Friday, June 9, 2006

Just Read: "Rain Storm" by Barry Eisler

Just Read: Rain Storm by Barry Eisler, 0451215508, 2005, Paperback edition.

Pretty good book, this novel precedes Killing Rain listed below. A bit far-fetched at times though; killing six dudes, three at the same time, in the space of a couple hours?

Really nice details of Brazil, Macau and Hong Kong. Street life in all the places and the lifestyles in each. Hong Kong sounds more crowded than I realized.

The philosophical thoughts of Rain seem odd in comparison to the ruthless and pitiless work he does. On a quick count from memory Rain kills eight people in this novel, this means his ruminations on a tough life fall on mostly deaf ears. Yes, he kills people who deserve it but his paranoia and violent reactions to actual or perceived threats means that my ears are deaf to his brief tales of woe.

Still, I like the character, mainly because he has character. Eisler draws Rain up pretty well, hes is not one-dimensiol. Rain has personal interests (good coffee and scotch, judo, beaches, etc.), regrets, memories of his family, strong personal ethics and morals, and more rarely love and affection for other people. Rain is also a constant professional, he does not slack off on preparation and planning and he takes his work and his survival very seriously.

For a paranoid guy he sure has a lot of girlfriends. The author has similar interests to the main character and traveled a lot to prep for the novel. Thankfully, Eisler does not seem like a wanna-be, that kind of nonsense could easily come out in the story.

I wonder if my comma usage has been correct.

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