A Lonely Resurrection: 2 (A John Rain Novel) - Softcover

Eisler, Barry

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1477820817 ISBN 13: 9781477820810

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer, 2014

Synopsis

Previously published as Hard Rain and Blood from Blood All John Rain wants is to get out of the killing business. But with his discretion, his reliability, and his unique talent for death by "natural causes," no one is willing to let him just retire. So when an old nemesis from the Japanese national police force comes to him with a new job-eliminate Murakami, a killer even more fearsome than Rain himself-Rain knows he can't refuse. Aided by an achingly desirable half Brazilian, half Japanese exotic dancer he knows he shouldn't trust, Rain pursues his quarry through underground no-holds-barred fight clubs, mobbed-up hostess bars, and finally into the heart of a shadow war between the CIA and the yakuza. It's a war Rain can't win, but also one he can't afford to lose-a war where the distinctions between friend and foe and truth and deceit are as murky as the rain-slicked streets of Tokyo. "...a superlative job...entertaining and suspenseful enough to keep you turning the pages as fast as your eyes can follow." -Chicago Sun Times

About this title

Review:

Barry Eisler's half-breed freelance assassin John Rain returns to Tokyo for a second outing in Hard Rain, the sequel to Eisler's stunning 2002 debut, Rain Fall. Once again Rain is working with, or at least parallel to, Tatsu, a wily veteran of Japan's FBI equivalent, who aims to cleanse the Japanese government of its systemic corruption. To further this goal, he's persuaded the ever-cautious Rain to take out Murakami, a brutal gangster and hitman who specializes in making his killings look like suicide, a specialty Rain thought was his alone. Liquidating the dangerous and elusive Murakami proves to be a difficult task, however, one that leads to personal loss for Rain, and sets the plot on course for a climax that hits with the power of a well-delivered roundhouse kick.

Eisler builds on Rain's self-enforced isolation and loneliness as he expertly shows the reader Tokyo as channeled by Chandler, transforming the burgeoning metropolis into a noir catacomb of dimly lit hostess bars, scheming bureaucrats, shadowy intelligence agents, and outlaw martial arts dojos where thugged-up yakuza train for illicit death matches.

While the plot becomes complicated toward the novel's conclusion, Rain is a refreshing and complex character whom readers will want to see return for another instalment. If you've a yen for a thriller that mixes suspense, intrigue, and action with a Japanese flavour and a hardboiled American attitude, Eisler's Hard Rain is an excellent choice. --Benjamin Reese, Amazon.com

Review:

'A gripping, coherent thriller. Rain is a classic character' -- Times

'An adrenaline-soaked thriller ... Eisler knows how to keep the pages turning' -- Observer

About this edition

• Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1477820817
• ISBN 13: 9781477820810
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 312