Requiem for an Assassin: A Novel

just finished listening to all three books written by Barry Eisler, involving the assassin Rain. They all hold your attention from page one. You can’t wait to find out how the story gets resolved. And yet, you don’t want it to end, because you enjoy the ride so much.

I do recommend reading the books in the order they were written. While it’s not crucial, there are story elements that are given away in the later books about the earlier ones. While it wouldn’t exactly spoil it, it would be better not to know anything before it happens.

The order is: “Killing Rain,” then “The Last Assassin” and finally “Requiem for an Assassin.”

It’s a different reader on the last one, Scott Brick. Though he’s excellent as usual, it took an hour or so to get used to, because Michael McConnohie’s reading brought the characters so vividly to life in his own way.

I highly recommend these books for suspense, plot and characters. It’s hard to describe, but you are just highly interested the whole time, and you never think, “Why would they do that?” Very intelligent and well-crafted. This applies equally to all three books!

...you have listened to the other 5 first. This is the 6th book in the John Rain series and more than many books that follow the same character, this series truly has to be listened to in order and Audible has all of them.

That said, one of the truly disconcerting features of this series is that it employs four different readers and Scott Brick is my least favorite of the group. John Rain is a reserved character and the over dramatization of every word that Brick utters is annoying to me. However, if you are not squeemish when it comes to violence and sex, this is a series worth the time. The characters are interesting and the settings accurate to the locations which adds another dimension to the books.

Seldom have I ever been so captivated by a work of fiction. The level of detail, the character development and the near-perfect pace made it a joy for both ear and mind. Mr. Eisler has instantly moved to the top my list as an author. Mr. Brick’s narration was also equal to the task by adding just enough and not trying improve a well crafted work. I found myself sitting in the car after reaching my destination just to listen to this wonderful book. I highly recommend it. Take a listen.

This was a great thriller and had all the right ingredients. The finale was heart pounding and sensitive both at the same time. Looking forward to Eisler next one. I had almost given up on this author. And..of course with Scott Brick as the narrator, what more can I say. Listen to it, you will like it.

This is the third of Eisler's books I listened to and possibly the best. Brick is excellent, as always. Very current book, as all the technology is up to date, as are current events. Dox is kidnapped and Rain has to do what the bad guys want or else he will loose his only friend. Rain is battling his own demons about whether he should give up the business of being a "killer for hire" and settle down. I really love the accent Brick does for Dox. Anyway, the novel is very original and another great one in the Rain series. He's my favorite assassin. They travel all around the world (even the east & west coast in the US), the CIA and mussad also get involved.

1. If you think you could stand to hear Kelsey Grammer or William Shatner yapping in your ear for twelve hours, then you'll thrill to the pompous Scott Brick as he clowns his way through "Requiem," destroying the credibility of Eisler's well drawn characters with his over dramatic flourishes.


2.To make things worse, Brick sounds like he's working from his bathroom. His sound production includes a kind of "tail" or echo effect known as "room noise" - an amateur mistake, verboten in the recording business; a problem which stems from poor room dampening.


3. I've listened chronologically to all of Eisler's novels. Brick has forced me to read this one the old fashioned way. I found it to be brilliant and greatly satisfying as were all the others.

Narration: Scott Brick is perhaps the single best narrator I keep coming back to. Like Orson Scott Card wrote in a recent column, I seem to listen to books merely because of his narration of them. Thanks to Brick, I'm now acquainted with the excellent hitman fiction writing of Eisler.

Characters are well drawn, complex, breathing with life and conflict. Angst for angst's sake is kept to a minimum, and Eisler just tells us a story, and hopes that we can hang on for the ride.

The story is potent, believable, and well-constructed. Wheels within wheels.

Thanks for the nice ride and I'd recommend this book.

My only reservation is the thoughtful use of vulgar language. While I myself don't have a problem with it, watch it if you listen to this with your kids on the way to daycare. The F-bombs might be a problem with their fellow toddlers [ thankfully, I don't write about that from personal experience ].

I like thrillers and mysteries and usually listen during my bus ride to & from work. "Req. for an Assassin" kept my interest nicely. The rather detailed information on assassination planning Isler works into the plot line was believable. The protagonist had human (but a little funny) flaws and was likeable. IF you really want to pick the book apart you could say the plot/ characters are not fully realistic, a tad weak; but it is fiction, after all, and not reality TV.
I have always liked Scott Brick as a narrator and did here as well. I would recommend not listening to several books in a row read by him unless it is part of a series because some of his characterizations sound similar from book to book. Initially I found myself personifying Raine with characters from another author's book. BUT I've never had a problem with keeping which voice/accent belongs to which character in the books which Brick reads.
I was very happy with this light-weight read and would be happy to listen to another book by the same author.

Two things annoyed me about this book:

1) The protagonist, Rain, is an introspective, sensitive assassin - an oxymoron to be sure. And it doesn't work in this story. His actions seem accidental and his success comes through dumb luck and not through skill or planning. I kept wanting to refer him to a psychologist to work through his angst.

2) Scott Brick's narration. I first heard him in the Ender series, where he was very good, but his narration has devolved into a voice that gives all his characters an annoying, arrogant personality, that smacks of over-confident ignorance. I'd rather hear no vocal intonation, letting the words of the story and my imagination set the tone, rather than be forced to listen to the same lilt that is imparted on all his characters. I've never failed to select a book that looked interesting because of the narrator, but I'm getting there with Scott Brick.

Based on many of the reviews, I bought this audio book. I listened to the whole thing, but have to agree with one of the other reviewers who mentioned that the narrator often sounded like a William Shatner wannabe. It also seemed like he was occasionally trying to over dramatize much of the book.

That being said there were some very edge of the seat moments, but I wasn't glued to my car radio waiting to hear what happened next through much of the book. I also found much of the story over-detailed. I just wanted the author to get on with it.

I would recommend this book because others may enjoy it's format, not find the narrator as distracting as I did and enjoy the detail.