A Lonely Resurrection

A John Rain Novel

By: Barry Eisler

Narrated by: Barry Eisler

Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's summary

All John Rain wants is to get out of the killing business. But with his discretion, his reliability, and his unique talent for death by "natural causes," no one is willing to let him just retire. So when an old nemesis from the Japanese national police force comes to him with a new job - eliminate Murakami, a killer even more fearsome than Rain himself - Rain knows he can't refuse. Aided by an achingly desirable half Brazilian, half Japanese exotic dancer he knows he shouldn't trust, Rain pursues his quarry through underground no-holds-barred fight clubs, mobbed-up hostess bars, and finally into the heart of a shadow war between the CIA and the yakuza. It's a war Rain can't win, but also one he can't afford to lose - a war where the distinctions between friend and foe and truth and deceit are as murky as the rain-slicked streets of Tokyo.

©2003, 2013 Barry Eisler (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved. Originally published as Hard Rain in 2003.

Love the Rain

Great descriptions, detail, action and story telling. Looking forward to the rest of the series.

Perfect

Wonderful,exciting novel. Like Tokyo Vice but better. The whole series is great, especially this one

Writer is the reader !

I love the details of Japan, history/people/culture/food that is woven into each story. The protagonist, Rain, is an assassin who is in the 2% of people who can kill without remorse (according to the book), and is a ruthless assassin. The storyline is good. The action is fantastic. If you were to want a book to listen to as you drive cross country, you have found the right book.

However, one wonders how such a ruthless assassin has such a strong and good moral code. Also, reading about how he has to take precautions each time he leaves the house to make sure he is not followed (SDR) makes you wonder if his life is worth living as it stands. Such philosophical musings aside, I think this is a good book. Definitely worth listening to if you like the espionage/assassination genre of books. Also, the writer is the reader, and does a good job with the Japanese pronunciations.

The good guy wins, and gets the girl(s). All in good fashion.

Hard Rain

A Lonely Resurrection was originally published with the title Hard Rain, but like several other novels in the John Rain series it was later republished with a new title. Eisler also changed the narrator of the Audible editions to himself when he retitled the books. Eisler is an excellent narrator, but not significantly better than the prior one (Brian Nishii).

My review style here is to give my impression of the book without spoiling the plot. As such my reviews tend to be shorter than many.

John Rain results from the marriage of a Japanese father and American mother, but physically he looks Japanese. He served in the US military and later becomes a killer for hire. This book is the second in Eisler's John Rain series. After finishing his assignment in Book 1 he is dissatisfied with his life and is seeking to move permanently to Brazil, but he has some matters that he must complete before the move. The task proves difficult/impossible.

Barry Eisler writes good thrillers, but in my opinion he s in the second tier of modern action thriller writers. The first tier includes Brad Thor, Karin Slaughter, Lee Child, Vince Flynn, Daniel Silva, Mark Greaney, Louise Penny, Mark Dawson, Brett Battles, Ben Coes, Brad Taylor, Chuck Barrett, Dalton Fury, Brad Metzler, Bob Mayer,Don Winslow, James Rollins, Nelson DeMille, Lisa Gardner, Marc Cameron, Michael Koryta, Thomas Perry, Alex Barenson, Brian Haig, and others.

John Rain takes out another mixed bag of bad guys

John Rain supposedly doesn't care who he takes out with the exception of women and children. But some things are about to change. He has an uncanny ability to sift through bad guys like butter. Do not meet up with him in a dark alley. Odds are, you will not make it out alive. He is back in Tokyo to finish a job and trying to lay low. But trouble has a way of finding him. There are some very graphic details of sex, scenery, and murder. Some characters meet a grisly end messing around with Jon Rain. Barry Eisler is a great writer and narrator. He does a good job of introducing an array of characters and even re-introducing a few. No spoiler alert here.

another excellent intrigue

in book 2 we get to see more of Rain's character and the layers he uncovers in the Japanese government and their ties to the American agencies

better than usual read-by-the-author effort

Almost abandoned this one when I realized it was read by the author. Eisler comes off as attempting to shake the Earth with his novel. However, once sped up to 1.25 or so, it is quite listenable.

Starts out well, though one has to swallow the hired killer with a heart of gold trope in order to proceed. Author uses an expansive vocabulary and provides much detail about Japan, especially various parts of Tokyo. Story doesn't maintain velocity and the violent encounters become predictable and underwhelming. Subtracting the "love" story and the sex scenes would have not done any harm to this effort. I may follow up on the next in the series to see if it gets better.

Love this series can't wait for next book

I love this series. I have been listening to the Audible with the author. I will be very sad when this series ends.

great narration

really enjoyed this one, good story the author narrating adds a lot he's good it and knows what he wants to say and how to say it.

beautifully narrated by the author!

wow! What a treat it is to listen to these stories narrated by Barry Eisler! poetic, soulful, funny, captivating. I have really grown to love this guy John Rain, a fun character, ...a humane killer. ..Makes me think back to the Greek epics. ... I think Rain and Odyessus would have gotten along famously. .... I would love to hear Eisler narrate the Odyssey. . anyway, I am glad to have discovered this series. I am 100% hooked!