When a new book in this series pops up, there are a couple of things you can safely assume. First, Eisler will deliver a wild ride full of action, suspense & characters you’ll love to hate. Second, Livia Lone is still a kickass. She survived being trafficked as a young girl but her sister didn’t. Now a detective with the Seattle PD Sex Crimes unit, she’s on a mission to make predators pay. Dearly.

B. D. Little is an investigator with Homeland Security & knows the pain that comes with a missing child. Ten years ago his daughter disappeared. Using his formidable resources, he searched endlessly but all he found were similar cases. Then they stopped. Now a young girl has disappeared under familiar circumstances. It may be B.D.’s last chance to find the perpetrator & get answers. And he knows who to call for help……an old acquaintance who is just as obsessive about getting justice for these kids.

Livia is still dealing with the fallout from her last little adventure (The Killer Collective) & trying to keep her head down at work. But B.D.’s story strikes a chord & Livia would love nothing more than to catch those responsible. She sees a couple of immediate problems. For some reason B.D.’s boss is blocking the investigation & he’s sure he’s being watched. And while she understands the need for answers, Livia is worried B.D. is too emotionally involved. Desperate men make mistakes & she really can’t afford to attract any more attention.

Right from the start there’s an interesting dynamic as the 2 MC’s have history. They’ve worked together before although it’s always been an uneasy alliance at best. B.D. has helped Livia in the past but he’a also manipulated her for his own gain. With so much at stake, she has to wonder if he’s willing to throw her to the wolves to find his daughter.

In alternate chapters, we meet those wolves & and when it comes to creep factor, they’re off the charts. Not only do we hear their horrifying plans but also realize just what Livia & B.D. are up against.

Holy Cats, find a comfie reading spot because you won’t be moving for a few hours. It’s a fast paced thriller with plenty of action & forks in the road. The MC’s provide the heart & soul that will have you cheering them on while you hiss at at a slew of bad guys (pro tip: if your nickname is “Snake” you’re probably not known for your cuddly side. Just sayin’). The author does a a great job of providing enough info to make us cringe without resorting to graphic details. And if you think all the cool tech toys are science fiction, peruse the notes & links provided at the end. Downright scary.

Livia is a complex & charismatic woman. Intelligent & highly skilled, she continues to battle the emotional scars from her past. Her character has been slowly evolving over the course of the series  & she’s taking baby steps toward normal relationships. Enough background is given for this to be read as a stand-alone but as with all series, you’ll get more from it if you’ve read previous books. Kudos to those responsible for the cover art. I think even Snake would agree it’s gorgeous.

"Winner Take All" was an enjoyable continuation of the John Rain series but it lacked the impact and or depth of the first two books "A Clean Kill In Tokyo" and "A Lonely Resurrection".

The encouraging thing is that it seems to have managed a transition from John Rain as a lone wolf to someone who may have people he can trust. This should open out future books and increase the momentum of the character development.

John Rain is an assassin, particularly gifted at making his kills look like death by natural causes. In the course of this book he kills about a dozen people, most of them in a close up and personal way, and doesn't lose a moment's sleep over it, unless you count the fact that he realises that, in his fifties, he's starting to be less fast and to heal more slowly.

Barry Eisler's biggest achievement is to make me care about John Rain. Rain kills for money, trusts no one, feels that his mixed blood excludes him from both his Japanese and his American heritage, and leads a life so solitary that it leaves almost no trace on the world.

So what's to like? Perhaps his sense of regret that he is who he is? Perhaps his acceptance, uncoloured by excuses or mitigating arguments, that he is a killer? Perhaps his loyalty to the women in his life? Perhaps that the people he kills are, mostly, nastier than he is?

You see how seductive and corrupting these lines of argument are? That's the kind of man Rain is. His strong sense of self, his discipline and his endurance are seductive. You start to admire how he does what he does. You start to want him to survive, perhaps even to be happy. I can't say this is something I've ever felt about Jack Reacher.

Barry Eisler sets his books in places that, for me, are exotic but in which John Rain is clearly at home, or at least as at home as John Rain is ever going to get.

"Winner Take All" (I hate that title. The absence of an S at the end of TAKE, makes me stumble every time. What was Barry Eisler thinking? This was his third attempt at a title for this book and THIS is what he came up with?) is set in Macao and Rio, taking John out of the his comfort zone in Tokyo and setting him loose to become someone new.

This turns out to be almost cruel as John discovers that living in a new country with a new name doesn't change who he is, what he has done and what the people who know about him will always want him to do. I felt sorry for Rio John Rain. The Macao John Rain, not so much.

Rain makes his first kill in Macoa in the first few pages, taking out a fellow predator just on a suspicion. As the book progresses, Rain's body count rises rapidly. True, most of them were trying to kill him but his efficiency and his ability to compartmentalise are chilling.

The new thing, probably the best thing, in this book is that John starts to trust at least two, maybe three people (the tentative, almost reluctant quality of John's trust explains why I can't be entirely sure of the number).

