It is a successful piece of "men's formula fiction". There is a bit too much exposition of the nefarious plot. The anguished protagonist with a troubled past, but a good heart....hmmm yeah. The surprising twists are not so surprising. [SPOILER ALERT} Did I mention the whole, I killed your father and now take you as my lover thing? How about the way that the damsel in distress drops from public view when she has a semi-public career as a jazz pianist? Doesn't it seem like someone would be looking for her...like her band members or agent?

All that aside, some elements rise above the Jerry Buckheimer airplane novel read. The sense of place in the writing is strong. The cultural elements stand out. And more than once, I was truly caught up in the action.

As a completist, I'm compelled to go onto the next chapter in the saga. However, I need the character arc to have more than standard "mff" before it gets another star.

P.S. I'm a little cantankerous right now because my FB Goodreads connection is no longer connected to my real Goodreads account and I can't get them to send me a password.

I am not a die hard fan of military, spies, assassins and their ilk type of fiction. I am, however, a die hard fan of all things Japanese and I thought it would be interesting to read about an assassin who is half Japanese, half American. This was so much better than I expected!!!! The story moved along and the military parts were not boring. I loved that the setting was in Tokyo and the author used a lot of vivid descriptions to bring the city to life (and always gave an explanation for those who do not understand the Japanese language.) This is another case of as assassin with part heart of gold, but the author made it believable and I am happy that I took a chance on reading it.

In "Rainfall", we are introduced to John Rain - a half American, half Japanese assassin. He is a man with morals yet heartless. He is the Samurai of recent times who prefers to be a Ronin . His past is terrible and his future, uncertain. You will enjoy this book for three reasons.

First, John Rain, himself. He is an assassin and not a spy, and there lies the subtle difference. Melancholy is a part of his life and you can actually feel the sadness in his eyes all the time.

Second, an authentic picture of Tokyo. You will explore the places, style and feel of the city which have been brought to life extremely well.

Third, the plot. The corruption, the manipulation, the extraction in high levels of bureaucracy the Rain is thrown into.

Start with this gripping book if you want John Rain as a part of your heart.

The next one to follow up "Rainfall" is "Hard Rain" and I am ordering it immediately after I finish the review.

I liked this one. Made a hit-man look human. This is a good one for the UN challenge as Tokoyo is intimately detailed. The social nuances of Japanese culture is also good. I did have a bit trouble keeping up with the Japanese names.

Barry published this book original as RAIN FALL the same year I debuted with NO OTHER OPTION. Publisher’s Weekly picked both of us as “Thriller Authors to Watch” that year. John Rain is a great character, and Barry does a great job in developing him over the subsequent series. I think Barry mentions me as a consultant in one or two of his titles — and I think John Rain kills somebody who looks a lot like me (with an equal fondness for knives) in one of his books!

A Clean Kill in Tokyo is a magnificent match-up of noir vibe and grounded action-thriller genre. Right off the bat, the focus persists on the protagonist, John Rain; haunted by his demons from the Vietnam War, now operating as a hitman that specializes in making his kills look like those from natural causes.

The story, as gleaned from the title, is set in Tokyo. The author does a beautiful job of describing the environment and locales with a finesse that screams real-life experience of those locales. This made the read even more enthralling for me. The beautiful and vivid details of the city life of Tokyo not only served the story, but also breathed life into Tokyo as a living breathing character in this novel.

The action sequences are well described, focusing on skillful hand-to-hand combat, proficiently demonstrating art of violence. Every punch, every blow, every throw, is written in a way that allows readers to visualize every economical movement of John Rain as he takes on his adversaries in brutal manner. Another winning aspect of the action sequences for me, was that they were in tune with the grounded and gritty nature of the thriller. John Rain doled out the beatings as well as endured them, showing the readers that John Rain was not untouchable, but just more conditioned to being the hunter rather than the prey.

What I enjoyed just as much, was the strong foundation of John Rain. With the sole focus on him, the author demonstrated Rain’s thoughts and inner demons, as a man struggling with being considered an outsider due to him being of both American and Japanese descent. This struggle is further explored by the author as he takes the readers for a dark ride into John Rain’s twisted past. A man of few words, hurting soul, and a mean soccer-style kick, John Rain has become a new personal favorite character for me to dive into further. While the novel itself can be considered dated, it never detracts from the feel of a realistic thriller, and resonates with technical details and technology even today.

I definitely recommend this to readers for an addictive read with a strong emotional center, complimented by fast-paced action.

Another great hero to enjoy!!

3 1/2 stars.

I surprised myself by actually liking this book. I am not usually an assassin/spy/CIA kind of person, but this was pretty darn good. John Rain is in the business of killing for hire. He is tops in his profession and sought after for his skills. After the completion of, what he thinks, is a routine "job", he gets caught up in the aftermath, which has never happened before. The author gives us snippets of Johns life growing up as a mixed race child. We get a look at his life of military service also, the whole time the story of his latest hit is unfolding. He soon finds out that there is no honor among those he deals with and soon doesn't know who he can trust. Lots of double agents and scenes of his extraordinary fighting skills keep you on edge throughout the book. Ok i admit that he is one heck of a lucky guy with Bruce Lee super moves at times, but that was ok for me. I am definitely interested in reading the next installment of this series by Mr. Eisler. Thank you for introducing me to this genre and keeping it interesting enough to hook me for another in the series.

John Rain is the kind of assasin that internet conspoiracy theories are made of. He's not the kind of guy to stab and shoot his targets (though he's more than capable of that) but to poison a target over time so that his/her death seems to from natural causes (to use just one example). Plotwise the beats that make up the story (job goes wrong, protagonist finds out it was a set up, protagonist sets out to find out who set him up, uses too-cool-for-words martial arts skills to work his way up {or down} the conspiracy ladder) is likely something you have seen before but the presentation might wow you just the same (as few people can make you "feel" like you're living an action scene the way Barry Eisler does). This is definitely an engaging read that doesn't skimp on the action.

This is the first book in the John Rain series. I really enjoyed the Japanese setting of the story, and the "stuck-between-two-cultures" battle of Rain. I am looking forward to reading other books in the series.

I'm huge spy/assassin story fan so I have been looking forward to picking this up off my TBR pile. This is Eisler's first novel (from '02) and having read his most recent, Fault Line, I must say it's wonderful to see how far he's come as a writer. Not that Rain Fall is a poor first novel, far from it. I found this first book of the Rain series to be a solid, entertaining read.


Although the character's aren't overly developed (I would like to know a little more about Kawamura's daughter, Midori), Rain is a likable sum of his experiences. Eisler does a nice job of infusing back story throughout the novel, keeping the reader's interest by weaving a little more plot exposition with each back flash. I did find the plot a little far fetched at times (for an assassin, Rain has an astonishing ignorance of the workings of the intelligence communities ~ and what paranoid assassin hands over valuable intel to a soft target civilian???) and at times a little repetitious (his recon around several blocks every time he goes to a meet or a stake out), but at least Rain is consistent. It was almost written like a movie script, so it was no surprise to find out it had been turned into a film (Gary Oldman!); unfortunately, it seems to only have been released in Japan, Rein fôru: Ame no kiba.

Personally, I wasn't crazy about the ending, but not from a writing standpoint. I was routing for Rain on a personal level, but the ending that Eisler wrote is far more realistic. I look forward to reading the rest of the series ...and just maybe I'll try and rent the Japanese movie when it comes out on DVD (praying for English subtitles).

http://girlsjustreading.blogspot.com/...