Photo: Disorderly / CC BY-SA 2.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Barry Eisler is the kind of thriller writer I find genuinely compelling. A New Jersey native who built his name on John Rain, a half-Japanese, half-American freelance assassin, he clearly relishes characters who live in the moral grey zone, and his 2005 Barry Award for Best Thriller feels almost poetically apt given the name. From Rain to black-ops soldier Ben Treven to Seattle detective Livia Lone, he keeps probing the line between justice and shadow. As a reader with a Japanese eye, I find the Rain premise oddly personal, and that hook alone makes me want to pick up one of his books.
Overview
Barry Mark Eisler (born 1964) is an American novelist. He is the author of three thriller series, the first featuring anti-hero John Rain, a half-Japanese, half-American former soldier turned freelance assassin, a second featuring black ops soldier Ben Treven, and his most recent centered on Seattle detective Livia Lone.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Barry Eisler
- Name (Japanese)
- バリー・アイスラー
- Reading
- ばりー・あいすらー
- Born
- January 1, 1963 (age 63)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Capricorn / Rabbit
- Origin
- New Jersey, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- writer / novelist / crime fiction writer
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Millburn High School
- University
- Private
Awards & achievements
- 2005 Barry Award for Best Thriller
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Writer — see all → · Novelist — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.