Barry Eisler

When a new book in this series pops up, there are a couple of things you can safely assume. First, Eisler will deliver a wild ride full of action, suspense & characters you’ll love to hate. Second, Livia Lone is still a kickass. She survived being trafficked as a young girl but her sister didn’t. Now a detective with the Seattle PD Sex Crimes unit, she’s on a mission to make predators pay. Dearly.

B. D. Little is an investigator with Homeland Security & knows the pain that comes with a show more missing child. Ten years ago his daughter disappeared. Using his formidable resources, he searched endlessly but all he found were similar cases. Then they stopped. Now a young girl has disappeared under familiar circumstances. It may be B.D.’s last chance to find the perpetrator & get answers. And he knows who to call for help……an old acquaintance who is just as obsessive about getting justice for these kids.

Livia is still dealing with the fallout from her last little adventure (The Killer Collective) & trying to keep her head down at work. But B.D.’s story strikes a chord & Livia would love nothing more than to catch those responsible. She sees a couple of immediate problems. For some reason B.D.’s boss is blocking the investigation & he’s sure he’s being watched. And while she understands the need for answers, Livia is worried B.D. is too emotionally involved. Desperate men make mistakes & she really can’t afford to attract any more attention.

Right from the start there’s an interesting dynamic as the 2 MC’s have history. They’ve worked together before although it’s always been an uneasy alliance at best. B.D. has helped Livia in the past but he’a also manipulated her for his own gain. With so much at stake, she has to wonder if he’s willing to throw her to the wolves to find his daughter.

In alternate chapters, we meet those wolves & and when it comes to creep factor, they’re off the charts. Not only do we hear their horrifying plans but also realize just what Livia & B.D. are up against.

Holy Cats, find a comfie reading spot because you won’t be moving for a few hours. It’s a fast paced thriller with plenty of action & forks in the road. The MC’s provide the heart & soul that will have you cheering them on while you hiss at at a slew of bad guys (pro tip: if your nickname is “Snake” you’re probably not known for your cuddly side. Just sayin’). The author does a a great job of providing enough info to make us cringe without resorting to graphic details. And if you think all the cool tech toys are science fiction, peruse the notes & links provided at the end. Downright scary.

Livia is a complex & charismatic woman. Intelligent & highly skilled, she continues to battle the emotional scars from her past. Her character has been slowly evolving over the course of the series & she’s taking baby steps toward normal relationships. Enough background is given for this to be read as a stand-alone but as with all series, you’ll get more from it if you’ve read previous books. show less

To start, I really like Eisler's work... particularly when he focuses on troubled vigilante protagonists who are driven to seek justice (his forays into "political" thrillers are not quite as strong).

I had a hard time putting this book down. It was disturbing and satisfying at the same time. You hate everyone you are supposed to hate and you don't feel even a twinge of guilt when Livia does "bad" things. The story is based on disgusting and disturbing activities that really happen, and, show more while Livia was a survivor, I suspect she exists only in this fiction: too bad.

I will be buying any other Eisler books when they come out. (and, yes, I paid full price for this book) show less

This book is so good that I wish I hadn't read it yet so I would have it to look forward to reading. I'm not even exaggerating.

If you've read and liked any of the Rain books, you have to pick this one up. It explores Rain before he became the smooth and competent assassin he is in the other books. We get to watch him grow into his skills as life started handing him lemons.

We even get to see how and why he was so emotionally alone in all the other stories. The path he followed to get to how show more he is (personally and professionally) in the remainder of the series was set here - and it was completely believable. Perhaps the main "love scene" was a bit long (and relatively detailed), but since it was fundamental to John Rain's growth into the man he becomes, I think the length/detail of the romantic components was okay.

I wouldn't suggest starting here though. Reading the books in order of publication will give you a better sense of John Rain, and make this story so much more poignant.

If there was another book about John Rain, I'd buy it immediately. show less

John Rain, the half-Japanese, half-Caucasian professional assassin seen in Eisler's previous books, finds himself more socialized than ever, a situation that brings its own dangers. Learning that Midori, his one-time lover (he'd killed her father in the first book, Rain Fall), has given birth to a son -- his son -- he's determined to be part of their lives, but first, he must eliminate the threat to them, and him, posed by the Japanese gangster who holds a grudge, again from an earlier book. show more To this end, he reluctantly enlists the aid of Dox, an old sniper buddy from his days serving in Nam for the US (and working for the CIA), and Delilah, an Israeli agent with whom he's had an on-again, off-again affair.

Complicated? Yes. Absorbing? Definitely. The novelty of the first book -- that of the detailed depiction of a paid killer with a code of ethics -- has worn a bit thin, but the involvement of other characters (Dox is a breath of fresh air) and other povs (mainly Delilah's) add variety and help keep the series from going stale. Still, I can't help feeling Eisler meant it when he said somewhere that he has an end point in mind and I suspect it will come soon. Rain is a tough character to maintain over time. To stay interesting, he has to grow as a person, which means in this case, develop emotional ties, and a conscience. And it's those very things that will make him like many other characters populating suspense novels.

Eisler knows his stuff, and the details of the hunt is what makes this book, as the others in the series, unique, along with the unusual perspective of a man who kills for a living, all for a good cause, or so he tells himself. He allows himself to be used as a tool for what he hopes are the right reasons, and it's the psychology of Rain and his part of the world that keeps me hooked on this series. show less