The Last Assassin

The opening lines of the fifth in the John Rain series had me hooked, "I've never liked doing a job in a new place. You don't know how to get in and out undetected, you don't know what tools you'll need to access the target, you don't know where you'll stick out and where you'll be able to just fade into the background or disappear in a crowd.” Not a bad start for a series novel, sort of squeezes you into this exhilarating tale, and for new readers it feeds the backstory seamlessly and reads almost like the first in the series.

As a way of an introduction we see that Rain, the Japanese/American ex-CIA freelance assassin is in a bit of a pickle. He has discovered that he could be the father to a child, Koichero, from a romantic episode with a former lover, Japanese jazz pianist Midori Kawamura. But there’s another edge to this tale as Rain is also romantically intertwined with Israeli Mossad intelligence agent Delilah.

After jointly beating up a gang of British yobs in Barcelona, Rain levels with Delilah about his child, and they realize that Rain’s enemies will use Midori and his child to get to Rain. So enter Rain’s enforcer, the ex-Marine sniper called Dox. But what sets this novel apart from the pack is the existential nature of this thriller, and the thoughts and ramifications of Rain and his actions. Peppering this tale is slices of reality of how to live a life under the cloak and dagger world of black operations.

Like Fleming or Le Carre who both worked with the British security services, Eisler writes from the same ‘knowing’ stable, with his own covert CIA background; but like his precursors, does not force-feed handicraft to the reader but drip-feeds it into the story, intertwining it with Rain’s love of Malt, the passion for women, and his own questioning nature. Then the story follows a cat and mouse series of deadly escapades as Rain realizes that the people out to get him will stop at nothing, and will use his child and former lover as bait to flush him out. The problem for Rain is that the women in his life have their own agenda, because Rain killed Midori’s father [a Japanese politician], whilst Delilah is not happy that Rain needs to see his former lover. Great characters, great action but all tainted with the bittersweet realization that for Rain, life and death are just a whisper away. This is Eisler’s best so far, and a great introduction to one of most gripping espionage series around. If you like your thrillers with an existential twist, Eisler’s your man. Exceptional.