This past Sunday I went to something I used to take for granted back in Berkeley but rarely hear about here: the author appearance. This one, of thriller writer Barry Eisler, took place at a foreigner hangout in Aoyama called The Pink Cow. I saw a flyer for Eisler's appearance posted at my office, and the name of his first book rang a bell, recalled from a Japan Times book review last year.
The basic plot sounded very high concept: John Rain, half-Japanese, half-American (or, as reviewer Benjamin Reese at Amazon.com charmingly calls him, "half-breed") is an assassin working in Tokyo, specializing in hits that look like death by natural causes. He gets emotionally involved with the daughter of his most recent victim, and all hell breaks loose--or at least a lot of plot complications happen. It sounded vaguely interesting when I read the review, but not promising enough to seek out.
So I was in Kinokuniya Books last week, and came across the first of Eisler's books, Rain Fall, now in paperback.. I flipped it open, and was hooked from the opening chapter, where the protaganist follows his victim through the streets of Shibuya. So I bought it.
What caught my attention particularly about the book was Eisler's attention to detail: I recognized the very real locations that Eisler put his protaganist in, places that I'm familar with from living in Tokyo. And like any good noir novel, the protaganist has to dig beneath the oft-times glittering surfaces to uncover the ugly truth underneath.
A big part of good noir novels is, for me, is evoking a strong sense of place. Something like the Boston of Robert B. Parker (before he descended into self-parody), the Los Angeles of Michael Connelly or James Ellroy, or the New York of Lawrence Block. Barry Eisler does this for Tokyo, painting a vivid and believable portrait of the city.
Anyways, it's getting late. More later.
Books I'm Reading:
