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John Rain #8
Graveyard of Memories
What makes a legendary assassin? For John Rain, it was the lessons of love, war, and betrayal he learned in Tokyo in 1972.
Fresh from the killing fields of Southeast Asia, Rain works as a bagman under the watchful eye of his CIA handler, delivering cash to corrupt elements of the Japanese government. But when a delivery goes violently wrong, Rain finds himself in the crosshairs of Japan’s most powerful yakuza clan. To survive, Rain strikes a desperate deal with his handler: take out a high-profile target in the Japanese government in exchange for the intel he needs to eliminate his would-be executioners.
As Rain plays cat and mouse with the yakuza and struggles to learn his new role as contract killer, he also becomes entangled with Sayaka, a tough, beautiful ethnic Korean woman confined to a wheelchair. But the demands of his dark work are at odds with the longings of his heart—and with Sayaka’s life in the balance, Rain will have to make a terrible choice.
344 pages, Paperback
First published February 11, 2014
About the author
Barry Eisler
87 books3,063 followersBarry Eisler spent three years in a covert position with the CIA’s Directorate of Operations, then worked as a technology lawyer and startup executive in Silicon Valley and Japan, earning his black belt at the Kodokan Judo Institute along the way. Eisler’s award-winning thrillers have been included in numerous “Best Of” lists, have been translated into nearly twenty languages, and include the #1 bestsellers Livia Lone, The Night Trade, and The Killer Collective. Eisler lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and, when he's not writing novels, blogs about national security and the media. www.barryeisler.com
Series:
* John Rain
Series:
* John Rain
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 380 reviews
March 31, 2026
I’ve enjoyed the John Rain series. The seven books I’d read to date had convinced me that Eisler’s lead man, John Rain, is an assassin for hire with a bit of depth to him. He is a complex and interesting man who thinks deeply about his trade, who sets parameters he’s not prepared to operate beyond and who enjoys some of the finer things in life. His appreciation of Japanese culture and his love for fine whiskey and jazz music in my mind elevate him above some of the grunt and shoot merchants I’ve come across. So having invested some time getting inside Rain’s head and gaining some sense of a broader storyline running through the series, complete with returning themes and characters, I was a bit surprised when this book took us back in time – way back.
It’s 1972, and twenty-year-old Rain has returned to Tokyo after service in the Vietnam War. He’s half Japanese and half American, and consequently he’s never felt fully at home in either country. But this is where he spent his early years, and now he’s back operating as a courier for the CIA. Rain takes his orders from another Vietnam vet, a man who is confident but brash and sometimes aggressively rude. Then something goes awry following a drop-off. Rain is challenged by a trio of youths who appear to be Yakuza, members of an organised crime syndicate, and events turn sour very quickly. From this point on, the story takes a number of twists and turns. It’s violent – extremely so – and Rain begins to wonder if he can distinguish who is friend and who is foe. There’s a love story here too, touchingly told as the inexperienced Rain courts a girl slightly older than he but one who is even less experienced in terms of relationships and sex.
The twenty-year-old Rain is less complex than the man I’d met in previous books: partly formed and with none of the hang-ups or passions he’d later develop. This is natural enough, and it does provide an opportunity for the author to sow the seeds of the man regular readers have come to know. But, in truth, I found this simpler version of the man less interesting. The story itself began to develop into something I struggled to believe in as it entered its final third. Firstly, there was just too much violence, and Rain survived close scrapes a little too easily. Secondly, I just didn’t buy the late twists.
I think I see why Eisler added a book like this to the series. It does fill in some gaps, but it’s far from his best book. It might be a good place to start if you’ve not dipped into this series before, but if you do start here, then please keep it in mind that subsequent books will offer more. I still think he’s an interesting man, John Rain, and I hope to catch up with him again someday.
It’s 1972, and twenty-year-old Rain has returned to Tokyo after service in the Vietnam War. He’s half Japanese and half American, and consequently he’s never felt fully at home in either country. But this is where he spent his early years, and now he’s back operating as a courier for the CIA. Rain takes his orders from another Vietnam vet, a man who is confident but brash and sometimes aggressively rude. Then something goes awry following a drop-off. Rain is challenged by a trio of youths who appear to be Yakuza, members of an organised crime syndicate, and events turn sour very quickly. From this point on, the story takes a number of twists and turns. It’s violent – extremely so – and Rain begins to wonder if he can distinguish who is friend and who is foe. There’s a love story here too, touchingly told as the inexperienced Rain courts a girl slightly older than he but one who is even less experienced in terms of relationships and sex.
The twenty-year-old Rain is less complex than the man I’d met in previous books: partly formed and with none of the hang-ups or passions he’d later develop. This is natural enough, and it does provide an opportunity for the author to sow the seeds of the man regular readers have come to know. But, in truth, I found this simpler version of the man less interesting. The story itself began to develop into something I struggled to believe in as it entered its final third. Firstly, there was just too much violence, and Rain survived close scrapes a little too easily. Secondly, I just didn’t buy the late twists.
I think I see why Eisler added a book like this to the series. It does fill in some gaps, but it’s far from his best book. It might be a good place to start if you’ve not dipped into this series before, but if you do start here, then please keep it in mind that subsequent books will offer more. I still think he’s an interesting man, John Rain, and I hope to catch up with him again someday.
January 25, 2014
It's hard to go back. Most of the time I don't like it. Tell the story forward, move forward--I want to know what happens next, not what came before. I admit to having the same emotions before Graveyard of Memories.
Eisler, though, with one of the best characters I've ever encountered, knocks it out of the park.
Graveyard is vintage Rain--literally. It's story in long, deep swallows of prose that the reader must slow to appreciate, ingest, and enjoy. It's short bursts of sharp dialogue and juicy thoughts with layers and layers of taste--food for the brain. After spending so many unforgettable hours with Rain in the previous six (seven, if you count The Detachment) novels, to see where it began is a wonder of time travel and emotional payoff. Rain, although noticeably green, is the same Rain we recognize from the other stories. Eisler does a wonderful job at reverse-engineering a legend. He shows us how all those pieces that came after fit together.
Some of the action isn't as sharp, some of the plotting isn't as smart, but the mastery of that is that Rain isn't as sharp or as smart as he became. Yet what is always present in Graveyard is that potential. Even though it's not there in our hero, it is there in our narrative. Graveyard fits well with the rest of the Rain series in that it stays with you long after the story has unfolded. It's a job beautifully done--start to finish, emotion riding high all the way, something Rain never learned how to lose, only to hide away.
Time with John Rain always feels over too soon, a visit from a dear friend that we wish would linger longer. Yet that's what makes it so special. I always wish there were more Rain books in the series at the same time as appreciating the scarce resplendence of so few.
It's hard to go back. After Graveyard, part of me wants to go back again. That would probably sound familiar, wouldn't it, John?
