Rain Fall

By Barry Eisler
I really enjoyed this somewhat pulpy thriller. Set in Tokyo, it follows the adventures of John Rain, half-American, half-Japanese assassin, as he deals with the aftermath of what had seemed like a routine assassination. There’s a beautiful girl — the daughter of the man Rain killed — and plenty of thugs, both politicians and gangsters. Rain is surprisingly sympathetic, considering that he’s an amoral killer-for-hire haunted by memories of the atrocities he committed as a soldier in Vietnam. Eisler gets points from me for describing martial arts accurately (he even has some Aikido thrown into the mix, woo!).
I’m looking forward to reading the rest of this series.
Book 7 in 2008