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    The Killer Ascendant
    The Killer Ascendant
    The Killer Ascendant
    Audiobook10 hours

    The Killer Ascendant

    Written by Barry Eisler

    Narrated by Barry Eisler

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    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.

    The Killer Ascendant was previously published as Requiem for an Assassin, the sixth in the bestselling John Rain assassin series.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateFeb 11, 2014
    ISBN9781480553156
    The Killer Ascendant
    Author

    Barry Eisler

    Barry Eisler spent three years in a covert position with the CIA’s Directorate of Operations, then worked as a technology lawyer and startup executive in Silicon Valley and Japan, earning his black belt at the Kodokan Judo Institute along the way. Eisler’s bestselling thrillers have won the Barry Award and the Gumshoe Award for Best Thriller, have been included in numerous “Best of” lists, have been translated into nearly twenty languages, and include the #1 bestseller Livia Lone. Eisler lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and, when he’s not writing novels, blogs about torture, civil liberties, and the rule of law. Learn more at www.barryeisler.com.

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    Reviews for The Killer Ascendant

    4/5

    201 ratings7 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Taut, complex and gripping action/thriller/drama writing. I’m surprised Eisler’s John Rain series isn’t more snapped up by Hollywood (if not all already) starring Keane Reeves as John Rain and likes of Gal Gardot or Margot Robbie as Delilah.
    • 5/5
      Barry Eisler continues to impress and entertain with this book. I love that he is the reader of his own books...reads with such passion and understanding.
    • 4/5
      An excellent thriller where protagonit John Rain must deal with a nasty hostage situation.
    • 4/5
      really hooked on John Rain.
    • 4/5
      Another very good entry in this series. As others noted, read these books in series!John Rain's evolution continues, though it felt a little choppy in places here. I would have expected to hear that inner voice directly before, though perhaps it can pointed to that visiting Vietnam is what triggered it at all.The plotting and action are as breathless as usual. Eisler's research continues to be top-shelf. I happen to know Palo Alto, CA from years ago and when Rain was there it felt like I visited again, right down to Kepler's book store!The plot gets nicely chaotic. Who would have thought to see our CIA and Mossad operatives from prior novels working side-by-side?Some of you might say, "oh, this must be the last book." But I see he left the door open in a couple of ways. His love life isn't exactly settled and he owes Kanezaki something. And we all know what he does to pay thiose debts, lol.My one negative taste is what someone else praised, judgement of some recent American politics. It might even be parody, coming from the mouth of a man who is willing to unleash radioactive disasters on the world in pursuit of domestic imperatives and reflected upon by a man who kills anyone who isn't a woman, child, or non-principal for a living.Congrats to Eisler on maintaining a high thriller standard over so many books about one character. Yep, I'm in his fan club now.
    • 5/5
      This is the last in the series (to date anyway). It's a very good wrap up; the characters are not left hanging, and they are all fully realized.I wouldn't recommend reading this if you haven't read the rest of the series because you won't appreciate Rain and his relationships (or lack thereof), although the story itself is started and wrapped up in this one book so you're not left hanging, or lost over what's going on.It's a bit brutal/gory. There is some sex, but not much, and it sort of suits the story. There is some political grumbling - where the author appears to express his personal views on the US military, terrorism, political patronage and etc. But this also kind of suits the story.My least favorite component of this story were the scenes where Rain got whiny, or started talking to his "other self" as if it were real (along the lines of what Dexter does)... I like Rain because he's an assassin and yet still has human moments; I don't want him to be whining about his life-choices. All in all, I'd give this book - and this series - 4.5 stars out of five.
    • 5/5
      Eisler and Rain keep getting better and better and better. Requiem was a terrific book (although it should probably not be read until all others in the series have been read in order). With the last two John Rain books, Eisler has made the leap into my top echelon of writers and Rain has become one of the top characters. (Interesting side note: I found some of Eisler's views [expressed by Rain] on Iraq and the Bush administration to be very refreshing, especially as so many writers in the genre come to the subject from a position fairly far to the right.) I've enjoyed the John Rain books so much, in fact, that I've gone back and given each of the previous books in the series an additional star from my initial reviews. Why? Because the books (and the character) have stayed with me, far more than almost any other current fictional character (probably only Mitch Rapp is in the same category, but Eisler's writing is much stronger). In addition, I'm about to offer Eisler just about the highest praise that you will ever hear me offer to an espionage writer: Eisler's writing style (in particular his method of developing Rain's character and his ability to put suspense on the page) made me think of Adam Hall and Quiller (and as I've told many, many people for a long, long time, I believe that Adam Hall's Quiller novels are the best espionage books that nobody has ever read). Congratulations, Mr. Eisler on creating a fabulous character! I look forward to your next book. I highly, highly recommend the John Rain series, but please (and I can't stress this enough), read the books in order!