Book Review: Rain Storm

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Rain Storm     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Barry Eisler
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Thriller
Series: John Rain # 3
Putnam, July 2004, $24.95, 320 pp.

It is hard for an assassin to walk away from the business when one of your employere is the CIA but John Rain, a hitman with a conscience, tries. He obtains a new identity and travels to Rio where there is a large population of Japanese. For a time he got away clean although he is always looking over his shoulders until a CIA operative turns up with a job that pays very well. His identity compromised and unwilling to reinvent himself once again, John agrees to take the assignment.

His assignment is to take out Belghazi, an arms dealer that is on the CIA hit list since 9/11. John travels to Macao where he scopes out the terrain prior to Belghazi’s arrival and he believes he has everything covered. He does not count on a second hitman, Belghazi’s lover who has an agenda of her own that is in conflict with John’s as well as a Saudi hit team who are prepared to take John out. Even for John, the kitten who leaves no tracks, completing the assignment and getting out alive will take a miracle.

The world as seen through the eyes of a paid assassin is a fascinating place for a short visit; it is not a place to stay for along period without feeling tainted. Barry Eisler is a suburb storyteller who writes about a hitman with a heart and conscience, a man who will not kill women or children. The protagonist is a fascinating complex man who cannot always separate the various parts of his life leading to his inability to always tell friend from foe, which leads to trusting no one.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner