Barry Eisler

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. Eisler also writes about politics and language on his blog Heart of the Matter, and at the blogs CHUD, Firedoglake, The Huffington Post, MichaelMoore.com, The Smirking Chimp, and Truthout.

Early life Eisler was born in New Jersey, his father was a wholesale office supplier, and his mother an environmental activist. Raised in the Short Hills section of Millburn, New Jersey, Eisler graduated from Millburn High School in 1982, where he was senior class president and competed in football and wrestling.

Eisler is Jewish and graduated from Cornell Law School in 1989.

Early career After completing law school, Eisler joined the CIA, where he trained for three years afterward and held a covert position with the Directorate of Operations. He then took a six-figure deal to publish the seventh John Rain novel, The Detachment (2011), under Amazon Publishing's Thomas & Mercer mystery imprint.

Awards Eisler's novel Rain Fall won the 2005 Barry Award for Best Thriller and The Gumshoe Award. Fault Line reached Number 18 on The New York Times Hardcover Fiction Best Seller list.