The Killer Ascendant

Description

Previously published as Requiem for an Assassin Hunted and finally cornered, John Rain faces his deadliest enemy ever: himself. For Rain, "the most charismatic assassin since James Bond" (San Francisco Chronicle), getting out of the life was never going to be easy. But with a new identity in Paris, and the help of his lover, Mossad agent Delilah, he was beginning to leave the killing business behind. And then he receives a message from rogue CIA operative Jim Hilger: we have your friend Dox. Do as we tell you, or he dies. For a professional like Rain, the choice ought to be easy: do the job-a series of three hits-and save his friend and partner. But how does Rain know Hilger won't kill Dox, anyway, once the assignment is complete? How does he know each of the hits isn't simultaneously a setup for Rain himself? Most of all, how can he control the killing rage Hilger's lethal game of extortion reignites inside him? From the deceptively tranquil beaches of Bali, to the backstreets and boulevards of Paris, to the urban canyons of Silicon Valley and New York and the old killing fields of Vietnam, Rain must grapple with his age, his enemies, and, most of all, with the killer inside himself in a battle not even Rain can hope to survive intact. "With a mix of nifty black-ops scenes and moments of emotional explosiveness, Eisler proves himself to be as coolly efficient a writer as his protagonist is a killer." -Entertainment Weekly

Barry Eisler spent three years in a covert position with the CIA, then worked as a technology lawyer and startup executive in Silicon Valley and Japan, earning his black belt at the Kodokan International Judo Center along the way. Eisler's bestselling thrillers have won the Barry Award and the Gumshoe Award for Best Thriller of the Year, have been included in numerous "Best Of" lists, and have been translated into nearly twenty languages. To learn more, please visit barryeisler.com.

"Like McNab's Nick Stone and Child's Jack Reacher, John Rain is a classic character" -The Times "... a terrific, fun read, full of modern spy craft (Eisler worked for the CIA for a while), exotic locales, hot sex and violence. Not to mention an extremely well-defined character in John Rain, who seems like a pretty good guy, given his career." -San Jose Mercury News "Eisler is exactly my kind of writer and his deadly main character John Rain is exactly my kind of guy-highly recommended." -Lee Child