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Assassin and serial killer novels

Lincoln Rhyme

Lincoln Rhyme

New Member
My brother really wants to read some cool assassin novels with assassins as the main character(or an assassin being tracked down as the villain of the novel).

The other type is a serial killer novel. He really liked American Psycho and the Dexter series. He wants a book where the killer is the main character.
 
The best assassin novels I have read are the John Rain series by Barry Eisler. John Rain is a free-llance Japanese-American hit man living in Japan who is former US special forces and works mainly for businessmen and intelligence agencies. The novels have great martial arts action as Eisler has black belt in judo and lived in Japan.
 
Awesome suggestion,you bet I'll try it out.If I can find it in my crappy Library.

Crap,can't find it in my Library.Would you say the first book is worth a buy?
 
I bought all the Rain novels and definitely felt they were worth it. I believe first was Hard Rain. I remeber some other really good assassin novels. Two which coincidentally also had Japanese connection, Oni and Shibumi. Shibumi was written by Trevanian, but I lent Oni to friend and now I forgot who wrote it. Also I enjoyed french Kiss by Eric Lustbader, and the Hit Man novels by Lawrence Block.
 
chiangmaifalcon said:
I bought all the Rain novels and definitely felt they were worth it. I believe first was Hard Rain. I remeber some other really good assassin novels. Two which coincidentally also had Japanese connection, Oni and Shibumi. Shibumi was written by Trevanian, but I lent Oni to friend and now I forgot who wrote it. Also I enjoyed french Kiss by Eric Lustbader, and the Hit Man novels by Lawrence Block.
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I'll second you on the Rain and Block series, both good. I used to like Lustbader, but somehow lost interest at some point.
The others you mention sound interesting too.
Sitting in Barnes and Noble right now, may as well look them up. Thanks. :)

AIE: Just found Shibumi...only one they have. Buying it, thanks [I think :D].
 
Hope you guys like the books. Last I heard, they were making movie about John Rain. I think starring Gary Oldman. Speaking of movies, another good assassin book by Trevanian was Eiger Sanction, which was a pretty good Clint Eastwood flick.
 
Occlith said:
I suggest the assassin novel Solo by Jack Higgins [Harry Patterson].
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Solo was a very good book and a fast read. Also, the first book in the Sean Dillon series, Eye of the Storm by Jack Higgins was a good read and may fit into this category. Dillon was the bad guy in this novel.
 
Plan on reading Eye of the Storm as soon as I get done with The Black Ice and Rain Fall.

So far 20 pages into Rain Fall,great read,oh and does romance make John Rain a worse character?Because right now he is a very awesome guy,and I have not gotten to the romance yet.
 
Confessional by Jack Higgins was good, and although I have never read it, The Day of the Jackal is widely praised (and a great film adaptation as well).
 
Butcher what do you mean about romance making John rain worse character? There is some romance and sex in Rain novels, mostly involving Japanese jazz singer and in later books an Israeli agent. Altogether there is not really too much romance in Rain novels, and if I remember correctly there is less in first novel than in later ones.
Also I agree Day of the jackal is very suspenseful, as is one of the great assassin novels ever, in my opinion, which is The Eye of the Needle.
 
chiangmaifalcon said:
Butcher what do you mean about romance making John rain worse character? There is some romance and sex in Rain novels, mostly involving Japanese jazz singer and in later books an Israeli agent. Altogether there is not really too much romance in Rain novels, and if I remember correctly there is less in first novel than in later ones.
Also I agree Day of the jackal is very suspenseful, as is one of the great assassin novels ever, in my opinion, which is The Eye of the Needle.
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So Rain's personality does not change with Romance?If so,Rain is already in my top 10 favorite characters!

Thanks for the other recommendations guys.Keep them coming!I already got twenty something books to read,plus these books.
 
I do not know if Rain's personality changes exactly, but his love of woman and child influences the way he acts. He has certain code which says he never whacks women or kids, but that is personal thing which is not connected to romance.
 
A few days ago I stumbled on a novel called Madonna Red that dealt with an assassin. The short blurb on the back mentioned Washington and the Vatican.
 
I came across a new writer some time ago, and have been quite impressed with the series written about an ordinary member of society who becomes an Assassin to right a wrong done to the daughter of a friend.
The main character is a guy named 'Chris' later known as 'Hunter' and the series of 12 books start with Hunter - An Accidental Assassin, each of them are named Hunter - xxxxxx. I read them all on Kindle and I'm not sure if they are available in printed format.
I got the feeling reading them that the author started off a little tentatively writing the first book, and while it had a good story, the subsequent books improve as he becomes more comfortable with the characters he creates. I enjoyed all of them, and would thoroughly recommend them to anyone who is looking for s slightly different approach rather than the bland and predictable template stories normally encountered.
Good luck..........
 
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