Having read the Gray Man series and run out of John Milton adventures I heard from another Goodreader that John Rain was superior to both and decided to find out for myself. I am not sure what this person could have seen in John to imagine his tales of mystery and murder were more engaging but I respectfully disagree. Whilst the former two assassins gave background on areas and occasional odd details of dining establishments and the like John seemed to find it necessary to prove his coolness by being a jazz connoisseur , single malt whiskey aficionado, all knowing of all streets in Tokyo as well as the trains that run near them and while supposedly friendless after stint in Nam that left him scarred seemed to have a lot of people to run to when in need of assistance. Not a fan of superlatives, the best coffee, sake, whiskey, noodles, blah blah blah. in all of Japan, stfu, stop trying to impress us John, don't care. In fact you became a bore while repeating bonafides for the umpteenth time as you went over your judo move collection as you whined on and on about this magic disk that no one could manage to decrypt or when they did copy any info from. Unreal sex scenes with your uber cool jazz pianist friend just topped off this plate of stinky ramen noodles with pointless revenge served cold to boot, sayonara to you and your stories of Vietnam atrocities, you are done.

Tokyo by night

“Tokyo Killer” é um thriller protagonizado por um ex-agente secreto dos EUA no Cambodja e Vietname – Jack Rain – um assassino profissional, meio americano, meio japonês; frio, sádico, cruel e desprovido de emoções, mas que tem um singular código de ética: "nada de mulheres ou crianças, nenhuma actividade contra terceiros e nenhum outro fornecedor contratado para resolver o problema em mãos..."
Uma emocionante “história” que tem como cenário a cidade de Tóquio, cosmopolita e exótica, povoada por personagens complexas, maioritariamente violentas, que ostentam códigos de conduta e comportamentos dúbios, fomentando um suspense eficiente, com recurso a inúmeros flashbacks para complementar uma narrativa emocionante e repleta de acção.
Num enredo que assenta, essencialmente, numa vertente política, ligada aos partidos políticos, envoltos numa teia de corrupção generalizada, relacionada com as obras públicas e com a máfia (yakuza) da construção civil; vão surgindo inúmeras personagens, directamente relacionadas com as agências de espionagem, numa tentativa desesperada de influência “emocional” em acções de conspiração e chantagem, para manipulação dos decisores políticos ou da opinião pública.
A escrita de Barry Eisler (n. 1964) é eficiente e simples, com recurso a descrições minuciosas do ambiente “noir” de Tóquio, com chuva persistente e atmosfera obscura, complementada por clubes de Jazz e por motéis de 2º categoria, num relato consistente e revelador de uma sociedade japonesa corrupta e dominada pela tecnologia “high tech”.
Um livro emocionante, sem exageros ou redundâncias…

John Rain is an assassin. His only work ethic is that he won't kill women or children. After that he doesn't want to know why. Doesn't want to know if his target is good or bad, his objective is only to fulfill his assignment. The amazing thing to me, is that I really liked this character, right from the beginning. I got a little lost toward the end as to what was happening, but it didn't stop my enjoyment of the story, as I let the words take me for the ride. Can't wait to read the next installment.

In Barry Eisler's a Clean Kill in Tokyo (aka Rain Fall), the first instalment in the John Rain thriller series, this would hook you on the first page and keep you in suspense right to the end. John Rain is a half-Japanese, half-American assasin, who's speciality was giving his victims "natural causes." It all started when he went after his mark on the subway in Japan and gave him a "heart attack" in Tokyo. Then he gets involved with Midori, a beautiful jazz pianist in a band. When while he tried to get one stop ahead of the people before him, he later learns that she's at risk of being targeted. It had something to do with her father's death and the disk he kept in the special pouch. Between them, they discover what lurks in the dark for them in their past and to get to know each other better. John sets out to meet a journalist who had met with Midori's father before he died, and what was special about the disk. Hot on the trail, they were people who were out to get John and Midori and didn't want the disk to be uncovered and exposed. In a heated moment, Rain went up against William Holtzer, an evil man who wantds to see him dead. But not if he could see to it first, when he's apprehended and what's really on the disk, when everything about John's existence had to be erased and to end his love affair with Midori.