Okay, so I know I was a bit disappointed in the last John Rain novel, but I did say that I felt that it was building up to something fantastic. I am so happy that I was right! Book Five has been by far the best in the series up to this point. At first, I thought that the pace was way too fast, but Eisler masterfully reined it back in about two-thirds of the way through, and so many open storylines closed just like that, with the reader's (my) jaw hanging open. Unbelievable! I'm very excited to move on to move on to Book 6. John's story is open to go almost anywhere.

Five out of five stars.

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Another great entry in the John Rain series.

Rain keeps trying to get out of the assassination games, but keeps getting pulled back in, no matter what he does. He's still torn between Midori and Delilah, and he's not getting any younger.

Great stuff.

A John Rain novel. John rain is an assassin. He discovers that he has a child that he did not know about. John goes to see his child and realizes that the Japanese mafia has hired the Chinese mafia to follow and watch John’s Ex girlfriend and child. The Japanese mafia has put a hit out on John. John decides that the only way to protect his son is to take out the head of the Japanese mafia. The writing style is great but the storyline drags a little bit.

Very nice, professional narration by the author himself. I always like listening to books narrated by their authors and Barry Eisler didn't disappoint. The narration was so good it's as if the book was read by a professional actor. I guess, working as a CIA operative in the past came in handy here. I mean to be a good intelligence operative you have to be a decent actor. Anyway, well done, Barry!

Good story

Don't like this many killings, maybe I'm old female. But like the all the exotic place he goes and looking up those places and learning about them. Meantime learning little about the knifes characters using. He prepares in detail for what he's going to do, but every time something goes wrong, thankfully he has good friends around him to help. Melodrama, love triangle and sex are all in this book.

Probably not a full-fledged 4 stars but I'm invested in the protagonist (even though he does stupid things) so I rounded up to 4 stars. I decided if the story stays with me when I'm not reading the book then the author has created a story and characters who are engaging.

It could have been a 4+ star book if the author had stayed away from a love triangle and held true to the actual genre. Unfortunately, he added an unnecessary situation which made the story weaker and detracted from a decent assassin plot.

Dox and Tatsu were the strongest characters in the story. I like how Kanezaki is emerging as a stronger character with some of Tatsu's traits.

Overall, I'm invested in the protagonist and some of the secondary characters who are becoming as interesting as Rain.

As excellent as always.

I’m sure everyone is tired of me pointing out what an excellent writer Barry Eisler is, but what else can I say? Not only can I not put one down, I have to begin another one immediately. I haven’t found a bad book yet. In this one a thing I really liked, other than John and Dox’s fight with the sumo wrestlers, is the way John Rain was struggling with aging. Not an old man really, but at an age where speed, strength, and reflexes aren’t what they were. Assassins can’t just retire, so what will he do? I’m on to the next to find out.

The past comes back to collect its dues from John Rain when he must confront an old enemy. As usual, things don't always go according to plan. Dox and Delilah return to complicate and aid in his endeavors. This story is more dependent on familiarity with events in previous books in the series, so I wouldn't recommend this as a first book from the series.

I love Eisler's style. I usually don't care much for first-person narratives, but occasionally an author makes first-person work. Eisler was able to make 1st person work in this John Rain novel. But reading a Barry Eisler novel is a lot like Chicago weather: wait five minutes, and everything will change dramatically. Even the POV changes as Eisler switches seamlessly between first and third person. If you love a fun and fast read, this book is for you.

Quick thoughts: An big improvement over the last book, which was the most weak of the series thus far. My chief complaint was the storyline with Deliliah and Midori. I was so frustrated by it that I stopped reading for 3 weeks and seriously considered DNF-ing. I have previously finished these books in a couple of days so to put it down and actively avoid it is meaningful for me. Delilah's behavior seemed so out of character and as if it was inserted just to create drama or a mechanism to effect a desired change (won't say more to avoid spoilers). Once I muscled through that section (by skipping and skimming) I quite enjoyed the rest of the book and am eager to continue the series.

I read this under its original title, The Last Assassin.

The early John Rain novels were really great. The later work was very good. (Difference between 5 stars and 4 stars.)

In questo racconto su John Rain, l'assassino nippo-statunitense stavolta deve risolvere un affare personale: togliere di mezzo un potente boss della Yakuza per mettere al sicuro stesso, ma soprattutto la sua nuova famiglia.

Per la riuscita del suo piano avrà bisogno dell'aiuto dell'immancabile Dox, della bella Delilah e del vecchio amico Tatsu.

Anche stavolta Eisler è riuscito a scrivere una storia avvincente, ricca d'azione e con un ritmo anche più incalzante dei precedenti capitoli.

Piacevole lettura che ti proietta con trepidante attesa alla scoperta del capitolo successivo...