DELILAH

Full Name:	Delilah
Nationality:	Israeli
Organization:	Mossad
Occupation	Agent

Creator:	Barry Eisler
Time Span:	2004 - 2019

ABOUT THE SERIES

       Delilah is an agent with Mossad.
       More specifically she is their top seductress, an incredibly beautiful young woman who possessed not only great beauty and charm but also the inate skill to mold herself into whatever type of woman the intended target was seeking. She could be dominating or fiercely independent. She could be timid or meek. She could be alluring or demure or, and this seemed a specialty of her, both at the same time.
       While Delilah, and if a last name was ever given is able to travel anywhere in the world and somehow still make it seem she was on her home turf, her true nesting place was in Paris. There she was not only in her element, she was at home. She had a pleasant apartment in the Le Marais district of the city, not too far from the Seine and the Cathedral of Notre Dame, and that served as her base of operations.
       She lived and worked out of Paris because while over the years of highly successful work she had helped take down "numerous terrorist financiers and other enablers", she had also "caused a fair amount of trouble". Her intense self-reliance inevitably gave way to chafing at any sort of micro-managing. "For a while, there had been intemperance and acrimony, even some threats. But all that seemed over with now, replaced by a kind of cold peace."
       When not on an assignment for Mossad, she maintains a real legend as a local fashion photographer. It was actually "self-sustaining with real clients and real referrals" and it afforded her the largely simple lifestyle she wanted. Her only real indulgence was staying at the best hotels when she traveled. Otherwise, for her less was more.
       We first get to know of Delilah from the adventures of the extremely deadly freelance assassin John Rain, a man who also did a lot of work now and then for the CIA. They were both on a job going against an arms dealer in Southeast Asia. Their ad-hoc partnership would morph over a short time into intense attraction and then love and then animosity because she was too independent to be willing to give up her work as a seductress just because she had fallen in love. They would come together, argue, separate for months at a time, and then find their way back to each other.
       Delilah is one of the best agents that Mossad, and John Rain, had ever known.

BOOKS

Number of Books:	6
First Appearance:	2004
Last Appearance:	2019


1			Winner Take All aka Choke Point and Rain Storm Written by Barry Eisler Copyright: 2004 Book 3 in the John Rain series. Having abandoned Japan for Brazil to be free from the demands from too many sides, John Rain “reluctantly” agrees to take an assignment in Macao. Between the actions of a rival assassin and a beautiful woman who is far more than she seems, Rain finds himself caught in one heckuva storm. That gorgeous woman is Delilah.

2			Killing Rain aka One Last Kill and Redemption Games Written by Barry Eisler Copyright: 2005 Book 4 in the John Rain series. Finished with the Japanese FBI, the Yakuza, and the CIA, John Rain is hopeful he is free of the killing business. Until, that is, he is approached by the Mossad to do one simple job for them in Manila. Nothing is ever simple, however, but luckily having Rain's back is Delilah

3			The Last Assassin aka Extremis Written by Barry Eisler Copyright: 2006 Book 5 in the John Rain series. Learning that his former love, Midori, is living in New York with his son, John Rain feels compelled to see them, if only from a distance. But they are being watched in the hopes that Rain will do just that. Also watching him, though at Rain's request, is his friend and sometimes associate, Dox, as well as the gorgeous and deadly Delilah.

4			Requiem For An Assassin aka The Killer Ascendant Written by Barry Eisler Copyright: 2007 Book 6 in the John Rain series. An old enemy kidnaps John Rain's best friend as leverage to force a mission which is almost certainly a suicidal one. Helping him get Dox back is the talented Delilah.

5			The Detachment Written by Barry Eisler Copyright: 2010 Book 7 in the John Rain series. Though he wanted to retire, the offer from an old enemy was too good, several millions of dollars to take out three targets planning to attack America. To pull it off, Rain must call upon old friends to help.

6			The Killer Collective Written by Barry Eisler Copyright: 2019 Book 10 in the John Rain series and Book 3 in the Livia Lone series. Seattle sex-crimes detective Livia Lone is the target of a hit, one that had been offered to John Rain. Worried that the FBI might be behind it, she appeals to Dox to help her out and he, in turn, looks to Rain and to Ben Treven and Daniel Larison to assist. Rain in turns looks to his sometimes lover, Delilah.

NOVELLAS AND SHORT STORIES

Number of Stories:	2
First Appearance:	2011
Last Appearance:	2013


1			Paris Is A Bitch a Rain/Delilah short story Written by Barry Eisler Copyright: 2011 In Paris for a date with Delilah, John Rain is there when a hit squad arrives at the restaurant to pay Delilah back for her latest mission to the Middle East. It does not go well for the assailants but dinner is ruined.

2			London Twist novella Written by Barry Eisler Copyright: 2013 The Mossad owes MI6 a favor. They call it in asking for Delilah to infiltrate a London based terror group planning poison gas attacks. The person she is supposed to charm to get inside is a woman who is just as cagey as Delilah. [Rain is mentioned several times.]

MY COMMENTS

I am like the character John Rain in that I fell for Delilah from the moment I met her. And just like Rain over time I got to see his point about wanting her out of the business out of concern and out of jealousy. I also definitely got her point of view in that this is what she did. She might make her home in France but she is a fervent patriot for her native Israel and whatever it took to keep her country safe, she would do.
The author has done a superb job, in my opinion, of letting us get close - but not too close - to Delilah. As I am sure many of her targets felt before she brought them down, I think I understand her and I know her but perhaps in truth I know only the persona she lets me know. That is what is most seductive about this woman and that is why I hope to see more of her from time to time.

GRADE

My Grade: A

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