Rain Storm is the third John Rain novel I've read. Oddly, it falls short of the first two. Too much tedious introspection by Rain and an unnecessarily gruesome, intricately detailed description of an execution. I sensed that Eisler was getting paid by the word and thus padded the writing. His first Rain book was tightly crafted and suspenseful, though Eisler leavened the plot with interesting revelations about Japanese culture. The diversions and stalls in Rain Storm detracted from the story.

This book is called Rain Storm; I find many books retitled to include the name Rain and wish both titles were included in the list. That being said I enjoyed it so much - especially since it had been awhile since I had read Barry Eisler. I've decided to read them in order and recommend it. Once again John is tasked with taking out a bad guy, but this time he is reunited with a buddy from their war days and I see this becoming a good future pairing. Stayed up late when the action got heavy and the ending didn't disappoint. I usually don't like a lot of love relationships mixed up in my thrillers but this time they were interesting. The first two books in this series are titled Rain Fall and Hard Rain, this one the third and the next is Killing Rain. At that point the name changes seem to stop.

I enjoyed getting back to the John Rain, professional assassin series again, after a long gap. But I find it somewhat perplexing that all these books have been renamed in the interim. Not sure exactly what the point of that was. So if you're looking for this one, you are more likely to find it under its current title, Winner Take All. Having read the book, I wouldn't say that this is particularly a better title for it. At least originally having "Rain" in the first four titles united them thematically.

I'm hooked...

This is not a genre I've really ever read before...more of a Cold War/Soviet history guy...but I've stayed with this series now for 3 books and will finish the rest. Enjoying the character development and the story arc. Whether or not this is a "good" book or series I'm not knowledgeable enough to critique but I'm enjoying the hell outta it! I would love a Netflix series of Rain!

Der 3. Teil der Tokio Killer-Reihe: John Rain ist nach Brasilien getürmt. Doch auch dort spürt ihn die CIA auf, um ihn als Freelancer für Exekutionen anzuwerben. John hat zwar keine Lust darauf, doch sein Vorruhestand ist kostspielig - er kann die Zusatzeinnahmen gut gebrauchen.

John bekommt den Auftrag, in Macao (mittlerweile chinesisch) einen Waffenhändler zu töten. Doch John entdeckt, dass noch ein anderer Profikiller und eine israelische Geheimagentin ebenfalls auf den Waffenhändler angesetzt. Zudem machen fünf arabische Killer Jagd auf Rain. Zum Glück bekommt er Unterstützung durch den ehemaligen Afghanistan-Kämpfer Doc, der ebenfalls für die CIA tätig ist.

Mit diesem Roman erweitert sich der John Rain-Kosmos um die Mossad-Agentin Delilah und den Scharfschützen Dox. Wer Spaß an Agentenromanen hat und zudem mehr über das Leben in Macao und Hongkong erfahren möchte, kommt hier auf seine Kosten. Die Handlung hätte aber ruhig etwas raffinierter und spannender sein können. Trotzdem 3,5 = 4 Sterne ****

This is the 'how many necks can the protagonist break?' book.

Drink every time he does!

Also, his spy techniques are a bit dated. He is still (for example) leaving a hair on the door. This is called a 'tell tale'. Of course, a hair is not the thing for leaving when you want to avoid DNA.

And the knowledge of bombs is limited to trip wires. As opposed to lasers which set off the bomb when the door is open.

This book would have been more current in the '80's.

And the protagonist is way way too horny for an assassin. Is he trying to be the next Bond?

Action is now taking the reader to new locations and and meeting a number of new people. Some of the new acquaintances will obviously be returning as the complexly of John's sphere grows.

The urge for John to live a "normal" live is pulling on him more than ever. But just as much, external forces are trying to nail him down to continue what he is best at, eliminating problem people.

LOVED this story as we travel with John to new location where his well verse skills in survival, judging people, pieceing together what is really going on are heavily challenged.

Another great page turner

Am back to continuing my journey through the Rain series. And what a journey it is. This book takes in 3 cities I've been to and know, which probably added to the enjoyment. But I love the characters and the development between the books.

Fast moving addition to the "Rain" series (this is the third book in the series, it was previously released under two other titles: Rain Storm and Choke Point). Rain has retired to Rio for some much needed down time, but is found by his CIA employers. He is sent off on a new mission, to kill a Middle Eastern arms dealer in Macau. He re-ups with Dox (a super-sniper, who also provides some comic relief to Rain's deadly seriousness), and mayhem ensues, along with a mysterious beautiful unknown, Delilah.

Eisner keeps the reader zipping along, wasting little time on character development, but manages to fill out Rain enough to make him a sympathetic hero, despite his "job" as a skilled assassin. Of course, the politics are terrible...Arabs and Russian bad guys, Americans and Israelis are the good guys. But ignore the politics, and it is well worth the read.

Slow moving

This one was hard for me to get through compared to the first two. Pace was good at times, but for some reason it was a slow read for me. Love the continued character development.

Another awesome John Rain book!

I am really enjoying the John Rain series by Barry Eisler! One would think the story might get repetitive, but that would be a bad assumption. Eisler does a fantastic job of developing the character of John Rain through the exciting story line. I appreciate the research that is done, it makes for a great book that is hard to put down!

Fun, informative and even thought-provoking

I'm enjoying Eisler's writing, story and character development and especially his good research skills and attention to detail. He may be trying to convince me of something, but his books show he's interested in the dialogue, not in being an in-artful sledgehammer.