Recommended to all thriller readers, every Eisler fan (admittedly it will carry much more weight for you), and anyone looking for story and character on a grand scale.
Eisler, though, with one of the best characters I've ever encountered, knocks it out of the park.
Graveyard is vintage Rain--literally. It's story in long, deep swallows of prose that the reader must slow to appreciate, ingest, and enjoy. It's short bursts of sharp dialogue and juicy thoughts with layers and layers of taste--food for the brain. After spending so many unforgettable hours with Rain in the previous six (seven, if you count The Detachment) novels, to see where it began is a wonder of time travel and emotional payoff. Rain, although noticeably green, is the same Rain we recognize from the other stories. Eisler does a wonderful job at reverse-engineering a legend. He shows us how all those pieces that came after fit together.
Some of the action isn't as sharp, some of the plotting isn't as smart, but the mastery of that is that Rain isn't as sharp or as smart as he became. Yet what is always present in Graveyard is that potential. Even though it's not there in our hero, it is there in our narrative. Graveyard fits well with the rest of the Rain series in that it stays with you long after the story has unfolded. It's a job beautifully done--start to finish, emotion riding high all the way, something Rain never learned how to lose, only to hide away.
Time with John Rain always feels over too soon, a visit from a dear friend that we wish would linger longer. Yet that's what makes it so special. I always wish there were more Rain books in the series at the same time as appreciating the scarce resplendence of so few.
It's hard to go back. After Graveyard, part of me wants to go back again. That would probably sound familiar, wouldn't it, John?
Recommended to all thriller readers, every Eisler fan (admittedly it will carry much more weight for you), and anyone looking for story and character on a grand scale.
February 1, 2017
I've been a big fan of John Rain ever since I read "Rain Fall". Yes, he's an assassin so you have all the (a)moral implications that go with that particular profession. But he always came across as more than another testosterone infused hit man. He had a conscience, hard rules & regrets. As the books continued we slowly learned about his personal life & the people he'd loved. Now, we get to to find out how it all began, how 20 year old Jun found himself at a crossroad & chose the path that would seal his fate.
It's 1972 & Rain is in Tokyo, the city he left when he was 8 years old. His Japanese father had been killed & his white mother took him back to the States. Now she too is dead, the only tie he had to America. He just got out of Viet Nam & finds himself with few career options outside of the jungle. He left the military under a cloud & is biding his time, working as a bagman for CIA handler Sean McGraw. It's easy work, greasing the wheels of Japanese politics for American interests & he needs the money.
It's a simple set-up. Every now & then, he meets up with Miyamoto, a middle aged local with a penchant for loud ties. They exchange identical bags, one with info, one with money. But Rain is about to embark on a steep learning curve, acquiring knowledge that will serve him well later on. Lesson #1: not everyone is who they say they are.
It all begins when Rain is attacked by three thugs after a routine exchange. He's not yet the self contained man we know & prone to impulsive actions so he lets out all his frustration & fights back, killing one of the youths. He can't know it but this is the pivotal event that will lead to him becoming John Rain, assassin.
I don't want to reveal any more of the plot because there are plenty of twists & misdirection employed by the author. The reader learns the truth behind the whole scheme as Rain does, although the full scope is not evident 'til the end.
It answers a lot of questions about this man. We meet for the first time some of the characters who will appear in later books & the significance of his appreciation for good whisky & great jazz. We learn why he was exiled from Japan for so long & watch as he develops the skills & rules that will become tenets of his later life.
It's a book that tells two stories. One is the current situation where Rain will have to deal with members of the "yakuza" (criminal gangs), political double crosses, his first contract & a lovely young Korean woman who will haunt him for the rest of his life. The characters are well rounded & the plot is fast paced & intricate as we try to figure out who exactly the bad guys are.
The second tells the evolution of his character. The book is narrated by Rain, as he looks back from decades in the future. He relates how it all happened while making wry observations about himself on the side. You feel like he's reliving it all in his mind's eye, mentally shaking his head, bemused & sad. This is a Rain who is philosophical, weary & carrying the weight of all his actions. He accepts responsibility for the choices he made but that doesn't stop the regret & sorrow he feels for the young man who could have had a very different life if he'd made different decisions.
I really enjoyed this but found it almost unbearably sad at times. It reminded me of the old saying that youth is wasted on the young. With the advantage of knowing his future, you watch as the angry & disenfranchised Jun looks for his place & a sense of belonging. It's the genesis of his life as a loner with a foot in two cultures but fully accepted by neither one.
By the end, Jun is dead. He's been replaced by John, a harder man just beginning to understand that with every act comes repercussions & wishing them undone is a fool's game. "Sometimes there's just what you can do. And what you can't".
It's 1972 & Rain is in Tokyo, the city he left when he was 8 years old. His Japanese father had been killed & his white mother took him back to the States. Now she too is dead, the only tie he had to America. He just got out of Viet Nam & finds himself with few career options outside of the jungle. He left the military under a cloud & is biding his time, working as a bagman for CIA handler Sean McGraw. It's easy work, greasing the wheels of Japanese politics for American interests & he needs the money.
It's a simple set-up. Every now & then, he meets up with Miyamoto, a middle aged local with a penchant for loud ties. They exchange identical bags, one with info, one with money. But Rain is about to embark on a steep learning curve, acquiring knowledge that will serve him well later on. Lesson #1: not everyone is who they say they are.
It all begins when Rain is attacked by three thugs after a routine exchange. He's not yet the self contained man we know & prone to impulsive actions so he lets out all his frustration & fights back, killing one of the youths. He can't know it but this is the pivotal event that will lead to him becoming John Rain, assassin.
I don't want to reveal any more of the plot because there are plenty of twists & misdirection employed by the author. The reader learns the truth behind the whole scheme as Rain does, although the full scope is not evident 'til the end.
It answers a lot of questions about this man. We meet for the first time some of the characters who will appear in later books & the significance of his appreciation for good whisky & great jazz. We learn why he was exiled from Japan for so long & watch as he develops the skills & rules that will become tenets of his later life.
It's a book that tells two stories. One is the current situation where Rain will have to deal with members of the "yakuza" (criminal gangs), political double crosses, his first contract & a lovely young Korean woman who will haunt him for the rest of his life. The characters are well rounded & the plot is fast paced & intricate as we try to figure out who exactly the bad guys are.
The second tells the evolution of his character. The book is narrated by Rain, as he looks back from decades in the future. He relates how it all happened while making wry observations about himself on the side. You feel like he's reliving it all in his mind's eye, mentally shaking his head, bemused & sad. This is a Rain who is philosophical, weary & carrying the weight of all his actions. He accepts responsibility for the choices he made but that doesn't stop the regret & sorrow he feels for the young man who could have had a very different life if he'd made different decisions.
