An Amazon Charts, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal bestseller.A fast-paced, page-turning novel of betrayal, vengeance, and depraved secrets in high places from the New York Times bestselling author of the John Rain and Livia Lone series.When a joint FBI–Seattle Police investigation of an international child pornography ring gets too close to certain powerful people, sex-crimes detective … close to certain powerful people, sex-crimes detective Livia Lone becomes the target of a hit that barely goes awry—a hit that had been offered to John Rain, a retired specialist in “natural causes.”
Suspecting the FBI itself was behind the attack, Livia reaches out to former Marine sniper Dox. Together, they assemble an ad hoc group to identify and neutralize the threat. There’s Rain. Rain’s estranged lover, Mossad agent and honeytrap specialist Delilah. And black ops soldiers Ben Treven and Daniel Larison, along with their former commander, SpecOps legend Colonel Scot “Hort” Horton.
Moving from Japan to Seattle to DC to Paris, the group fights a series of interlocking conspiracies, each edging closer and closer to the highest levels of the US government.
With uncertain loyalties, conflicting agendas, and smoldering romantic entanglements, these operators will have a hard time forming a team. But in a match as uneven as this one, a collective of killers might be even better.
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Smooth and Intriguing Novel!
This is the first novel I have read by this author, but will not be the last! Mr. Eisler writes a smooth and intriguing story of a group of killers who find themselves bound together in a “collective” to preserve their own existences! The lead character’s personalities are well-developed, which contributes vastly to the plot! A Very entertaining read!
I absolutely devoured this one, which is the tenth John Rain thriller, the third in the Livia Lone series, and the fourth Ben Treven outing. Like 2011’s The Detatchment, Eisler, reminding us of “The Avengers,” brings together all of the different characters we’ve grown to love over the years. Each of the characters already has well established relationships and networks all over the world. It was both great fun and edge of your seat suspense. I disagree with the reviewer that complained of too much killing. Every one was fine with me, and most even expected, IMHO. The character of my recent favorite, Livia Lone, grows as we learn a bit more of how she operates. Can’t wait for her next stand-alone. John Rain, a past favorite, isn’t as much fun now that he has “retired,” but he’s still the only one who gets to tell his part in the first person. The whole book is a treat for Eisler fans, but the last 15% of this one is truly edge of your seat stuff. There is a major and tragic shock in this ending, and it made me sad. But the loose ends are all tied up and we are left breathless but now looking for the next one. Eisler knows what he’s doing and is one of the best.
Excellent thriller that united the Detachment, Livia Lone and of course the great John Rain.
This puts all the Eisler ‘heroes’ together in one story. They work together and the story is told through 3 different points of view, all using the 1st person. It is fast paced with an important story line about child porn. Well worth the time and got me to re-read earlier books of the John Rain series.
This was my first experience with this author and these characters. Although it seems there are a few other books with them, my lack of any understanding of these stories did not have any impact on my enjoyment of this book.
This story is tight and engaging. The characters who come together and the way in which they connect is very well constructed. The manner in which chapters reflect the point of view of each character does a wonderful job bringing each of them to life. The twists, while often quite surprising, are never over the top!
Very nicely done!
I was sent a reviewers pre-release copy of this book to review.
In my opinion this is one of Eisler’s best books and one I would definitely preorder.
In “Killer,” The story blends Eisler’s most popular characters into an engrossing, enraging and “god I’m going to be dragging at work tomorrow, because I gotta finish this story.”
All my favorite Eisler characters team up in “Killer.” Seattle sex-crimes detective Livia Lone, former Marine sniper Dox, Mossad agent and honey-trap specialist Delilah, black ops soldiers Ben Treven, lDaniel-the silent killing machine-Larison, Special Ops legend Col. Scott “Hort” Horton and of course, coordinating everything in his subtle, quiet, yet often inflexible way, is semi-retired contract killer John Rain.
Having just completed my second Revenge School book, Revenge School New York, which is loosely based on a real-life story about human trafficking, I was very impressed by the research Eisler did for “Killer.” The information about real world, sadistic, international, hurtcore child pornography rings is startling, nauseating and very, very sad.
In the real world, these people should be hunted down and excruciatingly tortured in a way that is worse than the way they torture children. A visit from Charles Manson at dawn with a potato peeler would be too good for these sickos.
This review is based on an advance reader copy that was provided with the hope of a review. I received no compensation for it. I highly recommend all Eisler’s writing to anyone who loves tough-guy-tough-gal-hero thrillers.
The Killer Collective, by Barry Eisler, will be published by Thomas and Mercer on February 1, 2019.