The Experiencers

Assassin Michael Valiant deals death without question on the orders of the Agency. He knows it’s all in the name of duty and the fight against terror, particularly at a time when the earth is as close as it’s ever been to self-destructing.
But Michael questions his agency's motives when he's ordered to silence a group of UFO enthusiasts who look less like terrorists than they do housewives and nerds. His attempts to uncover the truth arouse the suspicions of his partner and boss with tragic consequences. Michael finds himself running for his life and dragging his intended target along with him.
Can he save them both, or will the Agency and the aliens find them first? 
A new age science fiction thriller that delves into existing UFO and doomsday weaponry conspiracy theories, The Experiencers keeps readers riveted with non-stop action while the characters struggle to control destinies that may have been determined lifetimes ago.

The Experiencers (SF)

“The Valiant Chronicles #1”

By Val Tobin

Independent Publishing Platform

ISBN #978-0992093310

Price $9.99 (paperback)

Price $0.99 (Kindle)

238 Pages

Rating 5-Stars

“Kept Me Turning The Pages”

Michael Valiant works as an assassin for a secret government agency called Extraterrestrial Alliance Project (ETAP), with his partner Gerry Muniz. The agency is monitoring and attacking UFO groups that are too vocal about their sightings. Michael is becoming suspicious about the reason people are being eliminated. Thinking to keep him straight the agency decides to kill Michael’s wife to bring him back in line, making her death look like an accident, but when he discovers the truth he turns from them. Going after Carolyn Fairchild, an abductee, Michael kills his partner and takes Carolyn away from the agency’s clutches. But the aliens have her tagged, and unless they can find a way to remove the tracking device, they can pick her up anytime anyplace. Hearing of a rebel alien group, they head for the camp, hoping to find help, but before they arrive the agency’s military has attacked and destroyed the camp. And now the aliens have abducted Carolyn again.

This was a well written, action-packed novel more resembling a men’s action novel, but with the addition of an alien and paranormal background. We don’t actually see aliens until the end of the story, and thankfully some of the rebel aliens are still alive. I don’t believe in New Age, and a lot of paranormal stuff, but this fiction novel certainly kept my interest. Carolyn has future vision, as well as remote viewing ability, and can see and speak with the dead. So there is a lot of excitement in this yarn, and I was unable to put the book down. Highly recommended.

Tom Johnson

Author of THE ALIEN SKIES.

Hard Rain by Barry Eisler

All John Rain wants is to get out of the killing business. But with his discretion, his reliability, and his unique talent for death by “natural causes,” no one is willing to let him just retire. So when an old nemesis from the Japanese national police force comes to him with a new job—eliminate Murakami, a killer even more fearsome than Rain himself—he can’t refuse.

Aided by an achingly desirable half Brazilian, half Japanese exotic dancer he knows he shouldn’t trust, Rain pursues his quarry through underground no-holds-barred fight clubs, mobbed-up hostess bars, and finally into the heart of a shadow war between the CIA and the yakuza. It’s a war Rain can’t win, but also one he can’t afford to lose—a war where the distinctions between friend and foe and truth and deceit are as murky as the rain-slicked streets of Tokyo.

Hard Rain (Political Thriller)

By Barry Eisler

G.P. Putnam’s Sons (2002)

ISBN #0399150528

$24.95 (Hardback)

337 Pages

Rating 4-Stars

Set in Japan, ex-CIA assassin John Rain, born Fugiwara Junichi from the reunion of a Japanese father and American mother, is living in Japan trying to retire from his trade. Unfortunately, the CIA, Japanese mob, and the Japanese FBI are still searching for him. Two sources want him dead. Keisatsucho (Japan’s FBI) agent Tatsu wants him to continue his work – for them.

Rain’s victims appear to die of natural causes. This does not leave nasty problems for officials to cover up. Rain’s background is only slightly covered in this story. He appears younger than he actually is, full of vitality, handsome, and possibly a 4^th degree black belt in Judo, though knows all forms of martial arts. He was 17 years old during Vietnam, and served with U.S. Special Forces. Due to not throwing up after his first kill, the CIA thinks he would make a good agent and recruits him. His parents are both dead. Considering his age during Vietnam, I would place his age now at around fifty, give or take a few years.

The author has worked with the CIA, then as a technology lawyer and startup executive in Silicon Valley and Japan. He also earned his black belt in judo. His writing is smooth, but the novel is slow. At 337 pages of small print, I had trouble finishing the book. He appears knowledgeable of Japan, but I had a hard time visualizing the characters as Japanese; they seemed more Western than Oriental. Plus, the novels – there appear to be six or more stories in the series – and have several different titles for each. When I bought Hard Rain, I thought I was purchasing the first book in the series, but quickly learned there was one title ahead of it. So a lot had already happened in the series before I got into it. Each novel is a stand-alone, but the author has to refer back to the previous title quite a bit to bring the reader up to the current time. Action is sporadic and few. Instead, you have the main characters doing evasive moves across Tokyo to avoid detection quite often. Okay, necessary, but boring for the reader. But regardless of the minor faults, the locale of the story is what is most interesting for the reader. Japan is a country steeped in history and culture, and the reader will be fascinated by the author’s detail. Highly recommended.

Tom Johnson

Detective Mystery Stories