The Chaos Kind

My problem with writing a book review for an Eisler book is that I am an unmitigated and unabashed fan. At the risk of sounding like a sycophant, I will state up front that the man can do no wrong by me. I like his writing style, his attention to detail, his characters, his causes, and his politics. I even like his voice, when I listen to the audiobooks he narrates. “The Chaos Kind” is the sequel to “The Killer Collective” that came out a couple of years ago. Once again “The Detachment” is together again sans Ben Treven, but with the addition of Marvin Manus, a relentless assassin who learned his skills in the military and in some tough prisons. We have Marine sniper Dox, Seattle PD sex crimes detective Livia Lone, “natural causes” assassin John, Rain’s ex-Mossad agent girlfriend, Delilah, and black-ops specialist Daniel Larison. On the other end we have the rich, the power-hungry, the corrupt, the subversive, the manipulative, and worst of all, the child abuser rapists. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alondra Diaz is prosecuting an immense child-raping and molesting case against some perverts who, themselves, were set up by obscenely rich financier Schrader, whose cache of blackmail material inculpates American intelligence officials at high levels of government. The conflagration is… chaotic. The outcome is inevitable and satisfying. So much for the plot. Oh, yeah… don’t try speed-reading through this novel: Eisler has a knack of turning “things” on a dime. One moment the miscreant is here; next moment she is gone.Subthemes: unwavering friendship, loyalty, commitment, strategy, ability to improvise at a moment’s notice and unparallel skill sets for action, decision making, and killing without hesitation. This bunch are rebels with a cause.What’s missing is the fleshing out of the cast of characters. I wouldn’t put it past Eisler to have done it on purpose: although the novel stands on its own merit, its true richness comes from understanding of the members of the “team.” Which means that, if you really want to get a full insight why the characters say what they say and do what they do, you will have to go back in time and read the true “prequels.” We have hints of Rain’s amazing powers like when he dons the compression tights and he no longer can be “invisible” to the world. But we won’t really know the extent of his analytical abilities until we are privy to his internal monologue in the Rain Series. Similarly, unless we have followed him into his training sessions throughout Tokyo, we may not understand the latitude of his martial arts skills. His yugen is inexplicable, but we get it. Livia may come across as a frigid, calculated, unappeasable zealot, but if you read the Livia Lone series you will understand that she is none of those things, but a wounded bird who has morphed into a relentless avenging angel with superior battle skills. What we may not know from this novel is that stunning Delilah is, in fact, just as lethal as any of the others.We read books for different reasons, I suppose. I am at stage of my life when reading is pure escapism. My days of Thackerey, du Maupassant, or Theodor Dreiser are long behind me. Now I enjoy the “movies” books create in my mind. When I “watch” Eisler’s movies, I am transported to where the action is, become part of the “team,” even if just as an observer, smell the parks, or the blood, lie down next to Don as he sets up for his shot, and share Livia’s outrage at the depth of ugliness to which humans can sink. As far the as the latter is concerned, it is not too difficult for me because, as a pediatric psychologist, I have seen a thousand times the consequences of adult depravity on the children. So when the creeps get their comeuppance, I stand up and cheer, as will you.One more thing: Eisler is pedantic when it comes to supporting his writing with evidence. At the end of the book you will find his “Notes” with references to specifics mentioned in the novel. If you are the least bit into learning, you will find yourself getting an education. That in itself is worth the price of the book. I did look up the Battle of Sekigahara. Barry Eisler’s blog invites experts to set him straight if he commits some faux pas in his writings, so it’s not unusual to read the explanation of a neurosurgeon that “when you do this to the man, he won’t die immediately.” Or some such.

A very interesting and intriguing read. There is much going on in this book, some very similar to what is going on in this country now. It would be great to have this crew dealing with the evil one’s running the country. Thank you Barry Eisner.