I like the fact that John can see he's getting older and that this has consequences. I liked that the people he (probably) trusts are not people who would inspire trust in others. I liked the fact that, despite staying in the best hotels in Rio and Macao, Tokyo still calls to him. The scene where he returns to his old neighborhood and finds it changed and all evidence of his time there erased, was beautifully done.

I also love the way Barry Eisler reads his own novels. He improved my experience far beyond what I would have gained from the text alone.

I'll be back for more.

"A Lonely Resurrection" follows straight on from "A Clean Kill In Tokyo", John Rain is trying to lie low and retire from the killing business but is pulled back into that world by his friend and sometime protector, a police inspector on a crusade against corruption in Japan.

"A Lonely Resurrection" was good solid entertainment all the way through. It spends a lot of time on (very) physical  and vividly described combat, John Rain kills more people and with more ease than Jack Reacher normally manages and he seems to have much better sex with the women in his life. The plot provided a satisfying mix of feint and attack and betrayal that kept me guessing.

Barry Eisler narrates his own book perfectly, getting the pace right and squeeting out all the drama without becoming melodramatic.

One of the things I enjoyed most was the verbal love affair Barry Eisner has with Tokyo. He makes me hungry to go there. Read the description below of Tokyo by night and you'll see what I mean.

    There's something so alive about Tokyo at night;  something so imbued with possibilities. Certainly the day time, with its zig-zagging schools of pedestrians and thundering trains and hustle and noise and traffic, is the more upbeat of the cities melodies, but the city also seems burdened by the  quotidian clamor and almost relieved ,every evening, to be able to ease into the twilight and set aside the weight of the day. Night strips away the superfluity and the distractions. You move through Tokyo at night and you feel you're on the verge of discovering that thing you've always longed for- At night, you can hear the city breathe.

It's clear that John Rain, killer and loner that he is, reluctantly and hesitantly, on a journey to discover the possibility of redemption or, perhaps, atonement in these books. He is developing as a character but his true nature is unlikely to change. He will always kill. The questions is, how will he direct his killing? For profit? For personal vengeance? Or for something bigger and more important than himself.

I've booked myself a monthly John Rain entertainment spot until I've read the entire season.

Go to Barry Eisler^s website to hear him read an extract from chapter one and to get more background on the places his stories take place in.

Barry Eisler recently reacquired the rights to his John Rain novels, gave them new titles and new covers and personally narrated new audiobook versions.

I was intrigued and decided to try the first book "A Clean Kill In Tokyo" which was published in 2002 as "Rain Fall".

It was a fun read all the way through, not least because Barry Eisler turns our to be an excellent narrator.

John Rain is a Tokyo-based assassin, who specialises in making it seem as if the men he kills die of natural causes. Rain had a Japanese father and a white American mother, was raised in both countries and is fully at home in neither. He lives an affluent but disconnected life, built on killing for money.

In this novel, he's the hero. That's not a role he has much experience of. He takes it on reluctantly and it doesn't entirely fit him. Even as a hero, his kill-rate is very high and causes him not a moments disquiet.

The foot-in-two-worlds aspects of the book are well executed and gave me an intersting blend of the familiar and the exotic..Tokyo becomes almost a character in the book. It's described the way someone who lives there would see it, with its peculiarities taken for granted. The tourist map of Tokyo has been overwritten by one that stresses the places that are important to John Rain: Jazz Clubs. Whiskey Bars and the intricate subway network that he uses to elude those trying to follow him.

The plot is a mixture of backstory, explaining how John came to be the killer he now is, and a protect-the-brave-independent-but-vulnerable-damsel-in-distress theme that's given a twist by the fact the Rain killed her father.

There is political intrigue, espionage, crime, corruption and lots and lots of fight scenes featuring martial arts, street fighting, knives, staves and guns.

I'm hooked now. Fortunately, there are eight John Rain books in print with a ninth coming out in July, so I expect them to become a regularly source of entertainment this year.

A special thank you to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Excellent cover!

Barry Eisler returns following (2016) God’s Eye View with non-action thrills to the first in his new explosive series, LIVIA LONE (#1) assured to be one of the "darkest" thrillers, like no other; starring a female sex-crimes' cop, who hunts monsters and makes them pay.

Have also pre-ordered the audio narrated by the author (always a treat!)

A kick-ass heroine. A female vigilante. She entices and traps the evil ones. She is intelligent, edgy, mysterious, well-trained, and precise. Each move is carefully planned. From the first page, readers get the full impact of Livia Lone. A justice-seeking protagonist.

The novel starts off with Billy Barnett. He was digging the Asian chick next to him at Ray’s bar. Slim and petite, and fit. He picks her up but this Seattle sex-crimes cop is more than meets the eye. His orders were to keep a low profile following his release—stay clear of the gang, stay out of trouble, head back to Seattle with the state- appointed therapist.

However, she surprises him and at first he thought she just knew a few martial arts'moves. However, Billy is messing with the wrong person. Dead. Before he knew what hit him.

She is Livia Lone. She kills predators. Secretly murdering the low-lives. The ones which the legal system had not found and punished. A Seattle sex-crimes cop out for revenge. Covered in thick Lycra. She had known where to find him.

