Winner Take All

"Winner Take All" was an enjoyable continuation of the John Rain series but it lacked the impact and or depth of the first two books "A Clean Kill In Tokyo" and "A Lonely Resurrection".

The encouraging thing is that it seems to have managed a transition from John Rain from a lone wolf to someone who may have people he can trust. This should open out future books and increase the momentum of the character development.

John Rain is an assassin, particularly gifted at making his kills look like death by natural causes. In the course of this book he kills about a dozen people, most of them in a close up and personal way, and doesn't lose a moment's sleep over it, unless you count the fact that he realises that, in his fifties, he's starting show more to be less fast and to heal more slowly.

Barry Eisler's biggest achievement is to make me care about John Rain. Rain kills for money, trusts no one, feels that his mixed blood excludes him from both his Japanese and his American heritage, and leads a life so solitary that it leaves almost no trace on the world.

So what's to like? Perhaps his sense of regret that he is who he is? Perhaps his acceptance, uncoloured by excuses or mitigating arguments, that he is a killer? Perhaps his loyalty to the women in his life? Perhaps that the people he kills are, mostly, nastier than he is?

You see how seductive and corrupting these lines of argument are? That's the kind of man Rain is. His strong sense of self, his discipline and his endurance are seductive. You start to admire how he does what he does. You start to want him to survive, perhaps even to be happy. I can't say this is something I've ever felt about Iack Reacher.

Barry Eisler sets his books in places that, for me, are exotic but in which John Rain is clearly at home, or at least as at home as John Rain is ever going to get.

"Winner Take All" (I hate that title. The absence of an S at the end of TAKE, makes me stumble every time. What was Barry Eisler thinking?This was his third attempt at a title for this book and THIS is what he came up with?) is set in Macao and Rio, taking John out of the his comfort zone in Tokyo and setting him loose to become someone new.

This turns out to be almost cruel as John discovers that living in a new country with a new name doesn't change who he is, what he has done and what the people who know about him will always want him to do. I felt sorry for Rio John Rain. The Macao John Rain, not so much.

Rain makes his first kill in Macoa in the first few pages, taking out a fellow predator just on a suspicion. As the book progresses, Rain's body count rises rapidly. True, most of them were trying to kill him but his efficiency and his ability to compartmentalise are chilling.

The new thing, probably the best thing, in this book is that John starts to trust at least two, maybe three people (the tentative, almost reluctant quality of John's trust explains why I can't be entirely sure of the number).

I like the fact that John can see he's getting older and that this has consequences. I liked that the people he (probably) trusts are not people who would inspire trust in others. I liked the fact that, despite staying in the best hotels in Rio and Macao, Tokyo still calls to him. The scene where he returns to his old neighborhood and finds it changed and all evidence of his time there erased, was beautifully done.

I also love the way Barry Eisler reads his own novels. He improved my experience far beyond what I would have gained from the text alone.

I'll be back for more. show less

Rain Storm is the third John Rain novel I've read. Oddly, it falls short of the first two. Too much tedious introspection by Rain and an unnecessarily gruesome, intricately detailed description of an execution. I sensed that Eisler was getting paid by the word and thus padded the writing. His first Rain book was tightly crafted and suspenseful, though Eisler leavened the plot with interesting revelations about Japanese culture. The diversions and stalls in Rain Storm detracted from the story.

This was a good story however the pace was slow because of what I considered a lot of unnecessary descriptive detail. At times it sounded like a travel guide. However there is “ author loyalty” here and I will eagerly await the next John Rain adventure.

This book continues and expands our insight into John Rain. Eisler's prose is great, as usual. And yep, I'm still looking up a couple of words I don't know in each of his books, lol. That man is literate!

Okay, I rated this book down slightly compared to others in the series so far. Some aspects of the plot, digging around in the CIA, felt tedious to me. Also, Eisler is getting more ambitious in describing some fight scenes. That made them harder for me to follow. Also, if Rain had a concern about his girlfriend Naomi at the start of the book, why wouldn't he dig around on his own(plant a bug, or use his hacker skills, claimed in previous novel) to confirm them before ruining the relationship?

I very much enjoy seeing Rain's weaknesses show more (women & lifestyle habits) and exploring why they remain. They make a lot of sense to me, being willing to risk a lethal weakness for the benefit. But maybe I'm just a guy, ha ha.

Given how Rain talks about knives, even in the last book, I think it is silly he walks around without even a pocket knife. If that was because of a legal issue in Macau or Hong Kong I didn't spot that explanation.

The rest of Eisler's research shines through. His writing exudes authenticity regarding locations, people, cuisines, and such. That takes work and especially to integrate into a pleasing piece of fiction instead of a travel article.

Loved the Dox character and how you don't know if he is really a friend until the very end. Eisler makes all the main characters memorable. They feel three-dimensional and vivid. show less

I feel like this one really went downhill compared to the two previous books. I appreciated the change of location but in retrospect, I might have appreciated more of the same. This book seemed a lot more like John Rain was channeling the author's political opinions, which felt wrong. I plan to read the sequel since I have the physical book, but I don't know if it's worth continuing beyond that. Also, the ending was somewhat confusing and seemed like a cop-out.

A lot more "soap-opera" in this one than in the first 2 of the series - John Rain is questioning his life-choices, his life, his future, his "friends", heck, even his capabilities as he ages.

This doesn't make the story bad, however, if you haven't read the first books in this series, you won't care very much for John Rain's ponderings 'cause you don't know him yet.

Normally I don't like the soap-opera behaviors of kick-butt protagonists (they should fight, not think) but in this case, Rain asks himself the same questions I wanted answers to - like, how can Eisler have additional books in this series when Rain is aging and will end up getting his butt physically handed to him by some young bad boy.

Of course, these questions aren't show more answered here, but at least we know they've been thought of.

I'll definitely read more in the series 'cause I like Rain. show less

Fast-paced ala the Bourne thrillers. Paid assassin, lots of broken necks, and a potential double-cross around every corner. Our assassin has a heart and this is his weakness. Wonderfully detailed travel guide-like bits about Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Rio.