Killing Rain (John Rain Thrillers) - Hardcover

Introduction to the New Edition

Every time I write a new book in a series, I begin by asking what happened to the characters in the previous book, and build on that. When I started A Lonely Resurrection, for example, the second Rain book, I asked myself, "What would Rain do now that his archenemy Yamaoto and the CIA have tracked him down in Tokyo? What would Tatsu, of the Japanese National Police Force, do with the disk full of incriminating political information Rain acquired for him? And what about Midori, Rain's lover, whose father Rain killed? Would she really believe Rain was dead? What would she do if she suspected the truth?"

Similarly, to discover the story in Winner Take All, the third book, I asked, "Did Rain manage to disappear in Brazil as he was planning in A Lonely Resurrection? Did he reconnect in Rio with his new love interest, Naomi Nascimento? What post-nine-eleven plans would CIA operative Kanezaki have for Rain, and how would he track Rain down outside in Japan?"

But I think my favorite example of how each book builds on the events of the previous one is Redemption Games. Here's what happened.

At the end of Winner Take All (spoiler alert!), Rain is stunned to learn that he can trust former Marine sniper Dox, who was sent to kill Rain but wound up working with him, and indeed saving his life, instead. This realization ruptures Rain's conviction that he can trust no one, rely on no one -- a conviction that's central to his self-image and his whole worldview. I knew this change had to be central to the new story, but I wasn't sure how. I mentioned what I was grappling with to my friend Marc MacYoung of NoNonsenseSelfDefense.com (nnsd.com). Marc said, "Ah, you need to talk to Terry Trahan." I knew Terry from NNSD's listserv and from having trained with him a bit at one of the annual NNSD barbecues, but I didn't know his story. Marc put us in touch, and Terry generously answered my many questions.

What he told me was fascinating. A former street criminal and veteran of countless violent encounters, Terry was working as a bouncer when he started dating a woman who has since become his wife. He didn't know why this woman would love a criminal like him, but he decided he wanted to be worthy of her love. He wanted to get out of the life. And he started trying to do so. But he was still bouncing, and then one night, while he was struggling with the imbalance of living with one foot still in the life and one foot out of it, he was faced with a routine confrontation in the bar. Just something with an unruly patron, the kind of thing he had successfully handled dozens of times before. But this time, Terry froze.

Fortunately, the encounter ended without lasting damage for Terry, and he learned something profound from it—something he shared with me. Which is how vulnerable a person can be during the transition from one kind of life to another. As he described all this to me, I could feel that light bulb go on over my head—"Of course! That's exactly what happens to Rain. His worldview is all messed up because of how Dox saved him, he gets hired for a new job, and... he freezes! He blows the hit! And then whoever hired him comes after him as a way of cleaning up the mess Rain has caused..."

Which, like all good ideas, immediately led to all the right questions: "Okay, who hired Rain? Maybe the Israelis? Yes, there was more than a hint of that possibility in Winner Take All, where Rain crosses paths—and swords— with gorgeous Mossad agent Delilah, who's destined to become his lover. Okay, who would the Mossad want Rain to kill? And why? And how would Dox be involved?"

How indeed? Read on to find out.