As always, Barry Eisler does not disappoint! I have been a huge Eisler fan since i discovered him a few years ago & devoured the entire John Rain series in like 5 days. I read until my eyeballs were twitching & crossing and I couldn’t see straight which ended up being okay because then I just switched to audio (he narrates all his own novels.!) Then I discovered Livia Lone…and ooooooh girl(or boy) , let me just tell you!!! that is one bad ass chick! She is one of my all time favorite female protagonist! She’s of those characters who does bad for good and you cannot help but love her!I cannot tell y’all how excited I was when The Killer Collective (the book before this one) came out! I couldn’t believe Barry Eisler had read my mind—or tracked my internet searches and listened to me through my cell phone mic 😮😋— and done a book with all his good bad guys together! If you’ve read any of his books you’ll know what I mean by good bad guys… So every time a new one is released I re-read the entire series, so I have read all of the John Rain books at least 3 times; the Livia Lone& Ben Treven series at least 2 ,some 3! That should say enough about how I feel about them right there but, if it doesn’t… I’ll say it: I love them all! Ben Treven is my least favorite but I still liked them enough to re-read so they’re still good, I just didn’t connect to his character as much as John Rain & Livia Lone. They are characters you can’t help but root for even when they’re killing someone… okay, I know, I know what does that say about me? Nothing good probably, but I still love ‘em!Eisler quickly became one of my all time favorite political thriller authors, you can definitely tell that he worked jn the intelligence field—he can’t tell you what he did or he’d have to kill you, so just take his word on it— and that he’s a black belt in judo.I love that he added his characters from The God’s Eye View to this one, but if you haven’t read that I highly recommend you do before this one(then you’ll get the above reference about listening through my cell phone mic, that wasn’t just random paranoia) . You don’t have to, in fact you don’t have to read any of the other series before this one BUT, you should…they’re awesome and then you’ll understand the characters’ backgrounds. Also The God’s Eye View is great bc it’s absolutely terrifying & will make you super paranoid & you’ll go buy a faraday bag for your phone as soon as you’re done—don’t know what a faraday bag is?? READ THE BOOK😁So yeah, if you didn’t get this already: I highly recommend all of Barry Eisler’s books including this one, especially this one, bc what’s better than all an author’s characters in one book? Especially awesome characters that all have hearts of gold but kill people for a living, haha! But seriously now, I love this series and I really hope that it’ll continue (HINT, HINT Mr. Eisler, since I know you’re monitoring all internet traffic with your name🤪jk,jk) because I cannot ever have enough of these characters and their crazy antics and I have a huge character crush on Dox!! Wanting: you may become a bit more paranoid with each of these novels that you read 😜!I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway (and was soooo excited that I did!!).

This was a good story, fast moving and held your attention. Told from POV of many characters with each chapter being someone different. I felt like the author was forcing the “band of brothers” connections a little too much but overall a good book.

👍🏻

Taut and I love how all the characters have well balanced roles & strengths. No one overshadows others or the story.

Great wallop of secret hired killers, C.I.A. Bigwigs, corrupt politicians, and the threat of destruction for several compromised establishment heads are the backdrop for this very entertaining thriller. It tomoz along with enough weaponry to arm a small nation. It's slightly just too virtue seeking to be wholly credible, but a very good read, nonetheless!

Good characters, good detail in character and location details, great story line, leading into and out of danger, sometimes seemingly inescapable danger. Space for more adventures!

... once again a collaboration of his fiercest and finest protagonists.In Seattle US Attorney Alondra Diaz is about to open a trial against the magnate and child abuser Schrader. But a lot of the most important persons of the US Government, Defense and Intelligence Services are on well-hidden videos entertaining themselves with underage girls. Heads will roll if Ms Diaz isn't stopped and those videos found and destroyed. Enters Marvin Manus who has to eliminate the persecutor. But on the 'good' side Carl 'Dox' and 'Angel of Death' Larison have to keep her alive. A third party enters and the situation is getting very bloody, with Dox and Larison saving Manus - and Diaz. Livia Lone is absolutely on Diaz side, but things are getting more and more complicated. So John Rain the retired killer and his ex-Mossad girlfriend Delilah fly in from Paris to lend a helping hand. Then Schrader is kidnapped to hand over the videos and time is running out. Because Schrader has an assurance: If something bad is happening to him the videos are automatically released into the World Wide Web. And the prominent child abusers are exposed without mercy. A race against the time has started, and our group of assassins and accessories have to give their best to avoid unnecessary waste of innocent people...Another very entertaining and really hard-boiled thriller which brings once again the heroines and heroes of the different series masterly written by Barry Eisler together. And as always the good ones are threatened by very bad and very powerful criminals. But working together perfectly organized for the good cause will see the monsters brought to justice - in one way or the other...As always a perfectly constructed thriller worth every cent and the reading time, too. Now I im eagerly waiting for the next one, Mr Eisler!