A Clean Kill in Tokyo

Chief, for his courageous and unrelenting reporting of the corruption that plagues Japan—corruption that acts as an underpinning for this story and that should be more widely heeded by the people it most directly affects.
    To Koichiro Fukasawa, a diplomat with the soul of an artist and the most bicultural person I have ever known, for sharing his insights about all things Japanese and for introducing me to so many of the marvels of Tokyo.
    To Dave Lowry, for his sublime
Autumn Lightning: The Education of an American Samurai,
which influenced my own understanding of
shibumi
and the warrior arts, and which provided, therefore, part of the education of John Rain.
    To the omnidirectional Carl, veteran of the secret wars, for teaching me to hit first, soon, early, and often, whose very presence got me thinking in the right direction.
    Most of all, to my wife, Laura, for putting up with my writing and other obsessions and for doing so many other things to support and encourage the creation of this book. Through countless discussions on walks and long drives, and sometimes late at night over a single malt, Laura helped me as no one else ever could to find the story, the characters, the words, the will.

ALSO BY BARRY EISLER
Novels
    John Rain series
    A Clean Kill in Tokyo (Originally published as Rain Fall)
    A Lonely Resurrection (Originally published as Hard Rain)
    Winner Take All (Originally published as Rain Storm)
    Redemption Games (Originally published as Killing Rain)
    Extremis (Originally published as The Last Assassin)
    The Killer Ascendant (Originally published as Requiem for an Assassin)
    Ben Treven series
    Fault Line
    Inside Out
    Rain/Treven combined
    The Detachment (an Amazon exclusive)

Novellas
    London Twist (an Amazon exclusive)

Short Stories
    The Lost Coast
    Paris is a Bitch
    The Khmer Kill (an Amazon exclusive)

A CLEAN KILL IN TOKYO
Copyright © 2002, 2013 by Barry Eisler. All rights reserved. Originally published as RAIN FALL in 2002.
    This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from the author or publisher.
    A chapter heading font used in this ebook is copyright © 2010 by Caroline Hadilaksono and Micah Rich (caroline@hadilaksono, [email protected]) with Reserved Font Name: “League Gothic,” and is licensed under the SIL Open Font License, Version 1.1. This license is available with a FAQ at: http://scripts.sil.org/OFL . A chapter heading font used in this ebook is copyright © Red Hat, Inc. All rights reserved. LIBERATION is a trademark of Red Hat, Inc.
    Edition: January 2013