Another good thriller.

This can be a review of all his books. In addition to the thriller aspect which is always exciting, I enjoy the expansive vocabulary of this author. Plus he's teaching me some Japanese in each book in this series. Well developed characters and plot. Sometimes maybe too much filler, but sometimes it's also informative, and I love to learn while I'm being entertained. 4.5 stars.

Winner Take All. Barry Eisler

An Algerian arms trader. An extremely dangerous man. A Mossad operative, Delilah. John Rain initially doesn't know what to make of her. Is she eye candy a companion of the arms trader or something else entirely? Then there's Dox a brother in arms from the middle east. An extremely talented Marine sniper and extremely competent martial arts practitioner. Solid. A good man.In the end a good and trusted friend. A throwback to another era. Someone who has your back.What ensues is an extremely powerful and fast paced story paced with deceit, betrayal and a binding between operatives. An excellent read!!!Enjoyed immensely!!

Winner Takes All Review

Another great book by this author would definitely recommend the seems to get better and better.
I will definitely will be getting the next in the series at some point.

Enjoyed! Like a sharp stiletto, Eisler gets the job done.

I guess I landed on 2.5 when I finished the book.Multiple times in the first half, I was tempted to just stop even though I really dislike doing that. The issue is that this book is harder work than it should be. Unless you are reading a text book, reading should be enjoyable.

The issue is that Mr. Eisler obviously has a very well formed vocabulary. The problem is that he backs up the truck and dumps it on you in its entirety and unnecessarily.

The plot was fine, the characters fine. If this was a short story, I would have enjoyed it.

While there are certainly redeeming qualities and intelligence to Mr. Eisler's work, I'm thinking it's going to be a long while before I wade into the next book.

John Rain's is living in Rio as the story opens. He reconnects with Naomi, but it doesn't last as she the CIA finds him via his connection to her. He takes a gig with them and goes back to the far east (Macau) and a new series of assassinations and all manner of hand to hand combat situations follow.

He meets a new femme fatale who is just about his match and seems like she may stick around for another book as they were vacationing at the end. He also gets a new buddy via this caper and I suspect he will stick around.

All in all, another very good story with John Rain, top predator, again conquering all, but showing a little of the effects of his age as the story proceeds. I've read three straight books in the Rain series now and might take some time off to try another of those lined up in my que. However, I'll certainly be back and expect to quickly run through the other six or so.

However interesting, this one felt more dull and with worse pacing than the previous two. Some standard recipes keep coming back into the books so far and repeating. Hoping the series take a fresh turn

It is pretty bizarre to like an assassin, but John Rain is so smart and observant you can't help but like him. Fortunately, like those who Arnold Schwarzenegger's character killed in "True Lies," Rain's victims were "all bad."

Too much conversation

Too much psychological yak yak and not enough action. Other “Rain” novels have much more action and you don’t lose the story line trying to decipher all the talking. Some of the characters need to be more fully explained to make the story flow more smoothly.

John Rain is back with Christians In Action (not the most playful synonym, right?), but he's not on his turf and he's getting older. And there are people in the CIA working against him while he's working for the CIA.

So everyone is playing everyone else, as these things go.

This is the third book in the series, and John has clearly evolved. I like this progression of character, but I hate the fact that Midori still seems to hold a lingering presence on John. It makes John kind of dull sometimes, and I think it is not in sync with the overall perception of John, especially by himself.

What is clearly brilliant is the background of the story, which is as dirty and realistically as it can get. That the CIA could be protecting an arms dealer is no stretch of imagination, it looks downright authentic, especially the way Barry describes it here.

It gives you the feeling of reading something that could just be real, and while the action is not as high octane as, say, the Gray Man, it certainly is authentic and exciting enough, fitting right into the story.

Like the first two books, lots of introspection and angst. However, the character of John Rain is fleshing out a bit. Note: I listened to the audio version narrated by the author. Barry Eisler speaks really good Japanese.

I'm glad I "rediscovered" this series after a few months. I'm a fan of the characters, action and drama filled storylines, and locations. Lots of appropriate clandestine detail make for a totally satisfying book series. I understand that some of the characters are later spun off into other stories and from what I've seen of the "secondary" characters, I think that's a fine idea!