I really enjoyed this but found it almost unbearably sad at times. It reminded me of the old saying that youth is wasted on the young. With the advantage of knowing his future, you watch as the angry & disenfranchised Jun looks for his place & a sense of belonging. It's the genesis of his life as a loner with a foot in two cultures but fully accepted by neither one.
By the end, Jun is dead. He's been replaced by John, a harder man just beginning to understand that with every act comes repercussions & wishing them undone is a fool's game. "Sometimes there's just what you can do. And what you can't".
October 28, 2022
Not as exciting as it's a prequel but good enough to get to the end.
March 22, 2023
oh wow
I could listen to Barry all day 🤭..
This was a gripping read and I loved every moment of it, the plot, the description of places it’s like I had been there myself to experience the culture. The humour 😂😂 especially at inappropriate times , I laughed like an idiot. I have found my new favourite author ❤️
I could listen to Barry all day 🤭..
This was a gripping read and I loved every moment of it, the plot, the description of places it’s like I had been there myself to experience the culture. The humour 😂😂 especially at inappropriate times , I laughed like an idiot. I have found my new favourite author ❤️
March 9, 2014
Book Review:
A Graveyard of Memories is Eisler's prequel to the John Rain series. In the story, we find Jun, or John, living in Tokyo following his exit from covert activities during the Vietnam War. He's a bagman for the CIA operating in Tokyo. Young, temperamental, impetuous and still able to make the distinction between the violence and vigilance required during war verses the tranquility and safety of an urban, citizens' environment John starts to realize there is in fact very little difference between the jungles of Vietnam and the urban jungle of Tokyo.
The code by which he lives as so deftly featured in the subsequent John Rain novels has not yet fully materialized: John makes rookie mistakes. Eisler allows us to enter John's head via a first person point of view throughout this wonderful story. We are invited to witness the transformation of a simple money bagman into that of a killer whose MO of assassination by natural causes is to drive future novels. The ride is bumpy, full of rationalizations, mistakes and a fudging of justice as the young Rain comes to grips with the killer he really is. I've read all the Rain novels and for me, this prequellish peek into how it all began was nothing short of entertaining.
Eisler covers all the human desires that dance around John: love (tender and beautiful), death, betrayal, unlikely allies, and friendship: all change John's life irrevocably as he seeks to set himself firmly on a new path. For some reason, Eisler has that unique ability to evoke sympathy for an unlikely hero. His investigation in how John's mind works, how Rain converts mistakes into opportunities and assembles a code to live by for future entanglements is nothing short of fascinating. That reasoning process and this acute awareness of his surroundings, that fight to gain control over emotional upheavals, all the things that will later drive John's life is shown in all its imperfections as we read this prequel.
Eisler's view of a Tokyo that no longer exists (1972) has undergone considerable research concluding in Barry's reclusive trip to Tokyo where he personally sought out those aspects of the city that have defied half a century of change. This is where Eisler wrote the story of a Graveyard of Memories. You can see his research and photos of settings in the books here, but I think Eisler would prefer you read the book first and only then compare your own imagination with the reality of it.
For the genre in which this book lives, I highly recommend this prequel. I do rate books contextually. By that I mean, if I'm reading a thriller book, then the comparison is between this and other books in the genre. And, I admit, this is a series that caused me to want to review crime fiction in the first place (along with Child's Jack Reacher series). Speaking of which, Eisler must have neuro paths towards my own likes and dislikes as he has posted a fictional conversation between himself and John Rain on the subject of Jack Reacher. Check it out! In any case, that road has taken me to far away places, onto books I never expected to read and I'm grateful to point to Eisler as one of the authors to sufficiently flame my curiosity as to what else is out there.
----------------------------------------------------------
Series Review
Barry Eisler
Barry Eisler besides authoring the famous John Rain series, actually spent three years in a covert position with the CIA's Directorate of Operations. His thrillers are well versed in spy-craft as well as technology where his credentials point to working as a technology lawyer and startup executive in Silicon Valley and Japan. His fighting sequences too come from experience. He earned his black belt at the Kodokan International Judo Center along the way. The coined phrase "write about what you know" could not apply more which doesn't mean that he doesn't thoroughly research his novels. Eisler insists that he personally visit every exotic locale he plans to write about (Japan being a frequent setting in his books).
Barry Eisler has won the Barry Award and the Gumshoe Award for Best Thriller of the Year, has been included in numerous "Best Of" lists, and his books have been translated into nearly twenty languages. Blogging for Eisler is as natural as writing his vastly entertaining assassin novels: when he's not writing novels, he blogs about torture, civil liberties, the book industry and the rule of law.
Eisler, to print publishers, is a heretic (sorry, Mr. Turrow!). Not only has Barry Eisler taken control of his novels away from his former print publishers, but he's actually renamed everyone of his novels as he would have named them as their author, not as the publishers proclaimed they should be named (and this includes the cover art for his novels). Eisler has moved to digital eBooks and now retains 70% of proceeds, as opposed to say 8% graciously awarded by print publishers. Here's some of what Eisler has had to put up with from his publishers (you'll never think of book titles in the same way again!):
"The sad story of the original Rain titles began with the moniker Rain Fall for the first in the series. It was a silly play on the protagonist's name, and led to an unfortunate and unimaginative sequence of similar such meaningless, interchangeable titles: Hard Rain, Rain Storm, Killing Rain (the British titles were better, but still not right: Blood from Blood for #2; Choke Point for #3; One Last Kill for #4). By the fifth book, I was desperate for something different, and persuaded my publisher to go with The Last Assassin, instead. In general, I think The Last Assassin is a good title, but in fairness it really has nothing to do with the story in the fifth book beyond the fact that there's an assassin in it. But it was better than more of Rain This and Rain That. The good news is, the fifth book did very well indeed; the bad news is, the book's success persuaded my publisher that assassin was a magic word and that what we needed now was to use the word assassin in every title. And so my publisher told me that although they didn't care for my proposed title for the sixth book—The Killer Ascendant—they were pleased to have come up with something far better. The sixth book, they told me proudly, would be known as The Quiet Assassin."
So don't be surprised to find your favorite Rain novels gone in the Kindle store (or wherever you shop for online books): they've been renamed. Although he prefers the monniker incrimentalist as opposed to that of a visionary, there is no doubt that Eisler sees the book world undergoing drastic changes (much more favorable towards authors). Just as Netflix and Hulu are redefining the distribution of television (marking the death of Cable TV), so digital books mark the death of the print industry's former stranglehold over what you're able to read. Along with Joe Konrath (the Jack Daniels mystery series), who Eisler does consider a visionary in the crusade against print publishers' wholesale extortion of the authors they represent as well as the future of where eBooks are really going, Eisler is quite tranparent in asserting his rights and control over his own product: his John Rain novels.
