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Checking in on Eisler's killer with a heart
''The Last Assassin''
Reviewed by John Orr
''The Last Assassin'' is my introduction to the John Rain series by San Francisco Bay
Area author Barry
Eisler, and it's made me want to go find the earlier books and read them.
Rain is a Japanese-American assassin who has been thinking he'd like to
get out of the
business -- especially since he's learned that one of the loves of his
life, Midori, is raising
their child in New York. A child he hadn't known about. He cries when he
takes the baby in his
arms. He wants to hook up with Midori and live something like a normal life,
but there are
complications.
Among them: Some of his enemies are hanging around Midori just so they can
kill him if he
shows up; and Midori is still real cranky about Rain having killed her
father. And, there is
that Israeli spy Delilah, who has the hots for Rain (don't all women?),
understands his life
better than does jazz-pianist Midori, and who has a real nasty streak when
it comes to
jealousy.
''The Last Assassin'' is a terrific, fun read, full of modern spy craft
(Eisler worked for
the CIA for a while), exotic locales well described, hot sex well described
and plenty of
violence. Not to mention a fine, extremely well defined character in John
Rain, who really
seems like a pretty good guy, given his career.
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