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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
Harry se mişca prin aglomeraţia orei de vârf a dimineţii aidoma aripioarei unui rechin care despică apa. Îl urmam la douăzeci de metri, pe celălalt trotuar al străzii, transpirând ca toţi din jur în căldura anormală pentru luna octombrie în Tokio, şi nu puteam să nu admir cât de bine reţinuse puştiul tot ce-l învăţasem. Luneca precum argintul viu printr-un spaţiu în clipa imediat înainte ca acesta să se închidă, ori plutea în lateral pentru a evita un loc îngust gata să se formeze. Schimbările din cadenţa lui erau atât de line, încât nimeni n-ar fi sesizat că-şi modificase pasul pentru a micşora distanţa faţă de ţinta noastră, care mergea acum vizibil grăbită pe Dogenzaka spre staţia Shibuya.
Ţinta se numea Yasuhiro Kawamura şi era funcţionar public de carieră, având legături cu Partidul Liberal Democrat, PLD, coaliţia politică ce condusese Japonia aproape fără întrerupere după război. Actualmente era ministru-adjunct pentru Terenuri şi Infrastructură din cadrul Kokudokotsusho, urmaşul vechilor ministere ale Construcţiilor şi Transporturilor, unde în mod evident ofensase serios pe cineva, întrucât ofensele serioase erau unicul motiv pentru care mă sunau vreodată clienţii.
Ţinta se numea Yasuhiro Kawamura şi era funcţionar public de carieră, având legături cu Partidul Liberal Democrat, PLD, coaliţia politică ce condusese Japonia aproape fără întrerupere după război. Actualmente era ministru-adjunct pentru Terenuri şi Infrastructură din cadrul Kokudokotsusho, urmaşul vechilor ministere ale Construcţiilor şi Transporturilor, unde în mod evident ofensase serios pe cineva, întrucât ofensele serioase erau unicul motiv pentru care mă sunau vreodată clienţii.
One of the joys of just picking up a book in a second hand book store is finding a gem, like Barry Eisler's John Rain series. By fluke I picked up "Rain Fall" which has since been renamed "A Clean Kill in Tokyo" for some odd reason. Anyway, it is an amazing novel because it makes you care about a serial murderer.
John Rain, born to a Japanese father and American mother, is the perennial outsider, never fitting in anywhere he lives. He volunteers to fight in Vietnam as a teenager and finds his one great skill, killing. He is now living and working in Tokyo, a killer for hire who specializes in making the deaths look natural. He murders a minor government official then things get messy when he falls in love with the man's daughter and finds out that the man had been on his way to exposing government corruption.
There are many scenes of brutal, bloody fighting and killing, but because Eisler is such good story teller you become swept up by the story.
I recommend it but it is not for the squeamish.
John Rain, born to a Japanese father and American mother, is the perennial outsider, never fitting in anywhere he lives. He volunteers to fight in Vietnam as a teenager and finds his one great skill, killing. He is now living and working in Tokyo, a killer for hire who specializes in making the deaths look natural. He murders a minor government official then things get messy when he falls in love with the man's daughter and finds out that the man had been on his way to exposing government corruption.
There are many scenes of brutal, bloody fighting and killing, but because Eisler is such good story teller you become swept up by the story.
I recommend it but it is not for the squeamish.
A decent start into the John Rain series. I liked the plausible story, the provided background to Rain, the well researched local colour. I wished for a bit more suspense in the beginning - something happens and then 40% of the book the story is merely meandering. The slow setup has its own beauty but you only realise it after pressing on.
I liked that Rain is a samurai, a ronin even. Hard, dedicated, resourceful, quick-minded but not fail-safe, which means he can and is outsmarted by his opponents. It makes him human and sets him apart from his ilk in similar lone wolf thrillers.
What it's missing to get a fourth star from me is a more elaborate story. I was hoping for greater complexity, additional twists given the solid setup in the beginning of the book. Overall, I enjoyed it as a quick read and received much of what I was looking for. Will continue with the series.
I liked that Rain is a samurai, a ronin even. Hard, dedicated, resourceful, quick-minded but not fail-safe, which means he can and is outsmarted by his opponents. It makes him human and sets him apart from his ilk in similar lone wolf thrillers.
What it's missing to get a fourth star from me is a more elaborate story. I was hoping for greater complexity, additional twists given the solid setup in the beginning of the book. Overall, I enjoyed it as a quick read and received much of what I was looking for. Will continue with the series.
Good book
The story is good and went on good pace too. Only con that I have for this is cheesy romantic, which turned me off. Little fix on that would spice up some more into this storyline. I would recommend anybody to read this. I am curious about upcoming series...
The story is good and went on good pace too. Only con that I have for this is cheesy romantic, which turned me off. Little fix on that would spice up some more into this storyline. I would recommend anybody to read this. I am curious about upcoming series...
Unfortunately, I just thought this book was okay. Not quite the thriller I was expecting and several times I felt like the author was explaining the story to me instead of just telling it if that makes any sense.
mysterious
SPOILERS
Okay Eisler we get it, you know Tokyo like the back of your hand, you don't have to keep reminding the readers of that. 3/5ths of this novel is just the mentioning of locations' names, organisations' names and expositing what the protagonist did in his past and how it explains how he knows every single noteworthy person he encounters in this novel (excluding those that either work for him or gets killed by him).