But his transparency doesn't stop there. Barry Eisler is probably one of the most amenable authors where it concerns helping unpublished authors reach success. This includes blogs on Writing Books, Getting Published or Self-Publishing, Marketing, providing Resources, and listing some Recommended Readings. At the end of his novels, you'll quickly get a feel for this transparency. Although Eisler thinks (as I do) that a novel should be read through the neuropaths of the reader first, where imagination trumps, at the end of his novels he gives you all the links that led up to his research, as well as inviting readers who complete his novels to compare what they'd imagined a setting to be like, with his own insistence that the settings in his novels refer to real places. He's posted a photo gallery of book settings for his readers to do just that.
The John Rain series revolves around a Japanese-American assassin's transformation across the many books in this series: a transformation from a killer to a killer with a conscience. The books do not seek to persuade: they are a very enjoyable form of reading entertainment. Like Dexter, our friendly television serial killer, Rain has had to find a way to set limits to his killing. To define a code by which to live. Eisler explores this concept in excruciating detail as Rain's story progresses. In reading these, you'll learn about spy-craft and the incredible alertness and awareness needed to live in such a world: an awareness that trumps the otherwise benign eastern teachings on this very same concept: to live in the present in total awareness. To reason through every move first, before making that move; to consider every fail safe and obstacle before it occurs; and to have a contingency in place for every scenario. To understand human motivation and behavior and transform yourself at will to accommodate these expectations in order to survive - this is Rain's life. And, of course, to love another is the fundamental obstacle for John Rain. His very existence dooms the lover. And Eisler does not seek to escape this conundrum by having John Rain rationalize this.
As his blogs attest to, the events and plots outlined in these novels are not novel in themselves. Torture, contract killing, technological spy-craft...they all have their basis in real-time events we read about in the news. Eisler clearly states where and from what his story line originates at the end of each of his novels.
I highly recommend this series for what it represents: a great ride within the thriller genre.
And, if you're interested, check out John Rain in Rain Fall undoubtably available on Netflix or Hulu.
A Graveyard of Memories is Eisler's prequel to the John Rain series. In the story, we find Jun, or John, living in Tokyo following his exit from covert activities during the Vietnam War. He's a bagman for the CIA operating in Tokyo. Young, temperamental, impetuous and still able to make the distinction between the violence and vigilance required during war verses the tranquility and safety of an urban, citizens' environment John starts to realize there is in fact very little difference between the jungles of Vietnam and the urban jungle of Tokyo.
The code by which he lives as so deftly featured in the subsequent John Rain novels has not yet fully materialized: John makes rookie mistakes. Eisler allows us to enter John's head via a first person point of view throughout this wonderful story. We are invited to witness the transformation of a simple money bagman into that of a killer whose MO of assassination by natural causes is to drive future novels. The ride is bumpy, full of rationalizations, mistakes and a fudging of justice as the young Rain comes to grips with the killer he really is. I've read all the Rain novels and for me, this prequellish peek into how it all began was nothing short of entertaining.
Eisler covers all the human desires that dance around John: love (tender and beautiful), death, betrayal, unlikely allies, and friendship: all change John's life irrevocably as he seeks to set himself firmly on a new path. For some reason, Eisler has that unique ability to evoke sympathy for an unlikely hero. His investigation in how John's mind works, how Rain converts mistakes into opportunities and assembles a code to live by for future entanglements is nothing short of fascinating. That reasoning process and this acute awareness of his surroundings, that fight to gain control over emotional upheavals, all the things that will later drive John's life is shown in all its imperfections as we read this prequel.
Eisler's view of a Tokyo that no longer exists (1972) has undergone considerable research concluding in Barry's reclusive trip to Tokyo where he personally sought out those aspects of the city that have defied half a century of change. This is where Eisler wrote the story of a Graveyard of Memories. You can see his research and photos of settings in the books here, but I think Eisler would prefer you read the book first and only then compare your own imagination with the reality of it.
For the genre in which this book lives, I highly recommend this prequel. I do rate books contextually. By that I mean, if I'm reading a thriller book, then the comparison is between this and other books in the genre. And, I admit, this is a series that caused me to want to review crime fiction in the first place (along with Child's Jack Reacher series). Speaking of which, Eisler must have neuro paths towards my own likes and dislikes as he has posted a fictional conversation between himself and John Rain on the subject of Jack Reacher. Check it out! In any case, that road has taken me to far away places, onto books I never expected to read and I'm grateful to point to Eisler as one of the authors to sufficiently flame my curiosity as to what else is out there.
----------------------------------------------------------
Series Review
Barry Eisler
Barry Eisler besides authoring the famous John Rain series, actually spent three years in a covert position with the CIA's Directorate of Operations. His thrillers are well versed in spy-craft as well as technology where his credentials point to working as a technology lawyer and startup executive in Silicon Valley and Japan. His fighting sequences too come from experience. He earned his black belt at the Kodokan International Judo Center along the way. The coined phrase "write about what you know" could not apply more which doesn't mean that he doesn't thoroughly research his novels. Eisler insists that he personally visit every exotic locale he plans to write about (Japan being a frequent setting in his books).
Barry Eisler has won the Barry Award and the Gumshoe Award for Best Thriller of the Year, has been included in numerous "Best Of" lists, and his books have been translated into nearly twenty languages. Blogging for Eisler is as natural as writing his vastly entertaining assassin novels: when he's not writing novels, he blogs about torture, civil liberties, the book industry and the rule of law.
Eisler, to print publishers, is a heretic (sorry, Mr. Turrow!). Not only has Barry Eisler taken control of his novels away from his former print publishers, but he's actually renamed everyone of his novels as he would have named them as their author, not as the publishers proclaimed they should be named (and this includes the cover art for his novels). Eisler has moved to digital eBooks and now retains 70% of proceeds, as opposed to say 8% graciously awarded by print publishers. Here's some of what Eisler has had to put up with from his publishers (you'll never think of book titles in the same way again!):
"The sad story of the original Rain titles began with the moniker Rain Fall for the first in the series. It was a silly play on the protagonist's name, and led to an unfortunate and unimaginative sequence of similar such meaningless, interchangeable titles: Hard Rain, Rain Storm, Killing Rain (the British titles were better, but still not right: Blood from Blood for #2; Choke Point for #3; One Last Kill for #4). By the fifth book, I was desperate for something different, and persuaded my publisher to go with The Last Assassin, instead. In general, I think The Last Assassin is a good title, but in fairness it really has nothing to do with the story in the fifth book beyond the fact that there's an assassin in it. But it was better than more of Rain This and Rain That. The good news is, the fifth book did very well indeed; the bad news is, the book's success persuaded my publisher that assassin was a magic word and that what we needed now was to use the word assassin in every title. And so my publisher told me that although they didn't care for my proposed title for the sixth book—The Killer Ascendant—they were pleased to have come up with something far better. The sixth book, they told me proudly, would be known as The Quiet Assassin."
