Eisler is a great story teller.

Love this series. ( )

John Rain and Delilah are both complex characters, and their dinner out in Paris has serious tension as Delilah is headed off on another mission for Mossad with no guarantee of return while John is trying to come to grips with ending his career as an assassin. When a team of hired thugs show up, Rain quickly figures out that they are there to grab and badly hurt Delilah. Of course, things do not go the way the thugs intend and they have no idea about their adversaries' skills. Basically, this short story is too short to even be a satisfying fix in advance of Eisler's next novel. ( )

Eisler is a great story teller.

Love this series. ( )

This book is about John Rain, who is similar to Jason Bourne, a highly
trained assassin. Rain is half Japanese and half American and lived in
both worlds. He is a former Vietnam War commando. He is haunted by
his past and by his present. Eisler has written a brilliant series of
books, novellas, and shorts about his character. This story is a short
piece. It's a kind of vignette about a dinner date with a hot blonde
Mossad agent and the fallout. It feels like the start of a new novel but
it isn't. It has all the feel of A Clean Kill in Tokyo except they are in
Paris not in Tokyo. Most of the reviews are gripes about the price. I'm
not complaining. For less than a buck I was entertained. It serves to
continue the story of Rain. It is also a prequel to the novella London Twist, which makes a number of references to the fight scene in this
short. London Twist continuesMossad Agent Delilah's story. All in all, this is well worth your time especially if you are reading this series. If you are not, then start with
the full length novels.
( )

Paris Is a Bitch by Barry Eisler is a Kindle Short Story I downloaded through Kindle Unlimited (KU).

It was supposed to be a quiet dinner in Paris. Mossad Agent Delilah was going on a mission; Trying-to-retire freelance agent for hire John Rain wanted to know where she was going and when she was coming back. Mossad agents seem to answer with enigmatic smiles, especially when they are beautiful. The Mossad doesn’t hire ugly (females). Rain was frustrated and angry. He was trying to get out of the murder-for-hire business. Delilah was devoted to her work even more than she was devoted to Rain.

Voice volumes were starting to rise. But that was OK because they were sitting next to a Yuppie plus one that was raising his voice as he tried to close a trading deal. To avoid Rain killing him, Delilah tried to teach manners to the Yuppie with a request to turn down the volume. Rain helped by trying to crush the Yuppie’s wrist. Rain was not challenging his anger well.

Meanwhile, a Middle Eastern man with the mannerisms of a thief casing a place for theft attracted Rain’s attention by repeatedly looking through the window and finally entering the restaurant then immediately leaving without a purpose. Rain thought it was a preparation for a hit. Rain and Delilah argue about this. Rain exits to do a reconnaissance of the street and discovers the set-up of an attempted kidnapping. Rain and Delilah decide to go on the offensive, take out the kidnappers, separate, then meet later in a nearby park. No killing, just some serious injuries. Delilah takes out two potential kidnappers, Rain ruins four others.

Rain and Delilah meet in the park and Rain serves an ultimatum. Delilah doesn’t return the serve which leaves Rain with nothing to do but walk away. As he walks away with his frustration, he crosses a bridge only to meet Yuppie plus one with the cell phone.

Read the story to find out what happens next. I avoid spoilers. This was a nice story of frustration and revenge. I will read more Eisler longer novels. ( )