The constant stating of the names of the most mundane locations and organisations and sub-divisions of said organisations is extremely exhausting. It even seems that just after the halfway mark of the novel, even the author realises he's full of sh-- and from then on just sticks to both naming the setting and describing where in that setting the characters are instead of giving every 30m of space where the story takes place in its own name being mentioned. Also from then only about an eighth of the organisations and sub-divisions of said organisations mentioned previously continue to be used and barely a handful of new organisations are introduced in half of the entire novel. The barrage of uninteresting locations and organisations and sub-divisions of said organisations is so painstakingly detailed upon that it seems the author did an extensive amount of research into the inner workings of Japanese law enforcement, the deployed army divisions into the Vietnam War as well as Japanese espionage and then insisted that every single name he found in capital letters should be name-dropped into this novel.
I dread to think how much longer this novel would've been had the author known a single thing about music theory. Instead of describing the second most important character's main activity in the novel as just "fingers dancing", we'd have been treated to whole pages of mentioning 'fortississimo' and 'crushes'
The only interesting parts of this novel were the fight scenes. Which, while brutal (which is described in a crisp, refreshing manner), are way too short and includes the protagonist being able to one-hit-kill his enemies about half a dozen times too frequently, causing almost every fight to not have any tension. Also concerning how the injuries the protagonist accumulates affect him later on in the novel genuinely seems to be " 'tis but a scratch ".
John Rain's inner turmoil was a thought-provoking aspect of his character however the massacre he committed ruins all subtleties of the affects of war have had on him and just slams the reader over the head with "SEE! HE DID A VERY EVIL THING IN PAST SO NOW HE'S SAD!"
Vast conspiracy which the protagonist has to escape from includes every powerful faction which exists in society across two countries that instead of the novel playing out like a complex game of cat-and-mouse, the reader is just left with waiting to see which organisation falls by the wayside into obscurity and never mentioned again. Hey remember when the protagonist was the greatest threat to the entire construction industry in Japan and the yakuza were supposed to come after him because he was about to expose the entire web of corruption and crimes orchestrated in the government? Nah, the novel tosses out every main player until its down to three factions and one of them is lead by someone who tormented him in the past, can you guess which one is the one which gets solidly defeated in the end?
The protagonist inexplicably gets bailed out of the consequences of his actions by the police/Keisatsucho even though he's murdered several henchmen which the police are very aware of ... oh yes... AND HE MURDERED AN UNDERCOVER KEISATSUCHO officer.
3 stars. Way too long, far too much exposition and flashbacks. The only character interactions which actually have personality included are the hacker character and whenever he interacts with Rain. Every single other character is lifeless and while the motivations may be two dimensional, these characters (including the love interest) bounce off each other like playdough off plywood. The fight scenes, the simplistic espionage and the actions and reactions of all the factions resort to in trying to get the disk is the only reason this novel gets this rating. This story could've been told in 180 pages if all the fluff and useless content was removed. Stop having every character have a past with the protagonist if their interactions are still going to be one-note. Definitely won't be reading the sequel novels
Okay Eisler we get it, you know Tokyo like the back of your hand, you don't have to keep reminding the readers of that. 3/5ths of this novel is just the mentioning of locations' names, organisations' names and expositing what the protagonist did in his past and how it explains how he knows every single noteworthy person he encounters in this novel (excluding those that either work for him or gets killed by him).
The constant stating of the names of the most mundane locations and organisations and sub-divisions of said organisations is extremely exhausting. It even seems that just after the halfway mark of the novel, even the author realises he's full of sh-- and from then on just sticks to both naming the setting and describing where in that setting the characters are instead of giving every 30m of space where the story takes place in its own name being mentioned. Also from then only about an eighth of the organisations and sub-divisions of said organisations mentioned previously continue to be used and barely a handful of new organisations are introduced in half of the entire novel. The barrage of uninteresting locations and organisations and sub-divisions of said organisations is so painstakingly detailed upon that it seems the author did an extensive amount of research into the inner workings of Japanese law enforcement, the deployed army divisions into the Vietnam War as well as Japanese espionage and then insisted that every single name he found in capital letters should be name-dropped into this novel.
I dread to think how much longer this novel would've been had the author known a single thing about music theory. Instead of describing the second most important character's main activity in the novel as just "fingers dancing", we'd have been treated to whole pages of mentioning 'fortississimo' and 'crushes'
The only interesting parts of this novel were the fight scenes. Which, while brutal (which is described in a crisp, refreshing manner), are way too short and includes the protagonist being able to one-hit-kill his enemies about half a dozen times too frequently, causing almost every fight to not have any tension. Also concerning how the injuries the protagonist accumulates affect him later on in the novel genuinely seems to be " 'tis but a scratch ".
John Rain's inner turmoil was a thought-provoking aspect of his character however the massacre he committed ruins all subtleties of the affects of war have had on him and just slams the reader over the head with "SEE! HE DID A VERY EVIL THING IN PAST SO NOW HE'S SAD!"
