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.

The 1st John Rain book and one of the best. I loved the excellent way this series is written and I really can get into the character of Rain. A very complicated guy with his own set of rules to being an assassin.

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.

Just couldn't finish

John Rain is a half-American/half-Japanese assassin who specializes in making his target's deaths look like natural causes. A Clean Kill in Tokyo is #1 in the John Rain series. I had read a later book and wanted to go back and start from the beginning. I believe that A Clean Kill in Tokyo was Barry Eisler's first novel - well done. A thrilling story that keeps the reader fully engaged. About to start #2...

An enjoyable noir thriller.

Hardcore action all the way!

3 1/2 stars.

Cliché and formulaic.
Horrible dialogue. Awkward and artificial romance. One dimensional characters: a stereotypical "hacker" character out of a 90s movie, a cardboard cutout love interest who becomes unbelievably obedient to the main character, John Rain, a handsome assassin with comically godlike fighting abilities and a troubled past. Also, some evil Yakuza and CIA guys.
I never write reviews on here, but this book has almost completely positive ones and I felt the need to disagree. I don't know why I read this. I don't hate all pulp thrillers, I remember enjoying Ludlum novels.

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.

Ripping start to a series about an assassin who kills by natural causes.

Das erste Buch in einer Serie, um einen Vietnam-Veteranen (Special Forces), der zu einem Auftragskiller für die Behörden wurde. In diesem Buch wird er angeheuert einen Politiker zu töten, der für die Bauabteilung arbeitet. Die liberaldemokratische Partei vergibt überflüssige Bauaufträge, an denen sowohl die Politiker selbst als auch die Yakuza verdienen. Aus diesem Grund erhält John den Auftrag diesen zu täten. Am Tatort beobachtet er wie ein Gaijin (Ausländer) die Leiche des Politiker durchsucht. Als er später die Tochter des Politikers, Midori, kennenlernt, erfährt er, dass der Politiker im Besitz einer CD war, die nun von einer unbekannten Anzahl an Parteien gesucht wird. Um Midori zu schützen, taucht er mit ihr unter und versucht nun diese CD selbst zu finden.

Ich habe diese Buch ausgesucht, da ich mich schon immer für Japan und die Kultur interessiert habe. Anhand des japano-amerikanischen Haupthelden gewährt einem Eisler sehr gute Einblicke in diese Welt. Die Story braucht ein bisschen, um in Fahrt zu kommen, ist dann aber sehr spannend. Teilweise habe ich gefunden, dass John ein paar dumme Fehler gemacht hat (z.B. kontaktiert er im Laufe des Buches einen Reporter wegen der CD, ohne sich scheinbar darüber im klaren zu sein, dass dieser wahrscheinlich unter Beobachtung steht und die Gespräche abgehört werden). Allerdings muss man sich vor Augen halten, dass John ein Auftragsmörder und nicht ein Spion war. Trotzdem erinnert die Serie ein bisschen an James Bond, auch wenn John am Ende das Mädchen nicht bekommt. Da er ihren Vater getötet hat, wäre es aber auch sehr seltsam gewesen, wenn er am Ende mit ihr in den Sonnenuntergang reitet.

Das Buch wurde Anfang 2000 geschrieben. Bis auf die Erwähnung von Pagern und Erinnerungen an den Vietnam-Krieg fällt dies aber gar nicht auf. Ich habe mir schon den zweiten Teil besorgt.