So don't be surprised to find your favorite Rain novels gone in the Kindle store (or wherever you shop for online books): they've been renamed. Although he prefers the monniker incrimentalist as opposed to that of a visionary, there is no doubt that Eisler sees the book world undergoing drastic changes (much more favorable towards authors). Just as Netflix and Hulu are redefining the distribution of television (marking the death of Cable TV), so digital books mark the death of the print industry's former stranglehold over what you're able to read. Along with Joe Konrath (the Jack Daniels mystery series), who Eisler does consider a visionary in the crusade against print publishers' wholesale extortion of the authors they represent as well as the future of where eBooks are really going, Eisler is quite tranparent in asserting his rights and control over his own product: his John Rain novels.
But his transparency doesn't stop there. Barry Eisler is probably one of the most amenable authors where it concerns helping unpublished authors reach success. This includes blogs on Writing Books, Getting Published or Self-Publishing, Marketing, providing Resources, and listing some Recommended Readings. At the end of his novels, you'll quickly get a feel for this transparency. Although Eisler thinks (as I do) that a novel should be read through the neuropaths of the reader first, where imagination trumps, at the end of his novels he gives you all the links that led up to his research, as well as inviting readers who complete his novels to compare what they'd imagined a setting to be like, with his own insistence that the settings in his novels refer to real places. He's posted a photo gallery of book settings for his readers to do just that.
The John Rain series revolves around a Japanese-American assassin's transformation across the many books in this series: a transformation from a killer to a killer with a conscience. The books do not seek to persuade: they are a very enjoyable form of reading entertainment. Like Dexter, our friendly television serial killer, Rain has had to find a way to set limits to his killing. To define a code by which to live. Eisler explores this concept in excruciating detail as Rain's story progresses. In reading these, you'll learn about spy-craft and the incredible alertness and awareness needed to live in such a world: an awareness that trumps the otherwise benign eastern teachings on this very same concept: to live in the present in total awareness. To reason through every move first, before making that move; to consider every fail safe and obstacle before it occurs; and to have a contingency in place for every scenario. To understand human motivation and behavior and transform yourself at will to accommodate these expectations in order to survive - this is Rain's life. And, of course, to love another is the fundamental obstacle for John Rain. His very existence dooms the lover. And Eisler does not seek to escape this conundrum by having John Rain rationalize this.
As his blogs attest to, the events and plots outlined in these novels are not novel in themselves. Torture, contract killing, technological spy-craft...they all have their basis in real-time events we read about in the news. Eisler clearly states where and from what his story line originates at the end of each of his novels.
I highly recommend this series for what it represents: a great ride within the thriller genre.
And, if you're interested, check out John Rain in Rain Fall undoubtably available on Netflix or Hulu.
September 3, 2025
Добра история за младостта на Джон Рейн.
Надявам се Бари Айслър скоро да ни предложи нова книга от тази така завладяваща поредица.
Ще трябва и да попълня библиотеката си с първите шест книги, за съжаление имам само последните две към момента.
Надявам се Бари Айслър скоро да ни предложи нова книга от тази така завладяваща поредица.
Ще трябва и да попълня библиотеката си с първите шест книги, за съжаление имам само последните две към момента.
July 5, 2018
Graveyard of Memories circles us back to the making of the man who is John Rain. Was he that different from the man he is today? Yes, and in some very significant ways, no.
I love knowing that Rain could and did love, in his own way, and that it was returned in the same restrained way it was given.
No spoilers, because we all know he goes on to survive and thrive, at least in his profession, but I will say it's important to see how his life chose him as much as he chose it.
I love knowing that Rain could and did love, in his own way, and that it was returned in the same restrained way it was given.
No spoilers, because we all know he goes on to survive and thrive, at least in his profession, but I will say it's important to see how his life chose him as much as he chose it.
February 5, 2014
I want to thank NetGalley for providing me with a free download of "Graveyard of Memories"(John Rain series) by Barry Eisler. I must admit I have only read the first novel in this thriller series; "A clean Killing in Tokyo" and the last novel in this series; "Graveyard of Memories". I found that this novel was a excellent compliment for the first novel.
This novel takes us back in time and reveals why John Rain chose a certain profession and path... John Rain, the assassin.It is a novel of lessons learned, qualities needed in the job...but mostly self-control. "If you are not in control, then the enemy is." It also lingers on the consequences of killing, to your conscience, your future and your life.
I loved the saying at the beginning of the novel," Life can only be understood backward; but it must be lived forward." What a beautiful thought.
John Rain is twenty years old living in Tokyo in 1972. His Japanese father had been killed & his white mother took him back to the States. Now she too is dead, the only tie he had to America. He left the military, and is working as a bagman for CIA handler McGraw.His case officer, McGraw, is a Korean War vet. In this set-up, Rain meets up with Miyamoto, a local, and exchange identical bags, one with info, one with money.
One day, after the exchange, some street punks wanted to pick a fight with Rain. Today, he would have avoided the scene, but being only twenty years old, fresh from combat...a fight was bound to happen. While he beat up his attackers, one escaped with his empty bag...and his fingerprints. He had screwed up, and had to come clean with McGraw and use better judgment and better self-control in the future. The lessons learned in the jungle become valuable tools for his future.
In this novel, we watch as Rain develops his skills, while dealing with members of the "yakuza" (criminal gangs), political double crosses, his first contract & a lovely young Korean woman who will haunt him for the rest of his life. The characters are well developed and the plot is fast paced & intricate as we try to figure out who exactly the bad guys are.
But most of all in this game of love and war...there are no winners, it is all about surviving, but some memories don't fade but accumulate.
Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to experience a gripping thriller.
This novel takes us back in time and reveals why John Rain chose a certain profession and path... John Rain, the assassin.It is a novel of lessons learned, qualities needed in the job...but mostly self-control. "If you are not in control, then the enemy is." It also lingers on the consequences of killing, to your conscience, your future and your life.
I loved the saying at the beginning of the novel," Life can only be understood backward; but it must be lived forward." What a beautiful thought.
John Rain is twenty years old living in Tokyo in 1972. His Japanese father had been killed & his white mother took him back to the States. Now she too is dead, the only tie he had to America. He left the military, and is working as a bagman for CIA handler McGraw.His case officer, McGraw, is a Korean War vet. In this set-up, Rain meets up with Miyamoto, a local, and exchange identical bags, one with info, one with money.
One day, after the exchange, some street punks wanted to pick a fight with Rain. Today, he would have avoided the scene, but being only twenty years old, fresh from combat...a fight was bound to happen. While he beat up his attackers, one escaped with his empty bag...and his fingerprints. He had screwed up, and had to come clean with McGraw and use better judgment and better self-control in the future. The lessons learned in the jungle become valuable tools for his future.
