Extremis

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. 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? show more 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

This might have been the best John Rain book so far (although I would still prefer that Eisler drop the third person narrative that he now sprinkles into his books). All through the book I kept wondering how Eisler could possibly provide a satisfactory ending (as frequent readers of my reviews will note, I am often critical of weak endings), but Eisler surprised me and ended the book just right! Please read the John Rain novels, but please, please, read them in order.

Seriously, what happened? All was well in this series and then, somewhere in between the last two books, it has devolved into ‘Desperate Housewives’ meets ‘Mr and Mrs Smith’. The main character, John Rain, was interesting in that he was almost without conscience. A hint of decency perhaps, but essentially cold, smart, and deadly. He is a gun-for-hire with a twist – his forte is staging assassinations that look like deaths by natural causes. And his first person narrative has been fresh and compelling.

But not here.

Rain is all over the place like a mad lady’s breakfast – developing a conscience, mooning around in a preposterous love triangle, developing a soft spot for an old rival, and spouting stuff about killing to show more prevent the world descending into terrorism. Oh, and the narration has gone to third person, with far too much time spent hearing from others.

I gritted my teeth and persevered for about half the book, but then gave up.

It definitely isn’t the place to start an acquaintance with John Rain – or with the work of Barry Eiser. show less

Eisler dropped the ball with this book. I don't mind that Rain was getting philosophical in books 3 and 4, after all, he is aging and does have to consider his plans for leaving "the life". But this book was more like a soap opera than an assassin's story.

I wasn't too smitten with the change in points of view (this started in book 4) since I read these books because Rain is interesting... the other characters are just side-kicks for him so I don't really want to see inside their heads. And Delilah's behavior by visiting Midori simply didn't make sense for the story, or for her character, or considering the relationship she and Rain have.

Anyway... I like the suspense and butt-kicking and outside the lines justice that this series started show more with. I don't like the sob stories that it's turning into. I hope Rain rediscovers his manhood in the next book. show less

First, I should disclose this isn't a genre I usually read, which probably contributed to me not being totally drawn in and hence paying more attention to writing technique decisions. The author will be speaking at a conference I'm attending, so I wanted to get familiar with his work.

The first thing that struck me was, for an action book, the action seemed to take a long time to start. I'm surprised we weren't shown danger more immediately. I also noticed long passages with no dialogue, just a single character pondering the situation. This may have been intended as a change of pace but instead struck me as telling, not showing. I disliked the switching viewpoints, or at least the handling of them. (Gillian Flynn did an impressive job of show more this in Gone Girl; here, it feels clumsy).

That said, I imagine if you are an existing fan of this author or the series, there is every reason for you to enjoy this book. I really liked Delilah, and the scenes when the sumo wrestlers first enter the plot were witty and enjoyable. I didn't care for the outcome for those characters, but that again is simply a reflection of my reading taste.

This book seems also to be known by an alternate title, Extremis. show less

Wow, Eisler's thriller aspect keeps getting better. John Rain has some hard choices to make and we're along for the ride. Ride a sumo wrestler? Why not, ha ha. Eisler brings back our entire cast of characters here.

As I noted in my review of the prior book, Eisler's poetic prose is toned way down here as well. Maybe it appeals to a wider audience but I miss lingering over some of his earlier lyrical sentences.

I see there is yet another Rain book for me to read after this one. Makes perfect sense, a loose end that was obvious from earlier.

Taken as a series, this one is stronger than my individual book ratings. The characters and plots evolve and I'm finding the sum is even greater than its parts. That is a good way to contrast these show more versus Lee Child's Jack Reacher series. Child's individual books are strong but the series has only a hint of evolution and continuity, not nearly as strong.

I am left wondering now, can a father be kept away from his son? And can Rain ever truly quit? He seems to make new enemies as he resolves each old one. Not good for a killer whose signature is death by natural causes. show less

John Rain has an unusual profession - he's a paid assassin. And he is very good at his job. But this assignment is a little different. Instead of being hired to kill some high-profile crime boss, he is out to protect his own family. Traveling from Barcelona to Tokyo to NYC, Rain sets out to outsmart some very powerful people in the Yakuza crime syndicate. The pacing of this book is fast and furious - very fun to listen to and hard to put down. I was especially amazed at the amount of realistic detail in the book about how Rain would scope out a location or plan a mission. So much detail that it made me wonder what about Barry Eisler's background. Sure enough, he used to work for the CIA. Great mystery!