Barry Eisler's "Rain" Series

Have you noticed how publishing has shifted recently toward publishing series rather than stand-alone novels? This is particularly true in fantasy, science fiction, and detective/private investigator thrillers. The good part is that if you like a particular author or character, you have several other novels that you can add to your reading list knowing that they probably will also be to your taste. The bad part is that, sometimes, the author doesn’t know when to quit, and the final book or two will be thin or repetitive compared to the excitement of the new concepts in the first few.

I’m glad to say that Barry Eisler’s six-volume series about assassin John Rain hits all the right notes, and only runs about one novel too long. I suspect that his original plan for the character’s story was told in the first five volumes, and then he simply couldn’t resist doing a sixth. I hope he stops here, for as much as I like the character, I think Eisler has turned him inside out, and anything more would be a disappointment.

In “Rain Fall”, we are introduced to John Rain – half American, half Japanese – in the process of exercising his specialty, which is making assassination look like natural death. We are introduced to a vibrant glimpse of Tokyo as the backdrop for a man who has the wherewithal to indulge his tastes for expensive hotels, food, and liquor, but whose life is so secretive that he has few friends. This is about to change, however, as he meets Midori, the daughter of the man he killed, and becomes even more deeply involved when he learns that she is in danger.

“Hard Rain” follows. John has now separated himself from the yakuza and the CIA who gave him the majority of his assignments and has aligned himself with Tatzu, a Japanese detective who works for the Japanese FBI. Midori, his young lover, now believes John is dead. But her contact with John’s friend Harry, the young computer expert, leads Rain’s enemies to target Harry as a way to get to Rain, and Rain gets involved again with the yakuza as he tries to protect his friend.

In “Rain Storm”, John has left Japan and his yakuza enemies behind. Now he has a contract in Macau, an Albanian arms-dealer and compulsive gambler with a lovely blonde companion. Rain soon learns that he is not the only one stalking his target, and has to decide whether his competitors are allies or enemies that he must also dispose of. In this book he meets two new unlikely allies – Dox, an American sniper with whom he had served in Afghanastan, and Delilah, an Israeli operative whose specialty is getting close to target with the well-known “honey trap” method.

“Killing Rain” takes up the story with John and Dox accepting a contract from Israeli intelligence to remove a bomb-maker who sells his services to the highest bidder. But the fact that he has a wife and young son causes Rain to hesitate at a crucial moment, putting them all in danger. We learn that Rain’s father died when he was very young, and for the first time he considers how this young boy will react to his father’s death as well. The burden of guilt is beginning to seep through John’s tightly-constructed emotional walls.

At the end of “Killing Rain”, John discovers that his affair with the lost Midori resulted in the birth of a son. “The Last Assassin” is the story of how he tries to resolve the longing he has to be a father to his son, to leave the life he has to adopt a new one. But there are several loose ends to be tied up first, especially since his yakuza enemy from the first book is having Midori watched, knowing that Rain may make contact. In order to free Midori and his son from danger, John must assassinate this powerful yakuza.

“Requiem for an Assassin” wraps up the series. Rain has concluded that he can never be with Midori, and tries to build himself a new life outside his specialized profession. But a former CIA antagonist wants him back and kidnaps his former partner, Dox, to ensure Rain’s cooperation. While Dox struggles to survive under torture, Rain has to kill three people to free him. What he doesn’t know is that the third victim is supposed to be himself.

The series is rich in background of exotic locales in the Far East; jazz and fine liquors; and the nuances of surveillance detection and martial arts. Rain is a complex and fascinating protagonist and the plots are complex and timely.

Bottom line: A torrent of good reading.