I'll be honest, I bought the book because I knew it wouldn't hold me in a chair all night until I finished reading it. I read Hard Rain and was less than engrossed. But I did want to see how the conspiracy evolved.
Unfortunately the conspiracy does not continue in this book, so I still don't know and probably won't read another one.
Eisler is still bogged down in t0o much metaphoric imagery. Pages of descriptions of scenery while Rain takes long lonely walks to make sure he is being followed. I skipped most of it, and which at least made the pace of the book move a bit faster for me.
***Vague spoiler in next paragraph***
However, Eisler has improved his plotting and character skills. He does allow Rain to be weaker, so you at least get a sense of underdog on occasion. However, he still missed the point of the underdog. The underdog should win. He should overcome his burdens and triumph. Instead Rain is overcome, gives up and is saved by a friend. Gives up is the key there. Heroes don't give up, Eisler.
I'm not a fan of neurotic over thinking in novels. I am a fan of the maxim "Show, Don't Tell." Rain does A LOT of internal dialog and it drains the interest out of the plot for me. I skipped a lot of that too.

All in his head as he roam the city landscape following and being followed.

This is the first book I've read by Eisler (though note that it's not the first, but the third, in the series) and is was surprisingly really, really good. Eisler can really write, and has created a main character who is at the same time highly skilled and all-too-humanly flawed, exotic yet realistic. It takes talent to write about an assassin who's believably heroic. The book is fast-paced and action-packed but also deeply reflective. Well done.

Having just finished the previous novel, I couldn't wait to start this one!

It follows on nicely and I liked the plot of this one, as well as the introduction of the character, Dox. Eisler is slowly building a group of "supporters" around John which allows the John character to further develop - though I am also personally hoping that he can find a way to "go off the radar" again! Like all good assassins!!!

Bring on the next one!

Assassin who makes it look like natural causes. JR continues the missions across different cities.

The premise of this book is similar to the previous book in the series – a meticulous description of one particular hit job. This time, he's been hired to take out an arms dealer by the CIA.

With new characters added to the mix, John Rain needs to decide who he can trust. One of the new characters gets his own series, so I'm glad I'm reading all the Barry Eisler books in order.

I liked this one about the same as the last, maybe 4.5 instead of 5, but they're all very good.

Wow, picked ths one up on a lark and it was a good find. I had never heard of Barry Eisler before reading this book but it's great.

The main character (John Rain) is a high level, assasin who takes up what looks to be just another job. Well, it turn out to be anything but "just another job". So, John is out on an island on his own trying to complete the job and avoid becoming a targeted victom himself.

What makes this book even better than the plot and characters alone is that Eisler is an ex-CIA agent and is very much into martial arts. While reading this book, if you have any martial arts training, you will immediately recognize his knowledge in the field. Everything in he book struck me as plausible which both shocked me and made me geek out about how cool some of the stuff he talks about is.

I'd give it 4.5 stars if I could.

NOTE: This is the 3rd book in the Rains series which stands at 7 books as of this review. I will also point out that I did not read any of the other books before this one and had absolutely not idea I was missing anything.

Continúan las aventuras de un asesino profesional tan lógico y pegado a su código ético que le acabas cogiendo cariño.

This was my first Barry Eisler book...I met Barry last month at the Pike's Peak Writer's Conference...was impressed with the man and now am impressed with the writer...an excellent work...Barry is an intelligent guy, articulate and personable. His characters are well-developed, interesting, and worldly. His vocabulary is somewhat elevated from the usual thriller...I liked that. The plot was great, the commentary was interesting and illuminating. I learned a lot of useful information, as well as just some interesting stuff --at the Air Force Academy, we referred to trivia as "little known and interesting facts"... there were a lot of those factoids as well...

**4.5 stars**

After the thoroughly depressing conclusion of Hard Rain (book 2 in the series) I sincerely hoped that the world would leave John Rain alone and I wouldn’t have to hear about him again. Not because I didn’t enjoy the books but because I thought the guy deserved some peace. You have to give some kudos to an author when he makes you feel like that for a hired assassin.

Rain Storm has a (very slightly) more positive outlook. Please don’t get the impression that the book is a ray of sunshine; this series is still about alienation and missed chances. But several new characters showed up to make John’s life more interesting, including several ladies. John really likes the ladies which makes total sense because to kick ass that hard, a man needs truckloads of testosterone.

Like in previous books, the action was exciting, with very intricate fight scenes. Most of the time I couldn’t follow exactly what was going on, but the descriptions help to highlight that kicking ass is HARD! And you have to be in top condition – both physically and mentally – to be able to keep up with all those bad guys who are also amazingly good at what they do.

As expected, the cities that John inhabits (Rio, Hong Kong and Macau) become almost characters in their own right. Mr. Eisler definitely has an eye for distilling the essence of a city into words.

Even with all these new characters, John is still alienated from life, surrounded by a terrible longing for the lost chances and the impossibility of his life. John is too honest for regrets but he knows more than most of what this life has cost him.

I wondered in a detached way whether it was all part of a cosmic punishment for Crazy Jake…Or perhaps for the other things I’ve done. To be periodically tantalized by the hope of something real, something good, always knowing at the same time that it was all going to turn to dust.

