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REQUIEM FOR AN ASSASSIN
by Barry Eisler
Penguin, March 2009
432 pages
7.99 GBP
ISBN: 0141025921


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

This is the sixth outing for Eisler's John Rain, an ex-assassin who attempted to retire while still at the top of his game. The shadowy, and almost certainly rogue, CIA operative, Jim Hilger, manages to kidnap Rain's friend and former partner, ex-marine sniper Dox. Rain is then blackmailed into coming out of retirement to take on three jobs as the price of his friend's life.

As ever with Eisler's books the reader is taken deep into Rain's mind and world as he attempts to pursue the men who have taken Dox, as well as fulfill the tasks he has been set as the price of his friend's life. The book sets off on a fast-paced journey taking in Saigon, California, New York and Paris. Eisler presents the reader with an impressive amount of detail in the book about Rain's methods and the dedication to his chosen profession which sets him apart from other professional killers and makes him so good at what he does, but for all that the book strikes a reasonable balance in its use of detail while not bogging down the action.

There is a degree of reflection in the book on Rain's relationship with Mossad agent, Delilah, but unfortunately she fails to become anything more than the obligatory beautiful but deadly love interest and this was the part of the story that I found the least convincing. The other supporting characters do provide more interest, and Rain's commitment to his friend and partner seems better fleshed out than his interaction with Delilah. The scenes depicting Dox's torture at the hands of his captors were hard-hitting and made uncomfortable reading, but Eisler never descended into gratuitous unpleasantness. Dox's interaction with his captors provides some of the best scenes in the book.

This probably isn't a good book to start with for a reader not already familiar with the character of Rain, as the back-story to the killer's life and loves is somewhat complex, but if that can be ignored the book does provide an entertaining read, although Eisler's introspective attempts to analyse his character's feelings and motives can become rather tedious as he tries, ultimately not very successfully, to reconcile Rain's attempts at domesticity with the other side of his personality which makes him so well-suited to the profession of killing.

The book jumps between first person narrative from Rain himself to third person perspective throughout the book, which can be jarring at times but on the whole the book fits together reasonably well, and is likely to be popular with fans of the series.

Reviewed by Linda Wilson, February 2010

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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