John Rain Books in Order
John Rain by Barry Eisler contains 12 books, published between 2003 and 2021. The first book is Rain Fall / A Clean Kill in Tokyo (2003) and the newest is The Chaos Kind (2021). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 12
- Published
- 2003–2021
- Confirmed
- 12 of 12 titles
- Pages on record
- 3,459 in 10 of 12 books
- Reading time
- 58–86 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 3,459 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 10 of 12 titles with a page count on record.
John Rain, a Japanese American assassin who kills for hire, is the figure Barry Eisler built this suspense series around. 12 catalogued books run from Rain Fall, also published as A Clean Kill in Tokyo (2003), through Hard Rain (2003), Rain Storm (2004), Killing Rain (2005), The Last Assassin (2006) and Requiem For an Assassin (2007). Several titles carry two or three alternative names across editions. The Chaos Kind, published in 2021, is the last catalogued entry.
How many John Rain books are there?
John Rain has 12 books, released between 2003 and 2021.
John Rain Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 12 John Rain books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.
- 1Rain Fall / A Clean Kill in Tokyo2003 · 376 pages · confirmed 3/420033763/4
- 2Hard Rain / Blood from Blood / A Lonely Resurrection2003 · 384 pages · confirmed 3/420033843/4
- 3Rain Storm / Choke Point / Winner Take All2004 · 341 pages · confirmed 3/420043413/4
- 4Killing Rain / One Last Kill / Redemption Games2005 · 337 pages · confirmed 3/420053373/4
- 5The Last Assassin / Extremis2006 · 338 pages · confirmed 3/420063383/4
- 6Requiem For an Assassin / The Killer Ascendant2007 · 374 pages · confirmed 3/420073743/4
- 7Paris is a Bitch2011 · confirmed 3/42011–3/4
- 8The Detachment2011 · 296 pages · confirmed 3/420112963/4
- 9Graveyard of Memories2014 · 322 pages · confirmed 3/420143223/4
- 10Zero Sum2017 · 276 pages · confirmed 3/420172763/4
- 11The Killer Collective2019 · 415 pages · confirmed 3/420194153/4
- 12The Chaos Kind2021 · confirmed 3/42021–3/4
John Rain Books in Chronological Order
By publication date, the John Rain books run from Rain Fall / A Clean Kill in Tokyo (2003) to The Chaos Kind (2021), the sequence in the table above. No separate story order is recorded for John Rain in the book listings this catalogue merges, so publication order is the only order on record.
Do you have to read John Rain books in order?
You should read the John Rain books in publication order, the order of the numbered table above. The catalogue does not record whether each John Rain book also stands alone.
Where to start with John Rain
Start with Rain Fall / A Clean Kill in Tokyo (2003), the earliest published title.
What is the newest John Rain book?
The Chaos Kind (2021) is the newest John Rain book released so far.
Is there a new John Rain book coming?
No next John Rain book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
John Rain at a glance
- Paused
- No new John Rain title has appeared for 5 years. The last was published in 2021.
- Release pace
- John Rain books have appeared about one every 2 years on average.
- Length
- 3,459 pages across the 10 of 12 books with a recorded length, a median of 340 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most John Rain books, 6 of 12, were published in the 2000s.
What the John Rain books are about
10 of the 12 John Rain books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: assassins is tagged on 9 of 10. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Assassins 9 of 10 books
- Murder for hire 6 of 10 books
- Japanese Americans 5 of 10 books
- Rain, john (fictitious character) 4 of 10 books
- Americans 3 of 10 books
- Suspense 3 of 10 books
- Japanese Americans in fiction 2 of 10 books
- Murder for hire in fiction 2 of 10 books
- Thrillers 2 of 10 books
More books by Barry Eisler
The author page linked below lists every book in publication order.
- Barry Eisler books in order 25 books
Other series by Barry Eisler
The series linked below has its own reading-order page.
- Livia Lone books in order 3 books