen. She is so excited by this discovery she wants to go back to the Himalaya's with an expedition to look for more bones right away.

In steps the good ol' CIA with funding, under a pretense of needing to go to the Himalayan's for a weather testing expedition but needing a guide and have to leave within the next 2 weeks, if you let me go along I'll pay. So they get their funding and are off to the Himalayan's.

And the fun has just begun. The expedition has all the latest technology, of course and all the comforts of home...well almost. They set out on a seek and find mission and stumble upon some very unusual foot prints the first night out. The graphic descriptions are vivid and makes me not want to be there. Very detailed and realistic discriptions. They even throw in a yogi to boot.

This is the first time I have read this author and will read him again. A great thriller, fast paced and a quiet enjoyable read. Don't know what the complaints were about, I have none.