Eisler’s ‘Detachment’ packed with action

One of the best surprises in the international intrigue genre during the past decade was the creation of the John Rain series by ex-CIA operative Barry Eisler. He created a Japanese-American character who basically kills with his hands and feet and assassinates his targets in such a way that they appear to have died of natural causes.

Rain starts off as a cold-blooded assassin and over a period of seven novels starts developing a conscious about the bad things he’s done in his past and in some respect, how to make amends. You begin to care for him as a human being and want to learn more about the character.

The first couple of books (“Rain Fall” and “Hard Rain”) took place in Japan and offered an insider’s view of the country through the eyes of Rain. In many ways I enjoyed these novels the most because I have a strong fascination with Japan, its culture and history.

The seventh John Rain thriller is “The Detachment.” The book begins with my kind of action. Rain is back in Tokyo, doing judo at the Kodokan stadium. While there, he notices a large, Caucasian male watching him from the bleachers. The second night, there’s a different man in the stands who’s also watching him, and he suspects they’re getting ready to make a move.

On the way home, the two men follow Rain, but with the intention of asking him to join a covert operation. Unfortunately, Rain doesn’t know that and anticipates the worst. In other words, he kills both men in a matter of seconds with his bare hands.

This doesn’t stop the person behind the special ops from pursuing Rain. He needs Rain’s particular expertise in taking out three important targets.

Apparently, the people who need to be disposed of in a way that looks like natural causes are planning a takeover of the United States, using the terrorist threat as an excuse to disregard the Constitution and to instigate military law. The man who wants to stop this takeover is Col. Scott Horton. Rain is offered a million dollars to take out all three people and shut down a conspiracy in motion.

Though Rain operates alone, Horton wants him to use a detachment of men to ensure the jobs are completed. Two of the men in the detachment belong to Horton, while Rain’s friend, Dox, is the third. Rain knows he can trust Dox, but the other two killers are questionable — as are Horton’s motives. Rain isn’t sure whether Horton is manipulating him to take out good guys so the colonel can be in charge when the takeover begins.

Though I usually prefer John Rain when he works alone, I found myself enjoying “The Detachment.” All four men in the group have weaknesses and strong feelings about the past jobs they’ve done for our government. This makes each one seem human, especially during the last third of the novel. Like the main characters, I never quite found myself trusting Horton 100 percent, but by the end of the book, I liked and trusted everyone in the detachment, which was a coup for the author. He created such believable characters that you inadvertently find yourself caring about what happens to them.

If you’re looking for something different to read, give the John Rain novels a try, but start at the beginning with “Rain Fall.” You may find yourself becoming addicted to the series as I did.

Wayne C. Rogers is the author of the horror novellas “The Encounter” and “The Tunnels,” both of which can be purchased at Amazon’s Kindle Store for 99 cents each.