Requiem For An Assassin
by Barry Eisler
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Book Reviews of Requiem For An Assassin
Book Review: Eisler stumbles
Summary: 3 Stars
While I am a fan of Barry Eisler's Rain series this one left me feeling a little unsure of future novels by the author. He has a tendancy to get preachy about his favorite subjects. Something better left to his blog 'Heart of the matter'. For a bunch of assasins and killers his heroes are awfully full of liberal spin on everything from torture to the war in Iraq. I find it hard to take too seriously the pedantic rantings of guys who kill for money regardless of their motives. The moral ground seems to have been lost on that point alone. If Eisler sticks to writing good tight prose and action/thriller sequences then good for him. But otherwise I'll look for a more even handed view of ethics from my own chosen sources. Of course some people may enjoy that and see some kind of irony in the characters having such strong reactions to torture when they kill for a living. I just find it a distraction and it does not make for a complex character. It makes a weak character who doesn't know who he is or what he believes.
Eisler finds a moral equivalence in combatants who are killing for their extremist religious views and those who fight for liberty and freedom. I find that to be a bit odd. Like many of the west coast neo-cons (he claims to be conservatiive but I can't find any proof of that in his writings) he believes combatants should be afforded civil rights only accorded to US citizens. He sees the hazing roughing up of a prisoner as the equivalent of the beheading our prisoners can look forward by the other side. Somehow if you embarass or harass an islamist combatant that makes it ok to kill more americans. He doesn't condone he just seems to think it's the natural order as if they are just doing what is reasonable.
Most difficult to accept is that he seems to make out that what happened at Abu Ghraib is official US policy sanctioned by George Bush and Dick Cheney. Which is hardly the case. True that certain prisoners in Guantanimo are given very rough treatment. But it hardly rates as high as dismemberment, the pulling out of fignernails, or bamboo shoots in the eyes. Yeah its tough. No no one really likes it. But I'm guessing if we were bombed, or faced bio attack, or a hostage situation here on US soil the same bleeding hearts, Barry among them would be screaming that no one did enough.
Book Review: WILL THE ICEMAN SURVIVE THE RAIN?
Summary: 4 Stars
I have followed John Rain's saga from the very first book. Sure, the road had its ups and downs but it was totally unforgettable. Barry Eisler knows how to create a cool yet deadly character that will stay with you forever. The problem is, can he keep him cool and deadly while exploring fresh storyline ideas - and his character grows older?
In this latest installment Rain is forced out of his retirement in Paris. An old nemesis had abducted his friend Dox and unless he performs three naturally-looking assassinations, his friend pays the price. Is the deal just bad or is it doomed from the gates and both Rain and his friend will end up shark bait?
The clock is ever menacingly ticking; the stakes keep getting higher and higher; the locales keep changing from Thailand and Vietnam to LA, from Singapore to Rotterdam; and Rain, uncharacteristically, has to accept unsolicited help from old friends that had actually once been older foes.
The problems with this book actually started from the previous installment of the series (The Last Assassin) and they can be summarized into this phrase: Rain started having doubts. Having an alienated kid and a steady love interest has dulled his edge and diluted his determination.
Character development and fancy literally footwork aside, I think that, in the end, Barry Eisler tries to morally save his character - and in the process is corroding him to the core. A cold-blooded assassin may have his inescapable reasons to have turned out that way - but he cannot exist on a moral high-ground no matter what. And if he is no longer the cool cold-blooded assassin, he is no longer John Rain.
Having said that, I want to make clear that this is one of the best fiction books I read in years. I enjoyed both its tactics and action as well as its reasoning and detailed descriptions.
RECOMMENDED!
Book Review: WILL THE ICEMAN SURVIVE THE RAIN?
Summary: 4 Stars
I have followed John Rain's saga from the very first book. Sure, the road had its ups and downs but it was totally unforgettable. Barry Eisler knows how to create a cool yet deadly character that will stay with you forever. The problem is, can he keep him cool and deadly while exploring fresh storyline ideas - and his character grows older?
