Graveyard of Memories

A John Rain Novel

By: Barry Eisler

Narrated by: Barry Eisler

Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

©2014 Barry Eisler (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Excellent & Unquie Use of Perspective

What a wonderful surprise. Unlike so many other authors who have developed a series and decide to go back and do a prequel or retrospective of a character Eisler actually has the character looking back on his early life vs writing as if the story is being told as a current event.. Not only is this a new perspective but it is so well done – WOW. If you are a John Rain fan you must listen/read this one. It fills in history and helps you see how Rain became the in control lethal assassin he is in the novels we have all come to enjoy. And Eisler does an excellent job of reading his own work and helping us 'see' and 'hear' the characters as he envisioned as he wrote it.

Great Backstory

I would recommend this book to both newcomers and those long in the tooth vis-à-vis John Rain novels. It lays a great foundation on what makes John Rain tick. Barry Eisler should write a couple more of these. It’s like the movie SPYMAKER, starring Sean Connery’s son that tells the origins of James Bond’s habits, proclivities, and what have you. Once again, fantastic book. Keep making magic, Barry!!!

Great book

Loved that we now know the whole back story on John Rain. Love the character.

good

not as great as book seven but still a good listen or read
makes me appreciate kindle unlimited

Not My Favorite John Rain

Not 5 star Rain yet still a good listen. Nice to hear Rain's beginnings. This is among my all time favorite series!

Great addition to series

A great addition to the John Rain series. The whole series is well constructed and worth the time.

Great read...but audio issues

I really enjoy the series written by Barry Eisler, and he is one of the few authors who does a great job with the narration. Mr. Eisler is a true writer, not just an author. He uses very sound tactics and often expresses a phrase or description of something that makes it memorable. My only problem with the books is that there seems to be a technical glitch in all of the books I have listened to. The last word of a sentence breaks up or is cut off frequently during the narration and is really annoying. It occurs as often as every minute or so, and it sometimes makes you have to try to think what the words were so you can understand the scene. I will rate the book as a 4 star and only because of the technical recording do I not give it a 5.

Perfect!.

I loved the perfect balance of philosophy, history and great character development.
For me an Authors skill of combining great characters and well developed story never needs to rely on horrendous torture or detail sick tormentor serial atrocities so this was perfect.
Eisley also does an enjoyable and skilled narrative. His intimacy scenes so sensuous it made even this old gal blush

.Thank you Barry Eisler for this book!

I thoroughly enjoyed this listen. I've listened to and enjoyed the other books in this series. This is a bit different because older John Rain is telling you about his earlier years and how he got into "the life." The older Rain points out ways the young Rain is not as observant or thoughtful of things that he is now. He also tells the reader about a woman with whom he fell in love and the things he learned from her that would be important later.

Really Well Done.

This was a nice prequel to the main John Rain stories. The picturing of Japan in the early 1970's was great, along with the back story of how a young John Rain began his career amidst mistakes and a growing thoughtfulness. I really enjoyed the story, and Barry's narration fits the works well. Recommended.