In this novel, we watch as Rain develops his skills, while dealing with members of the "yakuza" (criminal gangs), political double crosses, his first contract & a lovely young Korean woman who will haunt him for the rest of his life. The characters are well developed and the plot is fast paced & intricate as we try to figure out who exactly the bad guys are.
But most of all in this game of love and war...there are no winners, it is all about surviving, but some memories don't fade but accumulate.
Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to experience a gripping thriller.
January 19, 2016
This is a prequel to the John Rain series. Very suspenseful and contains a tragic love story. A little formulaic in the same way as the rest of the series.
September 9, 2017
This is really #1 of the John Rain series, his origin story. Fresh from special ops work in southeast Asia/Vietnam, Rain is back in Japan--part of his childhood was spent there and part in the US with his Japanese father and American mother. He works as a bagman for the CIA, but when a delivery goes wrong, he finds himself sought by the most powerful Yakuza (mafia) clan, on his own really with little help from the CIA. The thriller moves at an urgent pace, as his life is almost always on the line; Rain is a thoughtful, complex hero and we're privy to his thoughts as he plans his actions; complex plot, a Bildungsroman, as he learns the skills that make him the dangerous assassin of later series entries; interesting frame involving Japanese culture, and especially attitude toward Koreans in Japan; smart dialog, polished; nightmare tone. Caught up with Rain now, unless Eisler writes another.
September 16, 2017
3.5 stars. Not my favorite or the series, although some of it I really enjoyed. The love story was annoying to me and I wanted to fast forward through it. I liked the interactions with McGraw and of course the action scenes were great. I just found it hard to believe his maturity in the field with his age, it just didn't add up. Doesn't matter tho, I still love this series.
September 8, 2020
3,5 pentru acest roman polițist-de spionaj bine construit, cu un protagonist revigorenat, jumătate japonez-jumătate american.
Mi-au plăcut tare mult descrierile de ambianță japoneză. Sper să mai citesc și alte romane din seria John Rain, acesta fiind un prequel în care aflăm cum a luat naștere cariera sa de asasin plătit
Mi-au plăcut tare mult descrierile de ambianță japoneză. Sper să mai citesc și alte romane din seria John Rain, acesta fiind un prequel în care aflăm cum a luat naștere cariera sa de asasin plătit
April 24, 2024
I’ll be sad when I have finished this series.
February 20, 2014
In Graveyard of Memories, author Barry Eisler returns to the John Rain saga in the only way possible—by writing a prequel. After all, Rain would now be in his mid-60s or older; even Hollywood might balk at casting him as an action hero. The novel begins with a fairly simple, straightforward set-up: to save his own life, Rain must execute a series of strategic ‘hits’. As he carries these out, we watch him evolve, getting a better handle on both his tradecraft and his temper. His many lapses in judgment would be inexcusable to the John Rain of the earlier books (that take place later), but Eisler handles this skillfully by making the older Rain the narrator (as if writing his memoirs), and therefore able to comment on his younger self’s naïveté and lack of experience. Somewhere around the midpoint of the book, Rain begins to grasp the deeper implications of his plight—that all might not be as it first appeared, that certain helpful coincidences were perhaps a bit too convenient—and from then on, the story takes off, following plot twists that are not only credible, but in retrospect make perfect sense. As we’d expect, there are also a number of great action set-pieces, all of which come off with adrenaline-rush verisimilitude.
Against the backdrop of the action, Rain also courts Sanaya, a young woman a few years his senior, who happens to be a paraplegic. Here we get to see Rain’s tender qualities and the upside of all that youth and naïveté, including a crazy, loving gesture designed to placate Sanaya’s shame that I’m fairly confident has never been done before. (Eisler also gives us perhaps one of the most unique erotic scenes in fiction—even more compelling than the wonderful sexual encounter in London Twist.) The romantic subplot helps cut the bitter taste (bordering on disgust) left by the grisly murders; indeed, without it, Rain’s character would become anathema to us. (The Japanese bath with its overtones of purification and cleanliness figures prominently in both the love and death elements of the story, as does the graveyard of the book’s title—a very nice thematic touch.)
Other than the yakuza, Eisler’s characters are never stereotypes, as is too often the case in this genre. Tatsu (whom we come to know and love in the earlier/later Rain books) is clever, understated and restrained. McGraw feels very real. Even though Rain dislikes him, as a reader I found him interesting and even (for a while) likable for his smarts and savvy, as compared to Rain’s clumsy immaturity.
My only real complaint with the story was the frequent use of italicized Japanese terms and place names. The names I just skimmed past, not knowing Tokyo from Mars. If you did know Tokyo, no doubt the story would be the richer for it. But I was curious about many of the Japanese terms (the Kindle translator was no help), and Eisler could have easily made these translations available to us through the narrator’s voice. But I have the same beef with Cormac McCarthy, who’s far guiltier of it, so at least Eisler’s in good company.
I consider this a most worthwhile read in all respects: a clever, entirely believable plotline; real characters with strengths and faults; a portrait of a foreign culture with its prejudices; a protagonist who’s not all-good, who grows in both skill and maturity through the course of the story, and who must figure his way out of a complex dilemma; well-crafted thematic elements like the bath and graveyard; and a bittersweet ending that played with just the right soft touch. I highly recommend this book to anyone who appreciates good spy literature and isn’t queasy about contract killing. I look forward to more.
Against the backdrop of the action, Rain also courts Sanaya, a young woman a few years his senior, who happens to be a paraplegic. Here we get to see Rain’s tender qualities and the upside of all that youth and naïveté, including a crazy, loving gesture designed to placate Sanaya’s shame that I’m fairly confident has never been done before. (Eisler also gives us perhaps one of the most unique erotic scenes in fiction—even more compelling than the wonderful sexual encounter in London Twist.) The romantic subplot helps cut the bitter taste (bordering on disgust) left by the grisly murders; indeed, without it, Rain’s character would become anathema to us. (The Japanese bath with its overtones of purification and cleanliness figures prominently in both the love and death elements of the story, as does the graveyard of the book’s title—a very nice thematic touch.)
Other than the yakuza, Eisler’s characters are never stereotypes, as is too often the case in this genre. Tatsu (whom we come to know and love in the earlier/later Rain books) is clever, understated and restrained. McGraw feels very real. Even though Rain dislikes him, as a reader I found him interesting and even (for a while) likable for his smarts and savvy, as compared to Rain’s clumsy immaturity.
My only real complaint with the story was the frequent use of italicized Japanese terms and place names. The names I just skimmed past, not knowing Tokyo from Mars. If you did know Tokyo, no doubt the story would be the richer for it. But I was curious about many of the Japanese terms (the Kindle translator was no help), and Eisler could have easily made these translations available to us through the narrator’s voice. But I have the same beef with Cormac McCarthy, who’s far guiltier of it, so at least Eisler’s in good company.
