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Summary: Jason Bourne move over
Review: Move over Jason Bourne. John rain is back! More cunning than Bourne or many other "hit men", this half-American half Japanese misfit dazzles us once agin with his meticulous tradecraft,and his uncanny ability to make his stealth murders appear as death from natural causes.
In Hard Rain, Eisler gives us further insight into the psyche of his cool killer, John Rain. This protagonist's motives, as well as his angst, are well developed and wonderfully presented. Eisler's descriptions of Tokyo are acurate almost to a fault.
John Rain is a cunning killer. His life as a freelance assassin is perceived by Rain, both as a source of personal pride as well as the etiology of his painful isolation. In time he could easily become the new iconoclastic character of this genre of novel.
If your looking for a good read, Hard Rain is it.
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Summary: A walk down mean streets
Review: Only a society that prides itself on its order and its conformity could spawn someone as smart, sophisticated and situationally amoral as John Rain, the half-American assassin of Hard Rain. This is a great read on a bunch of levels: you get a taste of Tokyo and its denizens that stays with you, a sense of the politics and the attitudes of modern Japan, and the kind of personal suspense and menace the movies used to do so well. Rain is an expert at many things, violence most of all. But he's no superman; his pain and his fears are real. Like its predecessor, Hard Rain is great escapist fare, especially when it's the stable and unexciting world of the cubicle-dweller that you're looking to escape.
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Summary: Deeper and More complex than the original...
Review: Rain Fall ended with several loose ends around, "But if X and Y happened, wouldn't Z happen too?" There were several character holes, and a few logical consequences that needed to be followed.Would the bad guys really believe John Rain's fake death? What would happen to Midori? Wasn't Harry traceable? The book opens up more of John Rain's character, showing both his strenghts and some more obvious weaknesses. (Why can't spies like him not shag every girl they meet?) It also closes several loose ends hanging over from previous books. We learn more about John Rain's ruthlessness, as well as which rules he's willing to bend, and which not. The plot gets complex near the end. You're left with enough "But what about this?" items to guarantee another episode. (At least I hope so!) If there's one downside of the book, perhaps a few of the supporting charachters (particularly in the CIA) were not as believable as I'd expect. The equisite writing of Tokyo life continues to capture the reader. It'll introduce you in a very realistic way to one of the world's great cities. If you've been there, this should bring back some great memories. Enjoy!
Rating: 
Summary: 4 1/2 stars
Review: The saga continues as John Rain again becomes the center of a very entertaining thriller. While reading this satisfying thriller you'll also learn quite a bit about Japan. Barry Eisler has a good thing going and I hope he keeps it up. Highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointed
Review: This author has such great reviews from the Amazon reviewers, which I can usually trust, but I found myself starting to skip pages about a third of the way through -- so it just must be me. It seemed to me a great portion of the book dealt with the descriptions of John Rain performing his SDR's (surveillance detection runs)through the streets of Osaka and Tokyo. I felt like I was reading a travel book. The action scenes just didn't make up for having to slog through his scenic narratives.
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Summary: John Rain gets deeper
Review: This is the second of two John Rain books (Rain Fall came out last year) and it is even better than the first, which is saying a lot! This is great brain candy that can surprise you with the eloquence of the writing.
Rain is a complex and interesting lead, and in the second book we get to see him dealing with the ambiguities inherent in the life of an assasin. Great summertime fun.
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Summary: Eisler is a fantastic writer...
Review: This novel is not quite as strong as Rain Fall was, but the story is a good one. The stakes are high, but the payoff is a bit smaller. We will be fighting Yamaoto for another day. Still, Rain is a fantastic character and Eisler an oustanding writer. He is much better writer than many of fellow authors in this genre. This story lacks a bit of the depth and context of the first, but remains fascinating in descriptions and Japanese politics. Will Rain ever find peace? Must read the next to find out!
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Summary: Give me more RAIN books ASAP!
Review: This one is impossible to put down! You will read it until the end and then wish there were more works by this author to put your hands on. This is absolutely spellbinding, it grips your gut, occupies your mind, and takes your breath away. Once it was finished, I had to catch my breath and brake the ticker, but I could not stop the gray matter synapses. I'm not entirely sure, but I guess that's what a superb thriller is supposed to do. I am an avid reader and can assure you that it's not too often that I come across a book like this one. Can't wait for the next book in this series. Sign me up for it, I'm hooked!
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Summary: AN ELECTRIFYING JOURNEY
Review: Veteran voice performer Dick Hill imbues his reading of this Tokyo based thriller with just the right amount of suspense and shock. His performance is tight and perfectly paced. Following on the heels of his wildly successful debut novel, Rain Fall, Barry Eisler brings back his intriguing protagonist John Rain. A freelance assassin, a loner by necessity, half Japanese and half American Rain makes the globe his home. After disposing of a CIA agent who had been pursuing him Rain is now ready for a better life, wishing never again to have to orchestrate a murder that appears to be an accident. He's spent almost a quarter of a century doing this, and enough is enough. Enter Tatsu, a Japanese FBI agent who persuades him that he must do one final job. There is a rabid murderer on the loose with absolutely no scruples; unless he's stopped his evil machinations could mean the collapse of Japan's financial system. A ripple effect could then cause global recession. Rain's tracking of this fiend is Eisler at his brilliant best capturing the sights, smells and sounds of underground Tokyo. "Hard Rain" is an electrifying journey through a netherworld of deception and danger. - Gail Cooke
Rating:
Summary: Enter the world of a professional hit-man
Review: You will be hard pressed to find a better book about spies and assassins.
Read Rain Fall first, as this book is a continuation of that story. Hard Rain is every bit as good as Rain Fall--maybe even better.
Eisler keeps you on the edge of your seat, but not by using cheap plot devices such as ending every chapter with a cliffhanger or a surprise.
The dialogue is believable. There are really no uninteresting characters in the entire book.
There are some plot twists, but not so many that you feel pummeled by them.
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