On Feb 14, 2020, at 9:43 AM, JF-08 (not real name) wrote:
Hello Barry,
I just wanted to drop you a line about your John Rain books. I have finished listening to the first book in your series on Audible, A Clean Kill in Tokyo, and am about halfway through the second, A Lonely Resurrection.
I am an avid Audible listener and my favorite genre is the secret operative. I have finished the following series:
Victor the Assassin by Tom Wood
Evan Smoak (Orphan X) by Gregg Hurwitz
Jonathan Quinn by Brett Battles
Red Sparrow by Jason Matthews
Dewey Andreas by Ben Coes
Mitch Rapp by Vince Flynn (RIP) / Kyle Mills
Department Q by Jussi Adler-Olsen
Child 44 series by Tom Rob Smith
John Corey by Nelson DeMille
And I also listened to the first three Will Robie books by David Baldacci. So I have listened to quite a few series with different authors and narrators. I have never reached out to an author before, but I just wanted to let you know how impressed I am with your writing and narrating. John Rain is a common man, but a man who has very special talents. He could be anyone that you could see on the street. He doesn’t get by with brute force, charming good looks, wealth of money, super-hacker friends, or anything like that that other authors rely on. I feel as if I am sitting with a friend, listening to him tell me what has happened in his life. The first person narrative is truly unique and it immediately drew me in. What John Rain is feeling, I feel. What John Rain observes, I observe. Your character building is amazing from this perspective.
When I was searching Audible for a new series to listen to, I saw that you were the narrator and immediately became skeptical. I was thinking “Does Barry have an incredible ego about his writings that he wouldn’t let a professional narrate? Are Barry’s books so cheesy that he couldn’t get a decent narrator?” Nope. You are the perfect narrator for your series. If you ever gave up writing, I think you could be a professional narrator! Lol.
I have never been to Japan or studied Judo, but your scene setting and explanations about little idiosyncrasies are just enough, not too much nor too little. So again, I just want to let you know how much I have enjoyed your first one and a half John Rain books and I look forward to listening to rest of the series.
Regards,
JF-08