RAIN FALL By Barry Eisler

RAIN FALL
By Barry Eisler
Copyright 2002 by Barry Eisler
Published by GP Putnam's Sons

Genre: Thriller

John Rain is a hired killer. His specialty is "death by natural causes". There are three rules for hiring him: He doesn't go after women. He won't take a job if anyone else is on it. And he will only go after a principle character.

Trained by the US Special Forces to fight in Vietnam, he now lives in Tokyo. Something traumatic happened at the end of his Vietnam tour, and Rain turned against his American past. Half Japanese, half American, he is all loner. He doesn't let anyone close. If you allow people to get close to you, you get hurt. He has no intention of getting hurt again.

John Rain is a man torn apart: Japanese/American; soldier/assassin; samurai/ronin. The war is within himself. But he shows nothing on the outside.

Eisler doesn't waste time, dropping us into a hit on the very first page. Rain calmly does his job, but his internal warning system goes on high alert. Something here isn't what it seems.

Circumstances bring jazz pianist Midori Kawamura into his life -- the daughter of the man killed in chapter one. Midori is the key to something she doesn't know about, and she's going to die for it. Rain doesn't like that plan.

This is a fast-paced action thriller. Eisler has created a cold-blooded killer the reader cares about. He makes us feel Rain's agony, and gradually feeds us the back story that turned Rain into the man he is today. The plot twists and turns, drags us into dark alleys and then throws us out into light on the other side. Who can be trusted? Maybe no one. Sometimes, not even John Rain.
This is the first book in a series. Get them all. When you finish this one, you will gasp for air and immediately reach for the next one.