A review of The Detachment by Barry Eisler

One of the best surprises in the International Intrigue genre during the past decade was the creation of the “John Rain” series by ex-C.I.A. operative, Barry Eisler. He created a Japanese/American character that basically kills with his hands and feet and assassinates his targets in such a way that they appear to have died of natural causes. This is a different kind of character from James Bond, or Sam Durrell, or Matt Helm, or anything created by the late Alistair MacLean and Robert Ludlum. This series has one-hell-of-a-cool character in it that offers the reader something quite unusual.

John 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 as time goes on.

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 John Rain. In many ways I enjoyed these novels the most because I have a strong fascination with Japan, its culture and history. Having made that statement, here’s the flip side of the coin. Though Bruce Lee was Chinese, I’ve always pictured him as John Rain. I guess it’s because he was a small man, but also extremely strong and unbelievably fast with his hands and feet. That picture of Lee as Rain has stayed with me over the last eight years. It helped to bring the character alive in my mind by putting a face I knew on him, and it certainly made me more anxious for each upcoming novel.

The 7th John Rain thriller is The Detachment. I have to say the book begins with my kind of action right off the bat. John Rain is back in Tokyo, working out in 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 worse-case scenario. 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 opts from still pursuing Rain. The fact is 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 named Colonel Scott Horton.
Rain is offered a million dollars to take out all three people and to shut down a conspiracy in motion. The thing is Rain operates alone, but Horton wants him to use a detachment of men to insure 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 ulterior motives. Rain isn’t sure whether or not 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 one hundred 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 and hoping they’ll be able to take out the bad guys in the end without being killed.

Another thing about this novel I liked is that the storyline in it reminded me a lot of what’s happening today in the United States. I can see where the U.S. Government is gradually chipping away at the Constitution and the rights of the American people. Most of the citizens don’t even realize this is happening. The author, Barry Eisler, who used to be a C.I.A. covert operative, sees the patterns developing long before the average person does and then incorporates them into his fiction. This, of course, adds to the stark realism and utter validity of the book.

If you’re looking for something different to read, give the “John Rain” novels a try, but start at the beginning with Rain Fall. By the way, Rain Fall has been turned into a motion picture that was made in Japan two years ago. It’s available on Amazon in DVD, but the reviews aren’t too good.

So, give The Detachment and the other “John Rain” novels a try. You may find yourself becoming addicted to the series like I did.