I consider this a most worthwhile read in all respects: a clever, entirely believable plotline; real characters with strengths and faults; a portrait of a foreign culture with its prejudices; a protagonist who’s not all-good, who grows in both skill and maturity through the course of the story, and who must figure his way out of a complex dilemma; well-crafted thematic elements like the bath and graveyard; and a bittersweet ending that played with just the right soft touch. I highly recommend this book to anyone who appreciates good spy literature and isn’t queasy about contract killing. I look forward to more.
March 2, 2017
This book is a prequel to the John Rain series.
It's 1972, and Rain is living in Tokyo, working as a courier for a CIA guy. He just got out of Vietnam, and is coming to terms with the war.
Some thugs try to take his courier bag, and in the scuffle, one of them dies. Unfortunately, he just happens to be the nephew of a Yakuza higher-up.
Rain is desperate, and on the run. He meets a beautiful disabled girl, has a doomed romance, and falls into the occupation of assassin along the way.
Pretty good, but doesn't really bring the 1970's alive the way that the Quarry books by Max Allan Collins do.
It's 1972, and Rain is living in Tokyo, working as a courier for a CIA guy. He just got out of Vietnam, and is coming to terms with the war.
Some thugs try to take his courier bag, and in the scuffle, one of them dies. Unfortunately, he just happens to be the nephew of a Yakuza higher-up.
Rain is desperate, and on the run. He meets a beautiful disabled girl, has a doomed romance, and falls into the occupation of assassin along the way.
Pretty good, but doesn't really bring the 1970's alive the way that the Quarry books by Max Allan Collins do.
April 10, 2014
Barry Eisler's John Rain series ("A Clean Kill in Tokyo" - originally published as "Rain Fall," etc.) was a delight. Eisler gave us a realistic picture of the bizarre, lonely life of a career assassin. John Rain, a half-American, half-Japanese former soldier, was essentially a man without a country but with many employers. His specialty is to kill, but to make the death appear to be from natural causes.
This is a marketable skill.
But it is not a skill that allows one to lead much of a social life. A ghost by professional necessity, Rain stil craves a human connection, if only to share his passion for good whisky and live jazz. This dynamic carried the series for the first few books, but eventually the Rain story got strained as he accumulated sidekicks. The most obnoxious of these is the sniper, Dox, who should provide comic relief but serves to underscore that Eisler is much better at writing the solitary, melancholy Rain than he is at writing jokes.
"Graveyard of Memories" gives us the Rain backstory - where did this guy come from? "Graveyard" opens with Rain serving as a bagman in Tokyo - he's a low-level CIA contractor with few friends and no reputation. But an ill-timed run-in with the local yakuza changes all that. With a few well-placed wounds, Rain has earned himself some powerful enemies and placed himself in the debt of his CIA boss.
"Graveyard" shows how Rain learned his trade on the job, and it's some of Eisler's best writing. When focusing on tradecraft and the personal toll of the trade, Eisler is one of the most entertaining writers working in the thriller genre. If Eisler doesn't know his stuff, you'll never be able to tell as the pages fly by with plausibility and logic despite their incredible action scenes.
I would recommend picking up "Graveyard" after reading at least the first three books Eisler wrote in the Rain series - you'll appreciate the story of the young Rain after you see what a lethal killing machine he has become in the later books. Highly recommended.
This is a marketable skill.
But it is not a skill that allows one to lead much of a social life. A ghost by professional necessity, Rain stil craves a human connection, if only to share his passion for good whisky and live jazz. This dynamic carried the series for the first few books, but eventually the Rain story got strained as he accumulated sidekicks. The most obnoxious of these is the sniper, Dox, who should provide comic relief but serves to underscore that Eisler is much better at writing the solitary, melancholy Rain than he is at writing jokes.
"Graveyard of Memories" gives us the Rain backstory - where did this guy come from? "Graveyard" opens with Rain serving as a bagman in Tokyo - he's a low-level CIA contractor with few friends and no reputation. But an ill-timed run-in with the local yakuza changes all that. With a few well-placed wounds, Rain has earned himself some powerful enemies and placed himself in the debt of his CIA boss.
"Graveyard" shows how Rain learned his trade on the job, and it's some of Eisler's best writing. When focusing on tradecraft and the personal toll of the trade, Eisler is one of the most entertaining writers working in the thriller genre. If Eisler doesn't know his stuff, you'll never be able to tell as the pages fly by with plausibility and logic despite their incredible action scenes.
I would recommend picking up "Graveyard" after reading at least the first three books Eisler wrote in the Rain series - you'll appreciate the story of the young Rain after you see what a lethal killing machine he has become in the later books. Highly recommended.
August 27, 2016
"Graveyard of Memories", from author Barry Eisler, will be a polarizing "prequel" for longtime fans of the "John Rain" series. For those who are new to the series, it will be a an enticing incentive to read the further adventures of John Rain. The makings of a legendary assassin begin with young man of Japanese-American heritage, just disconnected from service in Vietnam, who now works as a CIA "bagman" in Tokyo. The year is 1972, and twenty-year-old John Rain has much to learn as espionage takes him fully in its grip--a vice-like hold impossible to shake. When a routine cash exchange ordered by Rain's handler, Sean McGraw, goes awry, events will follow which shape the future of Rain's personal life and his work as a contract killer. As the gravity of being on the wrong side of the highly-lethal Yakuza begins to sink in, Rain finds himself becoming intimately involved with a beautiful, wheelchair-bound Korean woman, Sayaka Kimura. In order to stay alive, protect Sayaka, and resolve the issues of his mission-gone-wrong, Rain must temper his quick nature and hone his skills. Will the wisdom of a newly-found maturity give him the correct answers to the hard decisions he faces? With its intense action, sensual romance, and vivid imagery of Rain's world, "Graveyard of Memories" is a recommended read for fans of John Rain and for lovers of top-notch suspense thrillers. As a bonus, be sure to read the Acknowledgements and Author's Note, which are almost as entertaining as the book itself.
Review Copy Gratis Amazon Vine
Review Copy Gratis Amazon Vine
January 25, 2016
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.
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.
February 7, 2016
I love John Rain ! I have read all of Barry Eisler' s books with him as the assassin/hero . Sadly, this novel doesn't' meet with the quality of the others. The return in time was a poor choice in plot. The book was boring. So disappointed.
September 7, 2017
What could have been a good story, the author chose to use this prequel to explain the John Rain that we know from the first novels. That tact kept the story from developing on it's own merit.
October 28, 2019
Another great thriller by Barry Eisler. This time, we get to witness the birth of John Rain's career as an international spy. Enjoyed this a lot.
