Barry Eisler

Barry Eisler’s Followers (3,027)

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Barry Eisler

Goodreads Author


Born
in New Jersey, The United States
Website

Twitter

Genre

Member Since
April 2010

URL


Barry Eisler spent three years in a covert position with the CIA’s Directorate of Operations, then worked as a technology lawyer and startup executive in Silicon Valley and Japan, earning his black belt at the Kodokan Judo Institute along the way. Eisler’s award-winning thrillers have been included in numerous “Best Of” lists, have been translated into nearly twenty languages, and include the #1 bestsellers Livia Lone, The Night Trade, and The Killer Collective. Eisler lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and, when he's not writing novels, blogs about national security and the media. www.barryeisler.com

Series:
* John Rain
...more

All About The System!

I did a few talk-show interviews following the June 6 publication of The Systemabout the book, of course, but also about geopolitics, the nature of power, the state of the world…and the craft of writing fiction. Now all compiled in this single handy location, which I’ll update for any future System discussions…

Phillip Brian, This is Phillip Brian

The Heart of the Matter is a reader-supported

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Published on October 11, 2025 13:12
Average rating: 4.16 · 180,791 ratings · 9,950 reviews · 88 distinct worksSimilar authors
The Killer Collective (John...

4.03 avg rating — 26,499 ratings — published 2019
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A Clean Kill in Tokyo (John...

3.99 avg rating — 19,251 ratings — published 2003
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Livia Lone (Livia Lone, #1)

4.20 avg rating — 12,266 ratings — published 2016 — 3 editions
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The Chaos Kind (John Rain, ...

4.31 avg rating — 10,182 ratings — published 2021 — 7 editions
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A Lonely Resurrection (John...

4.14 avg rating — 10,345 ratings — published 2003 — 67 editions
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Winner Take All (John Rain,...

4.18 avg rating — 9,915 ratings — published 2004 — 58 editions
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Redemption Games (John Rain...

4.26 avg rating — 9,488 ratings — published 2005
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Extremis (John Rain, #5)

4.30 avg rating — 9,154 ratings — published 2006
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The Detachment (John Rain #...

4.18 avg rating — 8,962 ratings — published 2011
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The Killer Ascendant (John ...

4.29 avg rating — 8,718 ratings — published 2007
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More books by Barry Eisler…
A Clean Kill in Tokyo A Lonely Resurrection Winner Take All Redemption Games Extremis The Killer Ascendant The Detachment
(11 books)
by
4.15 avg rating — 124,335 ratings

Livia Lone The Night Trade The Killer Collective All the Devils The Chaos Kind
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4.19 avg rating — 62,595 ratings

Fault Line Inside Out The Detachment The Killer Collective
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4.05 avg rating — 45,329 ratings

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4.33 avg rating — 3,952 ratings

Related News

We're four months into 2019 and we can now reveal the biggest mysteries and thrillers of the year...so far! We've crunched our...
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Barry’s Recent Updates

Barry Eisler wrote a new blog post

All About The System!

I did a few talk-show interviews following the June 6 publication of The System—about the book, of course, but also about geopolitics, the nature of p Read more of this blog post »
Barry Eisler rated a book it was amazing
The System by Barry Eisler
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Well, I love the book but can't claim to be impartial :) ...more
Barry Eisler rated a book it was amazing
Amok by Barry Eisler
Amok (Dox Thriller, #1)
by Barry Eisler (Goodreads Author)
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Nuclear War by Annie Jacobsen
More of Barry's books…
Quotes by Barry Eisler  (?)
Quotes are added by the Goodreads community and are not verified by Goodreads. (Learn more)

“If you focus on the risks, they'll multiply in your mind and eventually paralyze you. You want to focus on the task, instead, on doing what needs to be done.”
Barry Eisler

“I wandered the earth a mercenary, daring the gods to kill me but surviving because part of me was already dead.”
Barry Eisler, A Clean Kill in Tokyo

“Most people are like sheep. Nice, harmless creatures who want nothing more than to be left alone so they can graze. But then of course there are wolves. Who want nothing more than to eat the sheep.

But there’s a third kind of person. The sheepdog. Sheepdogs have fangs like wolves. But their instinct isn’t predation. It’s protection. All they want, what they live for, is to protect the flock.”
Barry Eisler, Livia Lone

Polls

May/June 2014 Group Read Poll.

Voting is now open for the May/June 2014 Group Read. The poll will be open between May 7th and May 14th.

Reminder: Do not cheat or manipulate results. It is not acceptable to create fake accounts to nominate books or vote in polls and it is not acceptable to invite people to the site for the sole purpose of nominating a book or voting for a book in a poll. It is not acceptable to ask for votes or influence the poll in any way. If the moderators feel that a group read poll has been manipulated, the book in question will be disqualified. If the moderators feel that the user(s) are fake accounts, these will be reported to Goodreads for further review.

Also: If your nomination wins - you will be the discussion moderator.

Thanks! Happy voting!

 
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254 total votes
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Comments (showing 1-8)    post a comment »
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message 8: by gj

gj indieBRAG Nice to meet you Barry-
I look forward to reading your books-
Geri
www.bragmedallion.com


message 7: by John

John Coughlan Mange tak, as we say here.
Regards John


Michael Mansanarez When is the next John Rain novel?


message 5: by Beth

Beth Thanks for befriending this fellow crime writer on Goodreads!


message 4: by Carl

Carl Hi Barry, like the John Rain novels/character, who did you base him on and who would play him in a film. I've read about three Rain novels but get confused by the title changes.
Thanks for accepting me as a friend.


message 3: by Zoë

Zoë Sharp Hi Barry

Nice to catch up with you here. The Michael Hastings book sounds very interesting. I'll have to seek that one out. How's life treating you?


message 2: by Caleb

Caleb III Barry: We have launched a new book marketing Website at www.venturegalleries.com and would love for you to write a guest blog on the site. This week, we are publishing our first guest blog from Melissa Foster. Please check out the site, and if can write one for us, please let me know at cjp3@suddenlink.net. Thank you for your consideration.


message 1: by Leon

Leon Shure Thanks for adding me as a friend,

Leon


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