Vast conspiracy which the protagonist has to escape from includes every powerful faction which exists in society across two countries that instead of the novel playing out like a complex game of cat-and-mouse, the reader is just left with waiting to see which organisation falls by the wayside into obscurity and never mentioned again. Hey remember when the protagonist was the greatest threat to the entire construction industry in Japan and the yakuza were supposed to come after him because he was about to expose the entire web of corruption and crimes orchestrated in the government? Nah, the novel tosses out every main player until its down to three factions and one of them is lead by someone who tormented him in the past, can you guess which one is the one which gets solidly defeated in the end?
The protagonist inexplicably gets bailed out of the consequences of his actions by the police/Keisatsucho even though he's murdered several henchmen which the police are very aware of ... oh yes... AND HE MURDERED AN UNDERCOVER KEISATSUCHO officer.
3 stars. Way too long, far too much exposition and flashbacks. The only character interactions which actually have personality included are the hacker character and whenever he interacts with Rain. Every single other character is lifeless and while the motivations may be two dimensional, these characters (including the love interest) bounce off each other like playdough off plywood. The fight scenes, the simplistic espionage and the actions and reactions of all the factions resort to in trying to get the disk is the only reason this novel gets this rating. This story could've been told in 180 pages if all the fluff and useless content was removed. Stop having every character have a past with the protagonist if their interactions are still going to be one-note. Definitely won't be reading the sequel novels
I liked this book but thought it was a little slow moving for a suspense/thriller novel. When there was action, it was exciting and I liked the twists and turns on the political side. But there may have been too much about Tokyo architecture and which train John Rain was on. I'm hoping this is just a little bit of first book-itis because with a tighter plot I would have liked this one a lot.
I read this for my mystery book group but can't remember any of it. Must not have made an impression on me or I was too stressed about work.
(Audible download) According to the author's website, Eisler has a black belt (it shows in the books, Rain's fights are described in loving detail by judo and karate movement name), worked for the CIA (and must not like most of them, for , in this first of the series at least, the CIA does not come off well) and worked in Japan for several years (and has high respect for Japanese customs.)
One always feels guilty reading (listening, actually) to a book like this for the hero is just about as anti-social as one gets. Rain is half Japanese/half American with a seemingly sordid past as a special operations group member in Vietnam. Haunted by what he had to do there, he has become a specialist in making people die from natural causes. Most are politicians or bankers or a person who someone else has determined must die, and Rain does it really well. It's really hard to discuss any of the plot of this book without stumbling through numerous plot spoilers. Rain has been burned so many times by the traditional forces of "good" that he has been forced to adopt his own code of morality and live in the shadows. Nothing, nothing, is as it seems and Rain learns he has been manipulated again by those he had come to despise.
I suggest, if possible, reading this one first in the series, as it sets the stage for Rain later. Read brilliantly by Brian Nishii. The Japanese names just roll off his tongue and make it even more authentic. There's nothing worse than a reader who doesn't pronounce names correctly. I once heard Dick Hill, otherwise one of my favorite readers, pronounce Schuylkill River as "skykill" instead of "schoolkill" which as anyone who has been within 400 miles of Philadelphia knows is the native way to pronounce it. Drove me crazy the entire book.
I've heard some people use Eisler's view of Japan to assume that the LDP is as corrupt as Eisler suggests and that one can learn about Japanese society from reading the Rain titles. Although I know virtually nothing about Japan, my natural skepticism would suggest being careful in drawing such conclusions. My only criticism would be that Rain's ability to take on 3 or 4 antagonists at once, beating them all, buggers the imagination. Then again, it's fiction.
One always feels guilty reading (listening, actually) to a book like this for the hero is just about as anti-social as one gets. Rain is half Japanese/half American with a seemingly sordid past as a special operations group member in Vietnam. Haunted by what he had to do there, he has become a specialist in making people die from natural causes. Most are politicians or bankers or a person who someone else has determined must die, and Rain does it really well. It's really hard to discuss any of the plot of this book without stumbling through numerous plot spoilers. Rain has been burned so many times by the traditional forces of "good" that he has been forced to adopt his own code of morality and live in the shadows. Nothing, nothing, is as it seems and Rain learns he has been manipulated again by those he had come to despise.
I suggest, if possible, reading this one first in the series, as it sets the stage for Rain later. Read brilliantly by Brian Nishii. The Japanese names just roll off his tongue and make it even more authentic. There's nothing worse than a reader who doesn't pronounce names correctly. I once heard Dick Hill, otherwise one of my favorite readers, pronounce Schuylkill River as "skykill" instead of "schoolkill" which as anyone who has been within 400 miles of Philadelphia knows is the native way to pronounce it. Drove me crazy the entire book.
I've heard some people use Eisler's view of Japan to assume that the LDP is as corrupt as Eisler suggests and that one can learn about Japanese society from reading the Rain titles. Although I know virtually nothing about Japan, my natural skepticism would suggest being careful in drawing such conclusions. My only criticism would be that Rain's ability to take on 3 or 4 antagonists at once, beating them all, buggers the imagination. Then again, it's fiction.