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jacobferrell's review against another edition
2.0
The details the author wanted to explain got in the way of the story. I didn't hate the book, just didn't enjoy it.
debs4jc's review against another edition
4.0
I was mesmorized by this thriller which also has a complex main character and an exotic setting. "John Rain" is an undercover assassin working in Japan. After a successful hit he becomes suspicious of some anomolies--such as when the jazz singer he goes to see turns out to the be target's daughter--and she is followed after the show. Rain follows her pursuer and gets involved in a tangled web of intrigue that he has to figure out to save his--and the girls--skin. Rain also has a muddied past to deal with, and he is an expert commentator on the Japanese culture, being half-Japanese himself. This was a great start to a series as it leaves you wishing for more at the end. If you like thrillers with a bit of complexity you'll definitely want to read this one.
walkingreaderreview's review
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
carlacbarroso's review against another edition
4.0
Bom thriller cheio de acção, exactamente o que procurava e pretendia ler. Algumas coisas aborreceram-me, nomeadamente o uso de japonês e a sua explicação a seguir (está claro que é melhor do que ficar sem perceber o que disseram, mas distrai um pouco), o uso constante de siglas, a narração na primeira pessoa que em certos momentos levava-me a ficar confusa por não perceber se certos parágrafos pertenciam aos diálogos ou à narração. Outra coisa que me incomodou foi as horas, tanto aparecia 7h00 para descrever um evento à tarde/noite (lembro-me do tal concerto de Jazz, que não me parece que tivesse lugar às 7 da matina) como depois aparecia 16h30. :/
Mas a história agradável de seguir e cheia de intrigas, de tal modo que uma pessoa nem se apercebe de virar as páginas. A sério, fiquei surpreendida com a rapidez com que cheguei ao fim e a querer mais. As personagens também são interessantes, nomeadamente a personagem principal. Esperava estereótipos mas acabaram por ter profundidade. O setting também me surpreendeu, senti como se andasse por Tóquio apesar de não conhecer a cidade e acho que o autor conseguiu captar bem a diferença cultural entre oriente e ocidente.
A manter debaixo de olho.
Mas a história agradável de seguir e cheia de intrigas, de tal modo que uma pessoa nem se apercebe de virar as páginas. A sério, fiquei surpreendida com a rapidez com que cheguei ao fim e a querer mais. As personagens também são interessantes, nomeadamente a personagem principal. Esperava estereótipos mas acabaram por ter profundidade. O setting também me surpreendeu, senti como se andasse por Tóquio apesar de não conhecer a cidade e acho que o autor conseguiu captar bem a diferença cultural entre oriente e ocidente.
A manter debaixo de olho.
tani's review against another edition
4.0
I almost never read books like this, but I've had it on my shelf for an age, so it was time. I think I picked it up at a lawn sale way back in the day, perhaps because it was set in Japan? I honestly don't remember the reasoning.
Anyway, this is a thriller/mystery about a former US Special Operative named John Rain. He's half-Japanese, and has been living in Japan since leaving the service. He puts up a front as a consultant on imports, but is actually a mercenary/assassin specializing in natural-looking deaths. The story starts when he's given an assignment to kill a politician, which he executes. However, something about the case seems off, and he soon finds himself entangled with the daughter of the man he's just killed. The plot thickens from there.
I picked this up expecting to read the first few chapters, find myself disinterested, and dnf it. To my surprise, I found myself enjoying it instead! I liked the details about the setting, and I think that was a big draw at first. I'm really interested in Japan, and have visited several times, but seeing it through this book was really fascinating. I didn't know a lot of the things that I found out from this book, from corruption in the government to the setting itself. It is fiction, so I'll take it with a grain of salt, but it certainly all seemed plausible.
I also really enjoyed the details of Rain's work. It's described in fairly meticulous detail, and since I don't read a lot of books like this one, I found myself fascinated by the processes involved. I definitely can't imagine living in such a state of heightened paranoia myself, but it was really interesting to read about.
Then, as the book progressed, I found myself liking John Rain. He's a hard man to understand at first, but I thought the book did an admirable job with giving him hidden depths, and I found his experiences at war to be very interesting, if not a little depressing. I even liked the romance between him and Midori, which I expected to be thoroughly put off by.
I'm shocked to say this, but I actually think I would like to continue on with the series. The ending of the book did a great job of setting up the rest of the series, and I'm really intrigued to see where things go from here.
Anyway, this is a thriller/mystery about a former US Special Operative named John Rain. He's half-Japanese, and has been living in Japan since leaving the service. He puts up a front as a consultant on imports, but is actually a mercenary/assassin specializing in natural-looking deaths. The story starts when he's given an assignment to kill a politician, which he executes. However, something about the case seems off, and he soon finds himself entangled with the daughter of the man he's just killed. The plot thickens from there.
I picked this up expecting to read the first few chapters, find myself disinterested, and dnf it. To my surprise, I found myself enjoying it instead! I liked the details about the setting, and I think that was a big draw at first. I'm really interested in Japan, and have visited several times, but seeing it through this book was really fascinating. I didn't know a lot of the things that I found out from this book, from corruption in the government to the setting itself. It is fiction, so I'll take it with a grain of salt, but it certainly all seemed plausible.
I also really enjoyed the details of Rain's work. It's described in fairly meticulous detail, and since I don't read a lot of books like this one, I found myself fascinated by the processes involved. I definitely can't imagine living in such a state of heightened paranoia myself, but it was really interesting to read about.
Then, as the book progressed, I found myself liking John Rain. He's a hard man to understand at first, but I thought the book did an admirable job with giving him hidden depths, and I found his experiences at war to be very interesting, if not a little depressing. I even liked the romance between him and Midori, which I expected to be thoroughly put off by.
I'm shocked to say this, but I actually think I would like to continue on with the series. The ending of the book did a great job of setting up the rest of the series, and I'm really intrigued to see where things go from here.
papidoc's review against another edition
3.0
Fairly entertaining, though the plot "twist" was predictable. Still, an interesting new anti-hero...it remains to be seen if he will progress into hero.
pattydsf's review against another edition
3.0
“The person who returns from living abroad isn't the same person who left originally... Your outlook changes. You don't take things for granted that you used to. For instance, I noticed in New York that when one cab cut off another, the driver who got cut off would always yell at the other driver... and I realized this was because Americans assume that the other person intended to do what he did, so they want to teach the person a lesson. But you know, in Japan, people almost never get upset in those situations. Japanese look at other people's mistakes more as something arbitrary, like the weather, I think, not so much as something to get angry about.”
I have owned this ebook for a very long time. I am assuming that it was available for free and I figured I couldn’t go wrong. What is not to like about a free book that is not self-published? (Sorry, I have a few prejudices about self-published books.)
It was a good book to read after my trip to Japan. I believe that I understood the characters and the setting a bit better for my trip. Also, it was a good beach book because I knew that all would work out by the end. I didn’t have to sweat the small stuff as I immersed myself in John Rain’s Tokyo.
If you like good guys who are a bit bad, if you like stories that put you in a world that you might not encounter on your own and you like a bit of mystery, you probably should meet John Rain. Eisler will be happy to introduce you.
I have owned this ebook for a very long time. I am assuming that it was available for free and I figured I couldn’t go wrong. What is not to like about a free book that is not self-published? (Sorry, I have a few prejudices about self-published books.)
It was a good book to read after my trip to Japan. I believe that I understood the characters and the setting a bit better for my trip. Also, it was a good beach book because I knew that all would work out by the end. I didn’t have to sweat the small stuff as I immersed myself in John Rain’s Tokyo.
If you like good guys who are a bit bad, if you like stories that put you in a world that you might not encounter on your own and you like a bit of mystery, you probably should meet John Rain. Eisler will be happy to introduce you.
kynan's review against another edition
2.0
I think Rain Fall is Barry Eisler's first book and, as such, perhaps deserves a little forgiveness?
I liked the bones of the story but it really felt like Mr Eisler was trying to insert as many action/film noir detective tropes as possible which meant that John Rain just didn't feel like a believable character to me (as much as one can "believe" in these superhuman assassin types). In fact, if you're familiar with the similar character, Court Gentry ([b:The Gray Man|6547865|The Gray Man (Court Gentry, #1)|Mark Greaney|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1335649192s/6547865.jpg|6740331]), I think I actually found him easier to swallow than Rain. My other comparatively minor gripe was a chunk of what appeared to be technobabble toward the end of the book with regards to copy management and lattice reductions that, although somewhat grounded in reality, didn't really make any sense.
Overall I enjoyed the setting and the descriptions of Tokyo and general Japanese minutiae but I never really engaged with the characters. I don't think I'll be following up with the next in the series.
I listened to the Brilliance Audio version, with Brian Nishii narrating. The audio version was excellent and Mr Nishii's obvious grasp of Japanese lent an air of authenticity to the vocalisation of the book. For the most part I was happy with the voices that he chose for the various characters except for Bulfinch and Yamaoto which were both oddly pitched and, initially at least, rather jarring.
I liked the bones of the story but it really felt like Mr Eisler was trying to insert as many action/film noir detective tropes as possible which meant that John Rain just didn't feel like a believable character to me (as much as one can "believe" in these superhuman assassin types). In fact, if you're familiar with the similar character, Court Gentry ([b:The Gray Man|6547865|The Gray Man (Court Gentry, #1)|Mark Greaney|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1335649192s/6547865.jpg|6740331]), I think I actually found him easier to swallow than Rain. My other comparatively minor gripe was a chunk of what appeared to be technobabble toward the end of the book with regards to copy management and lattice reductions that, although somewhat grounded in reality, didn't really make any sense.
Overall I enjoyed the setting and the descriptions of Tokyo and general Japanese minutiae but I never really engaged with the characters. I don't think I'll be following up with the next in the series.
I listened to the Brilliance Audio version, with Brian Nishii narrating. The audio version was excellent and Mr Nishii's obvious grasp of Japanese lent an air of authenticity to the vocalisation of the book. For the most part I was happy with the voices that he chose for the various characters except for Bulfinch and Yamaoto which were both oddly pitched and, initially at least, rather jarring.
jwillis81's review against another edition
3.0
The Killer Collective was one of my favorite books that I read last year. It was engaging and with great characters. So when I learned that I could read solo adventures of many of the characters that teamed up in The Killer Collective, I was excited to delve into their backstories. John Rain was someone I was particularly excited to read about, but I found myself disappointed by this book. The story and the pacing weren't very engaging, and the author spent more time offering little tidbits of information on living in Japan than he did crafting a tense thriller. Overall, it felt more like a casual character study than an important, high-stakes event from the character's past. I'll probably read more of the author's work because I do like his writing style and the other characters in The Killer Collective, but I'm not sure I'm going to be revisiting John Rain's escapades in Japan anytime soon.