A popular member of Hammerhead gang. Billy enjoyed rape, and beyond; gambling debts, drug debts, and enemies from prison- but how hard would they work to track him down? White supremacist rapist ex-cons who would up quietly end up dead, and not command a maximum of investigative attention. She always covered her tracks. From wigs, makeup, eyeglasses-it would be a dead end.

She was ready to go after the "real" prize. A senior Hammerhead named Timothy Weed Tyler, who was about to finish a sixteen-year prison stretch at Victorville.

The last time she had seen Tyler, he had been one of her captors. He was the only person alive who might be able to tell her what had happened to her sister, Nason. (her little bird, due to her birdsong imitations). She had been missing since they had both been trafficked from Thailand as children.

From Then to Now. We learn about Livia's abusive past. Livia was thirteen, and Nason was eleven. Their parents had sold them in Thailand. They had become separated when arriving in the US in a shipping container. Labee was adopted and renamed Livia, becoming the sex slave of a prominent businessman, Fred Lone. A senator.

While in school Sean taught her jiu-jitsu. (eighth grader) and judo. It had been invented in Japan and then honed and popularized in Brazil, and Sean’s father had learned it from some people after he left the Marines and gone to live in Rio. His father had made him train since he was little. He was shy, bullied, and he stuttered. They called him “Stutter Boy." Everything that had happened to her and Nason, before she had been brought to this horrible place, made her want to fight back, like him. She saw his power. She wanted it.

Mr. Lone had made her feel poisoned and alone; helpless. Someone else was being bullied. She saw what power gave him and wanted him to teach her. She had to face Skull Face. Malcolm taught Livia the fundamental jiu-jitsu. She was terrified Mr. Lone wouldn’t allow her to train. She wanted to learn everything she could to protect herself from the monsters. Guns, weapons, knives-- anything that wasn’t a weapon was a weakness. She was never going to be weak again.

She practiced incessantly. In the fall of her senior year, Rick introduced Livia to his friend, a Portland PD sex crimes detective named Gavin. He did not treat her with pity. She wanted to know everything about sex crimes. It would be a way to protect girls like her and Nason. To avenge the ones, she could not protect.

Later she taught a class – to women; a blend of judo, wrestling, and jiu-jitsu, focusing on techniques and tactics geared to bigger stronger opponents. Her philosophy was to teach the technique to train the mind. Teaching girls to protect themselves was even more important. She was accepted to SJSU. She would learn everything about criminals. She would be a cop. She would find Nason. Forensic science.

She would need "super powers"- enabling her to find clues criminals didn’t even know they had left behind. She learned about the laws and “human smuggling”. The details horrifying, from beatings and working sixteen hour days, paying them next to nothing. Labor-trafficking, sexual abuse. To find her sister. The shipments. She had seen and experienced it firsthand.

She wanted to carry a gun. Not just prosecute the monsters, but hunt them. Catch them. Snap handcuffs around their wrists -and put them in prison forever. Or put them "in the ground". From Skull Face, Dirty Beard, Square Head and Mr. Lone—when she sees them all- the dragon awakes.

There were predators in the world, lurking, waiting, wanting to hurt someone, ruin someone, and they would do it if they could. She hated them. She needed to fight. Not just some of the time. All of the time.

Portland felt the closest connection she had to Nason, the actual place where she and her sister had been amputated from each other. Of course, Rick and Gavin and the others had done all they could and found no trace of her. This is when she started thinking of Seattle- a hotbed of trafficking and its location to the Canadian border. Especially child trafficking. A perfect combo so she applied for the position.

Pain, grief, horror. The demons of the past and present. She has to go back and relive the torture to attain the answers she needs about her sister. Back to Thailand. A conspiracy. The senator. The national police. Children being trafficking, while those involved were moving up in the ranks of law enforcement. Pimping children. She would help them one way or another.

Dark, disturbing, chilling; an extensive and well-researched look at the depths and horrors of sex and human trafficking. Eisler's storytelling is vivid, intense, and suspenseful, introducing an unstoppable heroine so raw and driven.

Fast-paced, action-packed, adrenaline-fueled thriller. Livia is courageous, stopping at nothing to save the innocent lives of those taken and abused. Engrossing and explicit; one of those books you cannot put down, as you peak around the corner; not for the fainthearted.

"Female Vigilante Justice, at its finest!" Fans of Karin Slaughter will love Livia Lone. Looking forward to the next in the series.

While the ethics of vigilantism (for real) remain up for debate, when reports of gender-based crimes consistently fall upon deaf ears, at some point, you might just make enact justice for yourself. And sometimes, that justice comes in a "blonde wig". I Am Revenge: The Unheard Stories Of Female Vigilantes" (2015) by Danika McClure.

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About the Author

Barry 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 International Judo Center along the way.

Eisler's bestselling thrillers have won the Barry Award and theGumshoe Award for Best Thriller of the Year, have been included in numerous "Best Of" lists, and have been translated into nearly twenty languages. Eisler lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and, when he's not writing novels, blogs about torture, civil liberties, and the rule of law. Read More