John Rain

John Rain is a fictional character created by Barry Eisler.

Biographical Information

John Rain, aka Junichi Fujiwara, was born in 1952 to a Japanese father and an American mother.He is a freelance assassin whose speciality is assassinations that appear to be death by natural causes. He has undergone plastic surgery to hide his Caucasian heritage and has dyed his brown hair. In 1960, Rain's father was killed, so his mother moved them to Dryden, NY where she taught at Cornell.

His passions include Single Malt Whiskies and jazz. He is an accomplished martial artist with years of experience training Judo at the Kodokan and Gracie Jiujitsu in Brazil. During his initial contact with Dox in Brazil, he was also shown to be knowledgeable in Sambo, as well. He is also a Vietnam veteran where he served with the US Army Special Forces and had his first encounter with the CIA that later led to his recruitment. After Vietnam, he became a mercenary, helping the Lebanese Christians in Beirut and the rebels in Afghanistan. Afterwards, He worked for the japanese LDP, unwittingly for Yamaoto (a local powermonger) and Holtzer (a rogue CIA operative, lately killed by Rain himself).

Rain is a hand to hand combat expert, although is also useful when armed.

Family

Koichiro

His 2 1/2 year old son, the result of a night with Midori Kawamura, a jazz pianist, who was the daughter of one of Rain's targets. His mother intends to tell him that his father is dead, once he becomes old enough. They live in New York City and his mother has released a CD called "Another Time."

Allies

Dox

Freelance Assassin, an American former Marine Sniper whom he met in Reagan Era Afghanistan. Built like a linebacker and sports a goatee. Dox and Rain have formed a deep friendship, the former having turned down a chance at five million dollars in favor of helping the latter, who was badly wounded. Dox speaks with a Southern twang, and masks a deadly persona with an "aw shucks" attitude. He currently resides in Bali in a home that he built himself. Dox was recently captured and tortured by Hilger and his associates. They had a scheme to get revenge on Rain.

Delilah

A Mossad operative, smart, sexy, and sophisticated. She was born in Haifa, Israel and speaks fluent Hebrew. She stands about 5'10" and has cobalt blue eyes. Her profession with the Mossad is to seduce potential terrorists and gather information about, to enable their assassinations. Rain got to know her as their paths crossed when he had the task to eliminate an arms dealer in Macau, who was also Delilah's target. Afterwards, they became lovers, bound by a mutual understanding for each other's profession. She is usually based in Paris and operates under the guise of a fashion photographer. Known colleagues in the Mossad include Boaz, Gil, and Naftali.

Haruyoshi

aka "Harry", a former NSA employee. Haruyoshi Fukasawa was born in America and went to college and graduate school there, earning a degree in applied mathematics and cryptology. After hacking into too many government sites, he was forced to work for the NSA. In the first two books, he was based in Tokyo, an expert in all things technical. Rain’s unwitting partner, Harry didn’t know his employer's true profession -- and never asked. Harry was the classic “otaku – and, in addition to being a computer guru – was a guy who has saved Rain's life countless times by equipping him with the latest gadgetry. Harry had a "man crush" on Rain.In the second book, he fell in love with a Japanese hostess who showed herself to be an "agent" of Yamaoto criminal organisation, hired to track John Rain location. Haruyoshi was "disposed" after letting Yamaoto associates find what they where looking for.

Crazy Jake

Jim Calhoun, a childhood friend who Rain was forced to kill in Vietnam despite his better judgement. He grudgingly let Rain date his sister, Deidre.

Tomohisa Kanezaki

The CIA Chief of Tokyo Station. An American ethnic Japanese. He had a quid pro quo relationship with Rain. A relative novice, he developed into a seasoned spymaster thanks to associations with Rain and Tatsu.

Ishikura Tatsuhiko

The former department head of the Keisatsucho, the Japanese FBI. One-time nemesis and later, close friend/adviser to Rain. Later he is gravely ill and asks Rain to euthanise him, which Rain does reluctantly.

Naomi Nascimento

A twenty something Brazilian national with green eyes. She met Rain while working in a Tokyo club, eventually becoming a paramour. Being linked to Rain put her in danger, so she relocated to Brazil and went on to own her own bar. The CIA pressed her for information on Rain's whereabouts once he left Japan.

Enemies

Jim Hilger

An ex-CIA operative, Non-official Cover, former financial planner based in Hong Kong. He ran a private spy company that took on missions the CIA could not endorse. Hilger had too much dirt on the right people, making him untouchable. He ran Wilson, Demeere, Garza, and Guthrie. With the help of those men, he tried to kill Rain and Dox, but failed. Hilger is always described as a very dangerous man, since he is an expert with handguns. He shot and killed Gil, a highly lethal Mossad assassin. Gil knew him as "Huxton" and believed him to be active CIA.He is known to keep extremely calm, even in lethal situations, which makes him a person of authority. He has a sister named Sarah that lives in New York City. He later kidnaps Dox to force Rain into doing his bidding. This lead up to a brutal fight between him and rain, leaving him dead and Rain wounded.

Yamaoto Toshi

Powerful Yakuza Boss and politician. He was an expert in judo and had a personal vendetta against Rain after the latter kept a disc containing sensitive information from him. During his time seeking revenge on Rain he became aware of Midori and Rain's son. He used them hoping to draw Rain out of hiding, this however backfired causing only Yamaoto's death.

William Holtzer

Former Tokyo Station Chief and Rain's nemesis in Vietnam. He ruined Rain's career path because the latter refused to collaborate in corruption. Was a "mole" and admitted as such before Rain killed him.

Appearances

John Rain can be found in the following books by Barry Eisler:
*"Rain Fall"
*"Hard Rain"
*"Rain Storm"
*"Killing Rain"
*"The Last Assassin"
*"Requiem for an Assassin"

Also a movie adaption of the first novel Rain Fall will start shooting in April 2008. The film will be directed by Max Mannix.

External links

[http://www.barryeisler.com/forum/index.php?board=9.0 "The World of John Rain"] on author's website (www.barryeisler.com)

[http://www.rationalreview.com/content/14540 “Rain of Terror”] by Jeff Riggenbach

[http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117982685.html?categoryid=13&cs=1 "Rumors on Gary Oldman joining Rain Fall movie cast"] at www.variety.com

[http://www.johnraingame.com "Tokyo Rain"] a forthcoming role-playing game about John Rain from Blue Devil Games