November 1, 2019
I feel like this book was written for me. Since the very first book I wondered what circumstances created John Rain, and it’s all in this book. I love learning how people came to be who they are.
January 23, 2015
I've read a significant number of series in the mystery-thriller-espionage genre and the John Rain series stands out as unique contribution due to the combination of its setting (largely Japan), criminal protagonist, and mixed race identity theme. The protagonist is John Rain, an international assassin for hire that Eisler actually makes sympathetic and even likeable. Rain deals with his mixed race heritage (white, American mother/Japanese father), choosing to live in Japan where he is not really accepted and also not feeling at home in the U.S. He actually undergoes plastic surgery and dyes his brown hair to look more Japanese and to hide his Caucasian heritage. He is a Vietnam War vet, a former mercenary, former CIA recruit, martial arts expert who becomes a freelance international assassin specializing in deaths by "natural causes" with three rules for clients: 1) No women or children; 2) No secondary team working separately on an assassination Rain is handling; 3) Principal actors only (i.e., no hits on family members, etc., in order to "send a message").
Book #8 is really a prequel as to how John Rain become an assassin in 1970s Tokyo. Suggest Eisler steer clear of lengthy sex scenes - didn't really add much to the book.
The series is not without its flaws of course, but I found it a refreshingly different from much I have read so far in the genre. But who knows what else is out there to discover...
Book #8 is really a prequel as to how John Rain become an assassin in 1970s Tokyo. Suggest Eisler steer clear of lengthy sex scenes - didn't really add much to the book.
The series is not without its flaws of course, but I found it a refreshingly different from much I have read so far in the genre. But who knows what else is out there to discover...
February 14, 2014
It is 1972 and John Rain is 20, half-American, half-Japanese, both parents dead and he’s a bagman for the CIA; delivering ‘packages’ when needed. During one such delivery, there are problems and the next thing Rain knows there is a hit out on him from the Yakusa (Japanese mafia). His handler decides to use this to have Rain do some other deeds. Rain, young, cocky and uncontrollable has to find his way out of this mess.
I remember getting the first John Rain novel to review and fell in love with the character. I read all the subsequent novels and enjoyed them too. Not only were they actions packed, but the character developed and as a reader I got to know more about John Rain (even if he is an assassin, I liked him).
Hesitant to go back in time; I always fear that when an author does this it is the beginning of the end because they can’t think of anything new. Not with this one. We get to know John Rain as the young, unsure of himself and impatient. We also see that he is human with feeling; both good and bad. We learn as he learns.
The story is exciting, fast-paced, action packed and thought-provoking. The setting fascinating and makes me want to visit Japan. Barry Eisler knows his stuff and make John Rain real.
I remember getting the first John Rain novel to review and fell in love with the character. I read all the subsequent novels and enjoyed them too. Not only were they actions packed, but the character developed and as a reader I got to know more about John Rain (even if he is an assassin, I liked him).
Hesitant to go back in time; I always fear that when an author does this it is the beginning of the end because they can’t think of anything new. Not with this one. We get to know John Rain as the young, unsure of himself and impatient. We also see that he is human with feeling; both good and bad. We learn as he learns.
The story is exciting, fast-paced, action packed and thought-provoking. The setting fascinating and makes me want to visit Japan. Barry Eisler knows his stuff and make John Rain real.
February 13, 2014
This is the John Rain prequel that all Rain fans have been waiting to read for more than a decade. In this book, we get a look to John's formative assassin years. We begin with the story in the 1970s wherein John is still a fledgling operative tasked with drop-offs only. Things however don't stay the same when a momentary tempestuous behavioural turn by Rain, makes him the no.1 Yakuza target.
Herein begins John's journey and the soon the readers get to see the reasons why John is the way he is (in all the novels that we have read before). The author also takes the time to set up a romantic angel with a person who is an enigma. Terrific action sequences teamed with quintessential Eisler romantic action and to top it off with a twisted plot, makes Graveyard Of Memories a superb starting point for those waiting to discover this awesome series.
Full FBC review to follow...
March 15, 2014
The book features the assassin, John Rain, in his earlier years back in 1972 in this prequel to the series. The plot wasn't too complicated, and there were a few good action scenes to keep the flow going. It wasn't as exciting as some of his earlier works, but still a solid entertaining thriller.
For those of you who are familiar with Rain, you'll be happy to know how he went from being in the Vietnam war, to being a bagman for the CIA, to eventually winding up as an assassin-for-hire. Fans will also learn why he doesn't trust the CIA. Even though I miss Dox and Treven, the story wasn't bogged down with too many characters to slow down the story. However, at times I got lost among the Japanese names (which is normal, considering that I do not speak the language).
Fans of Barry Eisler will enjoy it as will those who aren't familiar with John Rain.
For those of you who are familiar with Rain, you'll be happy to know how he went from being in the Vietnam war, to being a bagman for the CIA, to eventually winding up as an assassin-for-hire. Fans will also learn why he doesn't trust the CIA. Even though I miss Dox and Treven, the story wasn't bogged down with too many characters to slow down the story. However, at times I got lost among the Japanese names (which is normal, considering that I do not speak the language).
Fans of Barry Eisler will enjoy it as will those who aren't familiar with John Rain.
September 9, 2019
I like most of Barry Eisler books, I've read John Rain 1-7 and 1-3 of Livia Lone. They all tend to get a little drippy with the love story, to much 'whoa is me, my love life is so tragic'. The Graveyard of Memories was way over the top with girl in a wheel chair. It was way to pathetic and drippy, neither men nor women act like this. Mr. Eisler seems to try and create a internal conflict of conscious, but never really pulls it off. This book was the worst, I'll try and read the next book John Rain number 9 because Mr. Eisler can write very well and includes some great insight into the characters methods and frame of mind. But let's not let him turn into a harlequin romance writer.
March 7, 2014
I have been an Eisler fan for a long time and love the john Rain character. This one takes you back to how it all began. I absolutely love how Barry describes the scenes, I almost feel like I'm in Japan, I can almost hear and smell the streets. A solid 5 stars! If you have never read the Rain series what are u waiting on? I sit here now patiently waiting for the next installment.. Thanks Barry for giving me a few stress free days and getting lost in this one... Keep up the great work!
March 4, 2014
Graveyard of Memories
A far different read than I had expected but one that was difficult to put down once begun. The extensive use of Japanese words and phrases with explanation took me back to my visits to there with a guide that gave me the philosophy of Japan along with the translation. Interesting plot with fast action. Recommend it.
A far different read than I had expected but one that was difficult to put down once begun. The extensive use of Japanese words and phrases with explanation took me back to my visits to there with a guide that gave me the philosophy of Japan along with the translation. Interesting plot with fast action. Recommend it.
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