The Fifth Profession is a novel by Canadian author David Morrell, who is famous for having written First Blood and giving us Rambo
Savage and Akira are both members of the Fifth Profession - more than just simple bodyguards, these personal protection specialists often come from elite military units and apply specialized honed methods towards the goal of keeping their principal alive at all cost. When Savage, an ex-SEAL, is sent on a mission to rescue Rachel, the battered American wife of a Greek shipping tycoon, he encounters Akira, his counterpart, who was responsible for keeping the tycoon alive. Although the two of them aren’t supposed to know of each other, their meeting causes both to have a flashback to the same memory - a vague recollection of the two of them failing to prevent a massacre. After confronting Akira, who is similarly haunted and flummoxed, Savage agrees to team up with him to uncover the truth about themselves. Rachel, who has nowhere else to go, tags along.
In the process, they uncover a conspiracy involving jamais vu - a phenomenon in which someone recalls something that never actually happened, orchestrated by both rogue CIA operatives and a right wing reactionary Japanese faction that wants to bring back the isolationism of the Tokugawa period.
This work contains examples of the following tropes
- Agony of the Feet: Rachel spends a majority of the trek through Tokyo barefoot due to not really having had time to go shopping for walking shoes after her rescue. She kicks off her heels, and her stockings get torn up. Her feet get cut up multiple times.
- Badass Normal: Unlike Savage, the ex-Navy SEAL, Akira was just a normal Japanese Intelligence agent, who was selected for this operation.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Akira and his senses adore the Tokugawa era of Japan because this was the period during which the famous bushido code of conduct for samurai was codified. And Japan remained completely free of all foreign influences, allowing for a purity of culture to develop. Which was why he’d initially agreed to be part of the plot. Savage states however, that the Tokugawa era was actually repressive and autocratic with shoguns and daimiyos ruling with iron fists, demanding absolute obedience and not tolerating even the slightest whiff of dissent.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Savage’s father committed suicide when Savage was a child, due to despondency over having failed to assassinate Fidel Castro. Later, Savage was the Sole Survivor of a botched SEAL mission in Grenada, that saw his entire platoon die of drowning.
- Expy: Joyce Stone is one of “Princess” Grace Kelly of Monaco. Her sister Rachel is one of Jackie Kennedy - she too first married a New England Senator and Presidential hopeful who died early, then married a shipping tycoon from Greece.
- Fake Memories: Both Savage and Akira are implanted with fake memories of each one and the other, having failed to prevent a massacre. This is done to lead both of them to the scene where an actual massacre will be perpetrated. Akira will be “killed” trying to prevent the massacre, while Savage will be posthumously blamed.
- Gone Horribly Right: Shirio wishes to stage an assassination attempt, which he would foil, and use to boost his political popularity among the Japanese people. He has fake memories implanted into Savage and Akira, of them failing to protect him from an assault. He anticipated that when both of them saw his face on the news, they’d seek him out to find out why they were implanted. When they got to him, he’d kill them along with a multitude of followers, then reveal the truth about both Savage and Akira - that they were both intelligence agents, sent to eliminate him. His plan works perfectly, up until the point where Akira is killed, while lunging at Shirio. However, Savage reaches Shirio immediately after, and fatally slices Shirio open, completing his “mission”. With Shirio dead, his movement sputters.
- Japan Takes Over the World: Anxiety over this, leads to a rogue faction in the CIA to work with Japanese reactionaries in perpetrating a massacre, which they hope will cause the Japanese people to demand isolation from the rest of the world.
- Rescue Romance: Rachel falls hard for Savage after he rescues her from her abusive husband.