In this latest installment Rain is forced out of his retirement in Paris. An old nemesis had abducted his friend Dox and unless he performs three naturally-looking assassinations, his friend pays the price. Is the deal just bad or is it doomed from the gates and both Rain and his friend will end up shark bait?
The clock is ever menacingly ticking; the stakes keep getting higher and higher; the locales keep changing from Thailand and Vietnam to LA, from Singapore to Rotterdam; and Rain, uncharacteristically, has to accept unsolicited help from old friends that had actually once been older foes.
The problems with this book actually started from the previous installment of the series (The Last Assassin) and they can be summarized into this phrase: Rain started having doubts. Having an alienated kid and a steady love interest has dulled his edge and diluted his determination.
Character development and fancy literally footwork aside, I think that, in the end, Barry Eisler tries to morally save his character - and in the process is corroding him to the core. A cold-blooded assassin may have his inescapable reasons to have turned out that way - but he cannot exist on a moral high-ground no matter what. And if he is no longer the cool cold-blooded assassin, he is no longer John Rain.
Having said that, I want to make clear that this is one of the best fiction books I read in years. I enjoyed both its tactics and action as well as its reasoning and detailed descriptions.
RECOMMENDED!
Book Review: Saperstein is a Sideline Sniping Sap
Summary: 5 Stars
After reading Saperstein's acid laced pompus review of Requiem For An Assassin, I made a concerted effort to complete the last chapter of The Last Assassin, an Eisler novel that I found both funny, warm, sensitive and fulfilling. Reading the first several chapters of Requiem For an Assassin, I see that I am going to enjoy this equally as much as all of the other John Rain "Fictionalized" books that more or less were written for the enjoyment of "Men" not "Mice" nor Critics who have nothing more to do than to attempt to assassinate an author rather than enjoy what the author appears to enjoy providing to the immense fan base that Eisler has going for him. The Last Assassin is, IMHO, the beginning of Eisler's revelation of how human and sensitive John Rain is on one hand, and how the passing of time denegrates Rain's physical well being in terms of maintaining a keen edge, necessary to remain alive in his chosen trade and moreover, how "Family" has caused Rain to almost lose his way because of this diversion. The minor errors or nit picking by severe critics such as Saperstein will not distract loyal readers from enveloping themselves in the John Rain series. For those of us who have the background and therefore the experience in CGC and other mischevious methods of mayhem, we give Barry a Five Star Thumbs Up and Saperstein, a Horses Head. When I complete the series, I will mail all of my copies to my son, a former member of the US Airborne. He is totally computer illiterate, doesn't own or use an IPhone, IMac, and drives an American Made be perfect, but he is my son and Barry Eisler is my author and is among the other greats of manly fiction such as Lustbader, Ludlum and little known Stephen Hunter. "Oorah"Book Review: Different than the first five, but hopefully not the END
Summary: 4 Stars
I read through some of the posts before writing my own review and most are right, though many miss the point.
These books are entertainment. The author is not trying to write (at least I don't think he is) an ultra-realistic novel that could happen or might happen. It's entertainment, and in that regard, it continues the tradition of the series in not disappointing.
Of course, having said that, I do see why Eisler has been reluctant to return to what is clearly his best character. Rain is not the same animal he was in the first two books. That Rain could have cared less that Dox got captured, and though he might have tried to save Harry, that character was rather innocent and defenseless. What Eisler has created now is a Rain who thinks about emotions and the emotional consequences of his actions. I think that's great because it is what you might expect from a character over time, particularly one with his experiences. I, too, long for the "Hard Rain" bad a$$ but you can't expect the same novel every time. The readers would have jumped ship two or three novels later. The new Rain is undoubtedly a harder Rain to write, but more real considering where the character has been and where he was heading.
Despite the fact that this story is different in tone and subject than the previous 5, it still delivers, but more in the way of a big budget action movie with lots of special effects rather than a tightly wrapped thriller. I see why Eisler moved on. I just hope he comes back. Rain won't get any younger, and his new stuff is basically too political in nature and uninteresting. It is simply too far a departure from what he was good at.