Seguito naturale del primo libro, si riprende esattamente da dove ci si era lasciati.
Si chiacchiera un sacco ed è un po' pesante in alcuni punti. Eisler infatti tende parecchio alla ripetitività quando potrebbe tagliare alcune parti e lasciare maggior respiro alla storia. Dove invece va fortissimo sono le scene di azione, descritte magnificamente e immersive al punto giusto.
Un buon Thriller tutto sommato, leggermente sotto al primo capitolo ma comunque piacevole se si è amanti del genere.

Втора книга от поредицата. Рейн-сан е все така безмилостен и перфектен. Интересно четиво, особенно добре е представено постоянното напрежение съпътстващо героя, както и параноичния му подход във всичко, помогнал му да оцелее в толкова опасен свят.

Продължавам с третата част.

I like this series. It has action and a unique protagonist. Little of the action involves guns and most on up close fights to the death. It also has stories full of espionage and a setting that is unique...Tokyo. Sometimes there use of Japanese words and customs gets a little thick, but it mostly comes across as new and interesting.

John Raines is a very good character and I don't mind spending more time that I usually like inside his mind. I think I will continue to read this series to the end and probably try some more of Eisler's novels.

BTW, the plot is dense and is completely impeded in the unique criminal and dirty political culture that is Tokyo and Japan.

Having reread "Rain Fall" (2002), the first of the series of six novels, I've finally gotten around to the series. "A Lonely Resurrection" (international title is third in the series (Rain Storm" in the US, I think). John Rain, the child of a Japanese father and an American mother, grew up in two cultures, but was never a part of either. Largely as a result of that isolated state, he has worked as an assassin, though one with rules (no women, children, or collateral targets). Having created a new identity, he is disappointed to be roped back into doing the company's business, as lucrative as it is. In this case, his target is an international arms dealer who is playing the tables in Macau's gambling palaces. There are complications, though, for the target is heavily protected and the target of at least two other groups. Rain is very smart, so he is constantly interesting, but so are some of his adversaries, especially a woman named "Delilah," who works for another intelligence system. But which one? Finding out is part of the many pleasures in this book.

Odată ce treci peste ironia situaţiei, înţelegi că uciderea unui individ în propriul lui club de fitness are merite în sine.
tŢinta era yakuza Ishihara, un obsedat al exerciţiilor cu haltere, care exersa zilnic într-o sală de fitness pe care o deţinea în Roppongi, unul dintre cartierele de divertisment din Tokio. Tatsu îmi spusese că moartea trebuia să pară că survenise din cauze naturale, aşa cum doresc ei de fiecare dată, aşa că am fost încântat să lucrez într-un loc unde nu era nici pe departe de neconceput ca un ins să se poată prăbuşi din cauza unui anevrism fatal provocat de eforturi, să sufere o căzătură ghinionistă peste o bară din oţel ori să aibă alt accident tragic în timp ce folosea unul dintre complicatele aparate pentru exerciţii fizice.
tUnele dintre eventualităţile respective puteau fi chiar consemnate în avertismentele pe care avocaţii corporatişti insistau să fie plasate pe generaţia următoare de aparate pentru exerciţii, pentru a-i notifica pe utilizatori asupra unor întrebuinţări nefireşti pentru care nu fuseseră proiectate şi pentru care fabricantul nu putea fi tras la răspundere. De-a lungul anilor, activitatea mea mă făcuse să întâlnesc două asemenea avertismente legale; unul pe un pod care traversa apele poluate ale râului Sumida, în care un anume politician se înecase în 1982 („Avertisment: Nu vă suiţi pe barele acestea!”), iar altul după un deceniu, pe ambalajul uscătorului de păr („Avertisment: Nu folosiţi în timp ce faceţi baie!”) al unui bancher neobişnuit de sârguincios, care se electrocutase în cadă.
tClubul de fitness era de asemenea convenabil pentru că nu trebuia să-mi fac griji în privinţa amprentelor. În Japonia, unde costumele sunt un hobby naţional, ridicătorii de greutăţi n-ar atinge o halteră fără să poarte mănuşi speciale, capitonate, tot aşa cum un politician n-ar accepta să primească mită dacă poartă doar lenjeria intimă.

I was looking for a new action series to start since I am all caught up on Reacher/Rapp/Robie/Milton and friends. I tried a few popular ones but didnt get past the first book. I had heard good things about Rain and havent really read an assassin series before...so glad I gave it a try! I am loving the books so far and the Japanese culture combined with scotch and jazz is awesome.

Definitely looking forward to reading all the books in the series and the spinoff characters as well.
For those confused about the book renames and reading order of the series, I have found this graphic from Eisler's website to be super helpful:

I read all the Rain books under their original titles and didn't realize I was re-reading for a while. But that didn't matter; John Rain is such an intriguing character and the books have such a strong sense of place in Japan that I just kept on devouring the book. Sometimes the political stuff gets a bit much for me, but the writing is just beautiful.

John Rain returns in the second book to continue the fight he started against Japanese political corruption. He makes a few uneasy alliances and encounters the Japanese mob and the CIA along the way. Eisler explores the paradox of being lonely in a big city and how belonging to two cultures is the same as belonging to none. Eisler does as good of a job as anyone explaining how one becomes a killer and the character John Rain demonstrates the urge on several occasions in this telling. Yet the part of the book I like best is the journey through the cities and the techniques to escape detection. It's also a great look into the modern culture of Japan even if the geopolitical outlook is overwrought.

It was decent. The last 1/3d significantly accelerated. However, a clean kill in Tokyo is a better book with better world building and a better pace.

Will rate it 3.5, just not my type of book.

If you haven't read the first book in the series "Rain Fall" you will find this book difficult to under-stand. Almost all of what happens in "Hard Rain" is a follow-on from the previously. All but one major character from the first book appear in this one and what happened prior is what causes what has to be dealt with in the second.

John Rain is a professional assassin, he can make anyone dead look like a suicide. Being Eurasian (he's half Japanese) who grew up in the US and was trained as a killer when he was in the US Army. He was taught to kill with stealth and has proven how good his training was in that now both the Yakuza and the CIA are trying to recruit him. That's the major reason that runs through the book.

If you liked the first book or other Barry Eisler you'll enjoy this one.

I'm always looking for new authors to like when I'm at the library.
Last year when I first picked up one of the books from the John Rain series, I thought, "Oh, this is a BOY book! It's going to be full of violence and testosterone and boy gadgets and I probably won't like it."
But the blurb on the back sounded good, so I gave it a try. Well, it IS full of violence and spycraft and so on, but I liked it a lot. Then I had to ration myself so I wouldn't rush through all the Rain books and have nothing to look forward to. There's still one in the middle of the series that I haven't read. I'm saving it for a treat.