This book details the start of John Rain’s career as an assassin. It is set in 1972. Rain is 20 and has left his role as a soldier in Vietnam. As Rain recounts, he was not one of the soldiers who were in the back. Obviously he saw a lot of deaths and was involved in a lot of killings.

Good start as to the development of Rain’s mindset as a ronin. A complication is a beautiful but handicapped Korean young woman who he falls in love with. You see the two sides of Rain, a ruthless and remorseless killer and someone with a compassionate heart.

These two sides of Rain are severely tested and resolved by the book’s end. At times I thought the story plodded but it may have provided context to those readers who did not read any of the other books of the Rain series.

Lots of action, lots of killing... Rain’s battle with a black belt who is trying to kill him is the most exciting part of the book. ( )

Assassin John Rain is a complex character. Eisler's writing talent has been his ability to craft Rain as a sympathetic, moral character within the cold hard fact of his profession. This prequel sets the stage for how he became an assassin: the choices he faced, how he was manipulated by others, and the paths he ultimately decided to take.

Besides his development, Eisler does a commendable job with Rain’s love life with Sayaka, who is a strong, but wheelchair-bound woman outsider, like Rain himself. The tenderness and passion he shows towards Sayaka is sweet, especially his soiling himself to mitigate her embarrassment after a heavy petting session.

Finally, his knowledgeable descriptions of parks, shrines, neighborhoods, teahouses and coffee shops makes the reader appreciate Japan in the 1970’s. Well researched and annotated. ( )

Love John Rain, so it was enjoyable to read this "look back in time"--how he became the assassin he today. As always, I can't wait until his next adventure. ( )

Summary:

It's 1972 and John Rain is 20 years old and fresh out of Nam working as a bagman for the CIA. When an exchange goes down badly and he kills a street thug who turns out to be a close relative of a Japanese Mafia leader, John must choose a course that changes his life forever.

My thoughts:

This is a stand-alone book that is a good starting point for anyone who has not ever read any of this series. It's also a good background book for readers who are already fans of John Rain and are curious about some of his penchants in life. We do see him begin to learn from his mistakes. The setting of Tokyo and its environs are fascinating...even if I did stumble through the pronunciation of some of the locations. It got only 3 stars because I felt it was so much repeat history of a character that I already knew when I was really looking forward to a new adventure with John.

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The last John Rain book to be written by Barry Eisler and the first in the series chronologically, Graveyard of Memories is a coming of age assassin story - how Rain became a killer for hire transitioning from a CIA bag man linked to the Lockheed Bribery Scandal in Japan to an almost demonic killing machine. The book is also a love story of sorts; assassin in training meets young woman in wheelchair.

The action, tradecraft and violence is classic Eisler but the paraplegic sex breaks new ground in erotic thrillers.

I reread the book in anticipation of Eisler's new thriller The God's Eye View and enjoyed how well the story was crafted. As Rain struggles to understand the motives and machinations of his CIA handler, McCraw, who rises above an archetypal Company man overseas, Rain also has to contend with Yakuza, a wily detective and his own conscience.

This is a thrilling book and well worth the second read. The authenticity is compelling, the action exciting and the characters realistically written.

The question is, are there any more John Rain stories left? I hope so. ( )