Killing Rain

A few Thursdays ago, I tried my hand at "do nothing" by attending the release of Barry Eisler's Killing Rain at Kepler's in Menlo Park. It was a pleasant surprise to see three friendly and familiar faces in the crowd. This was actually my second visit to Kepler's. I was there last year for the release of his third book, Rain Storm.

The series centers around John Rain, a Japanese-American "natural causes" assassin who primarily operates in Asia. From a Californian's perspective, the stories are set in remote and exotic locations like Manila, Bangkok, Phuket and Tokyo. Because Eisler visits and writes from these places, he's able to add a sense of realism. Luckily, Rain likes coffeehouses, so if I ever visit Japan, I'll have a quick reference guide to some good coffee spots. I can then bug patrons there with, "Hey, did you know that John Rain had coffee here?" And they'll be like, "John who?" And I'll say, "John Rain. You know, he's Japanese-American, in his fifties, kind of imaginary."

The book focused more on character development (both main and secondary) and wasn't as violent as the previous installment. This isn't to say that bad guys didn't suffer and die. They did, but the number of broken necks was down. This coincided with a sharp rise in stabbings and shootings. Realizing that this is a series about an assassin, I can't say that I was hoping for less murder and mayhem, but I was hoping for something more sophisticated. None of Rain's killings came anywhere close to looking like "natural causes". In previous stories, guns and knives seemed like methods below his usual standards, but he seems to have no qualms using them now, even if they're sloppy and crude. Rain seems to have lost his edge this time around. I'd like it if he would get it back by the next book.