History Literature / JohnRain

* ItsPersonal: In ''Hard Rain'', Rain is asked to kill an EvilCounterpart hitman. He decides it's too difficult and refuses the assignment, until the hitman kills a friend of his. Rain even breaks his "no women" rule to kill a HoneyTrap who assisted in the murder.
* KnifeNut: Both Dox and Rain in later books, with Eisler providing loving descriptions of the high-quality blades they use.

* SmugSnake: Colonel Horton in The Detachment.

* RogueAgent: Jim Hilger. [[spoiler:He's assumed to be a corrupt CIA agent in the pay of a radical Islamic group, but turns out to be a WellIntentionedExtremist who's been working to his own agenda the whole time.]]

* {{Yellowface}}: Half Japanese/half American, Rain has had plastic surgery and uses hair dye to appear full-blooded Japanese, in order to better fit in. Ironically, he usually goes by his American name, John Rain, in place of his given Japanese name, Junichi Fujiwara

* RogueAgent: Hilger. [[spoiler:He's assumed to be a corrupt CIA agent in the pay of a radical Islamic group, but turns out to be a WellIntentionedExtremist who's been working to his own agenda the whole time.]]

* OriginsEpisode: "Graveyard Of Memories". Set in the 1970's, it centers around a young John Rain who takes part in the RealLife Lockheed bribery scandal, finds then looses his first love and becomes a fugitive from the CIA.

* BadAss: John Rain. A man who can set up elaborate deaths which leave no trace of human involvement and also hand his enemies their arses due to being a world class martial artist.
** Then there's his friends Delilah and Dox who are among the only people in the world who can keep up with him.
** On the villains side, we have Bengazi the arms dealer. He's one of the few characters to have come closest to killing John Rain, beating him half to death and leaving him a broken wreck on a warehouse floor in Hong Kong.

* ArtisticLicenseMartialArts: '''Subverted.''' Like {{Manga/Holyland}}, the martial arts represented are realistic, brutal and efficient.

* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: Delilah's job with Mossad is to seduce targets to get information. She's routinely despised by her colleagues for this, although they have no problem using the intelligence she provides.

* OriginsEpisode: "Graveyard Of Memories". Set in the 1970's, it centers around a young John Rain who takes part in the RealLife Lockheed bribery scandal, finds then looses his first love and becomes a fugitive from the CIA.

* BadassIsraeli: Mossad agent and Rain's sometime lover Delilah.

** Treven: Phlegmatic.

* AuthorAppeal: Like John Rain, author Barry Eisler is an accomplished martial artist; likewise, Rain's workout routine (described in depth in the books) is based on Eisler's own.

* BadassIsraeli: Mossad agent and Rain's sometime lover Delilah.

* FriendlySniper: Former Marine sniper Dox. Dox is actually short for "Unorthodox," a nickname he received for not fitting the ColdSniper stereoptype. Interestingly though, when he does get behind the scope, he totally becomes [[ColdSniper more focused and cold]].
* HitmanWithAHeart: Two of Rain's rules are "no women, no children," and "[[NeverHurtAnInnocent principal targets only]]" (no hits on family members/etc. to send a message).

A series of novels by author and former CIA operative Barry Eisler. Deals with HitmanWithAHeart John Rain, who specializes in [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident killing in such a way that it looks like natural causes]]. Rain's years of training in the Special Forces, CIA, and as an assassin for hire manifest themselves in a deep-seated paranoia and an inability to trust anyone, which complicates his personal relationships.

* ActionFilmQuietDramaScene: A literary version. While there are some nasty fight scenes which often leave Rain's opponent dead, or severely handicapped for life, there are scenes where Rain is just walking through the night streets of Tokyo (or wherever he might be) and reminiscing about his childhood days, etc.

* ArtisticLicenseMartialArts: Like {{Manga/Holyland}}, the martial arts represented are realistic, brutal and efficient.

** Similarly, although Dox was respected in the Marines for his sniper skills, he was shunned because he didn't fit the ColdSniper stereotype.
* ArtisticLicenseMartialArts: Like [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Manga/Holyland Holyland]], the martial arts represented are realistic, brutal and efficient.

* BadassIsraeli: Mossad agent and sometime lover Delilah.

* ExecutiveMeddling: The titles of the first four books in the series are rain-based puns, much to the chagrin of the author. He has since re-released them with titles of his choosing.

* FriendlySniper: Former Marine sniper Dox. Dox is actually short for "Unorthodox," a nickname he received for not fitting the ColdSniper stereoptype.

* HitManWithAHeart: Two of Rain's rules are "no women, no children," and "[[NeverHurtAnInnocent principal targets only]]" (no hits on family members/etc. to send a message).

A series of novels by author and former CIA operative Barry Eisler. Deals with HitmanWithAHeart John Rain, who specializes in [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident killing in such a way that it looks like natural causes]]. Rain's years of training in the Special Forces, CIA, and as an assassin for hire manifest themselves in a deep-seated paranoia, an inability to trust anyone, which complicates his personal relationships.

* AuthorAppeal: Like John Rain, author Barry Eisler is an accomplished martial artist; likewise, Rains workout routine (described in depth in the books) is based on Eisler's own.

* HitManWithAHeart: Two of Rain's rules are "no women, no children," and "[[NeverHurtAnInnocent principal targets only]]" (no hits on family members/etc. to send a message.

* {{Yellowface}}: Half Japanese/half American, Rain has had plastic surgery and uses hair dye to appear full-blooded Japanese, in order to better fit in.

* Friendly Sniper: Former Marine sniper Dox. Dox is actually short for "Unorthodox," a nickname he received for not fitting the ColdSniper stereoptype.