It would seem amazing that a man who whacks people for a living wants a relationship, but more than anything, John Rain wants, no, needs to belong. He was a foreigner in Japan and a foreigner in the US. He has no family, no home and very few friends that he feels he cannot trust, because again and again, they have given him cause for doubt:

I told myself again that I wasn’t disappointed, that I wasn’t even terribly surprised. I learned long ago not to trust, that faith is to life what sticking your chin out is to boxing. I told myself that it was good to get some further confirmation of the essential accuracy of my worldview.

John gets lots of tail in this book but he’s constantly thinking about Midori. Because I didn’t know him, I just didn’t understand the profound effect she had in his life and now I want to re-read the first book. His pining for her was hopelessly romantic and I confess I shed lots of tears:

Midori isn’t dead, only gone. Maybe that’s why I find myself thinking of her more often than I should. I picture her face and picture the sound of her voice, the touch of her hands, the feel of her body. I have no such power of recall for scent, but know I would recognize hers in an instant and wish that I could breathe it in even once more before I die.

Mr. Nishii did a wonderful job portraying John Rain. I didn’t like his voices for the women – they were a bit too high…almost like a falsetto – and his Portuguese accent was a bit out there but hey, you can’t have it all. I’m actually sad he doesn’t narrate any more of the books.

The ending was the happiest I’ve seen in this series but I’m afraid everything will go down the drain in the next book. I guess we can’t have John being too happy! Regardless, I can’t wait to see happens next.

O lectura masculina antrenanta, plina de actiune in genul romanelor de spionaj a la Ian Fleming. Ar fi o carte extraordinara pentru cei interesati de asasinate, spionaj, tehnici de lupta, jocuri politice, tradari si femei frumoase.
Actiunea il are in prim plan pe John Rain un asasin japonez liber-profesionist, asa zis 'hitman' al CIA, care primeste misiunea de a-l lichida pe Belghazi, un versat dealer de arme, inainte ca altii sa o faca. De-a lungul operatiunii din Macao calea sa se va intersecta cu misterioasa Delilah, o spioana care are insa planurile si metodele ei. Daca ea il va trada sau il va ajuta ramane sa aflati citind cartea.
Mie mi-a placut romanul, am apreciat descrierile vibrante, exacte si extrem de vii ale traseului de urmarire a tintei, in special Macao, Hong Kong, Tokyo ori Sao Paolo.
Mi s-a parut simpatic si arsenalul de spion-asasin pus la dispozitie de CIA, de care uziteaza personajul principal si aici as mentiona dispozitivul SoldierVision. Acesta a fost utilizat pentru prima data in razboiul din Golf si "fotografiaza" prin pereti interiorul unei incaperi. Alt gadget ar fi ceasul Traser P5900 in care se pot ascunde capsule care sa contina cocktailuri letale.
Un alt lucru care mi s-a parut interesant este multitudinea de informatii despre luptele corp la corp cum ar fi karate si aici aflam despre pozitia Calaretului de Fier, despre lovitura de picior nr.2 cu rotire spre spate, sau din judo - aruncarea de baza denumita kouchigari. Tot aici am aflat ca sambo este o versiune de lupta ruseasca care poate provoca leziuni atat de grave incat este interzisa in multe competitii de lupte iar Krav Maga este sistemul de auto-aparare inventat si practicat de fortele armate israeliene.
Luptele corp la corp sunt descrise miscare cu miscare si desi le-am citit pe indelete si m-am straduit sa le inteleg totusi nu am reusit sa vizualizez exact cum decurgeau aceste scene.
Pe langa multe alte asemanari cu James Bond, am regasit si scena de la Casino si jocul de Baccara pe care il joaca impotriva lui Belghazi.
La finalul cartii gasim anexat pentru cititori si un mic curs vizand securitatea personala, plin de sfaturi utile in ceea ce priveste auto-apararea.
Ca incheiere, o zicala japoneza care mi s-a parut demna de urmat: "Go ni itte wa, go ni shitagae", ce inseamna: "dupa al locului obicei, sa te porti si tu in orice bordei".

Winner Take All is a thriller written by Barry Eisler, about fictional character John Rain, a paid CIA assassin.

This is the third book in a series that I have read. In this book Rain has been hired to kill (retire) Belghazi an arms dealer. The reason he has been selected for this assignment is that he specializes in making a murder look like the person died of natural causes. Rain has tracked Belghazi to Macau, which is part of China and is sought of setup like Hong Kong. It is often called the Las Vegas of China. Belghazi is thought to be there to gamble. Rain also has the advantage of fitting in with the locals being the son of an America white women and a Japanese father and inherited he mostly Japanese features. Further, he has enhanced those features to look more Japanese by virtue of plastic surgery.

Belghazi normally has at least two bodyguards and is traveling with an attractive woman, Delilah. Rain focuses on how to gain access to subject. Rain was hired by Kanezaki, a CIA officer. Kanezaki is a Japanese-American, third generation. He knows Rain and is fully cognizant of his ruthlessness.

Rain had been living in Brazil after an assignment in Japan. It took him a while to blend in with the locals even though he had chosen an area that had a large Japanese population. This was difficult because he did not really have background that was similar to others and he had to learn Portuguese, the official language of Brazil. Another CIA operative, Dox, had tracked him down for the Agency.

Rain came face to face with Delilah in a failed attempt to take out Belghazi in his hotel room. She did not let Belghazi or his bodyguards know of his presence which made him think that she was not who or what she was thought to be.

There are a lot of twists and turns in the action fiction. The characters are well developed and I was kept guessing at what would happen next. I really enjoyed this book and plan to continue reading the series.