I, Sniper: a Bob Lee Swagger novel by Stephen Hunter

[austinN4]

Just finished reading this and it was a good read with Swagger back in a primarily sniper role. The previous 2 Swagger novels - 47th Samurai and Night of Thunder - both left me cold, I didn't even finish Night of Thunder!

Parts of the new book dragged a little for me, but the guns and sniping portions - most of the book, thankfully - were good old Bob Lee. Gear heads will love this one. It is really nice to read about guns and related equipment and not find tons of mistakes.

Also, conservative Hunter models 2 of this books characters after Ted Turner and Jane Fonda in a clever way. He takes some pretty good shots at the news media also.

Anybody else read it yet? Thoughts?

[WillBrink]

Just finished reading this and it was a good read with Swagger back in a primarily sniper role. The previous 2 Swagger novels - 47th Samurai and Night of Thunder - both left me cold, I didn't even finish Night of Thunder!

Parts of the new book dragged a little for me, but the guns and sniping portions - most of the book, thankfully - were good old Bob Lee. Gear heads will love this one. It is really nice to read about guns and related equipment and not find tons of mistakes.

Also, conservative Hunter models 2 of this books characters after Ted Turner and Jane Fonda in a clever way. He takes some pretty good shots at the news media also.

Anybody else read it yet? Thoughts?

I didn't know there was a new book. Though Thunder was the last. Will check it out. Was really dissapointed with 47th Samurai, thought Thunder was at least a tad better, but well below prior books. Hunters written so many great books, he gets a pass from me on these few clunkers, but I agree, really lacking those two.

Glad to hear the latest is better and he's back in the sniper role. Will check it out asap.

[BobM]

I finished it a few days ago. I thought it was a lot better than Night of Thunder, maybe not as good as the first three. I've not read the samurai one.

[WillBrink]

I finished it a few days ago. I thought it was a lot better than Night of Thunder, maybe not as good as the first three. I've not read the samurai one.

Don't bother. Really don't know what Hunter was thinking there. Bob Lee goes to Japan, learns the art of the Samurai sword in a few days (literally), takes on a top level swordsman in a duel, and wins.....ummm...OK....

Hunter does his usual great job of research on the topic, in the case Samurai swords, and had he kept Bob Lee to gun slingin' it could have been a really cool story.

That he was swinging a sword around within days of getting off the plane in Japan, really killed it for me...

[Mark/MO]

OK, so it wasn't just me. I read '47th Samurai" and just didn't get into it. The sword stuff left me underwhelmed, so to speak. Still I liked Hunter's first three Swagger books so much that, as WillBrink said, he "gets a pass from me".

Thanks for the heads up, I didn't realize he'd written a new Swagger book. I'll have to look it up.

[Rider79]

Where does it fit in the timeline? Because by the time of Night of Thunder Swagger was getting pretty old. Is it a flashback?

[austinN4]

Where does it fit in the timeline? Because by the time of Night of Thunder Swagger was getting pretty old. Is it a flashback?

Nope, current day. From Amazon:

"Four famed '60s radicals are gunned down at long range by a sniper. Under enormous media scrutiny, the FBI quickly concludes that Marine war hero Carl Hitchcock, whose ninety-three kills were considered the leading body count tally among American marksman in Vietnam, was the shooter. But as the Bureau, led by Special Agent Nick Memphis, bears down, Hitchcock commits suicide. In closing out the investigation, Nick discovers a case made in heaven: everything fits, from timeline, ballistics, and forensics to motive, means, and opportunity. Maybe it's a little too perfect.

"Nick asks his friend, the retired Marine sniper Bob Lee Swagger, to examine the data. Using a skill set no other man on earth possesses, Swagger soon discovers unseen anomalies and gradually begins to unravel a sophisticated conspiracy -- one that would require the highest level of warcraft by the most superb special operations professionals. As Swagger penetrates the deepest secrets of the sniper world and its new technology, Nick stands firm in the face of hardball PR initiatives and an inflamed media calling for his ouster.

"Swagger soon closes in, and those responsible will stop at nothing to take him out. But these heavily armed men make the mistake of thinking they are hunting Bob, when he is, in fact, hunting them.

"I, Sniper will satisfy Stephen Hunter's legions of fans and win him droves of new ones with its signature blend of brilliant plotting, vivid characters, razor-sharp dialogue, and extraordinary gunfights. And when Swagger and the last of his antagonists finally face each other, reenacting a classic ritual of arms, it is clear that at times there's nothing more necessary than a good man with a gun and the guts to use it."

[WillBrink]

And when Swagger and the last of his antagonists finally face each other, reenacting a classic ritual of arms, it is clear that at times there's nothing more necessary than a good man with a gun and the guts to use it."

Now THAT sounds like vintage Hunter/Swagger I can get into. Hope he leaves swords and NASCAR alone in the future. Hunter also has a handful of non Swagger novels that are quite good (read his WWII novel The Master Sniper for example), and I think the books about Bob Lees father Earl, are perhaps even better. I think Pale Horse Coming is Hunters finest book.

[Ed L.]

The 47th Samurai or whatever it was called was flat out goofy and should never have been written.

I sniper had its moments, but the main charactor is turning into a sort of Macgiver and that charactor from 24 played by Kiefer Sutherland (I can't remember his name).

My Favorite novels written by Hunter were about Earl Swagger, the father of the Charactor Bob Swagger. Earl was a Medal of Honor Winner in the Pacific in WWII. Hot Springs and Havana feature him, and seemed to me to be better reads and were more realistic than the latest Bob Swagger novels.

[Spiffums]

Nope, current day. From Amazon:

"Four famed '60s radicals are gunned down at long range by a sniper. Under enormous media scrutiny, the FBI quickly concludes that Marine war hero Carl Hitchcock, whose ninety-three kills were considered the leading body count tally among American marksman in Vietnam, was the shooter. But as the Bureau, led by Special Agent Nick Memphis, bears down, Hitchcock commits suicide. In closing out the investigation, Nick discovers a case made in heaven: everything fits, from timeline, ballistics, and forensics to motive, means, and opportunity. Maybe it's a little too perfect.

"Nick asks his friend, the retired Marine sniper Bob Lee Swagger, to examine the data. Using a skill set no other man on earth possesses, Swagger soon discovers unseen anomalies and gradually begins to unravel a sophisticated conspiracy -- one that would require the highest level of warcraft by the most superb special operations professionals. As Swagger penetrates the deepest secrets of the sniper world and its new technology, Nick stands firm in the face of hardball PR initiatives and an inflamed media calling for his ouster.

"Swagger soon closes in, and those responsible will stop at nothing to take him out. But these heavily armed men make the mistake of thinking they are hunting Bob, when he is, in fact, hunting them.

"I, Sniper will satisfy Stephen Hunter's legions of fans and win him droves of new ones with its signature blend of brilliant plotting, vivid characters, razor-sharp dialogue, and extraordinary gunfights. And when Swagger and the last of his antagonists finally face each other, reenacting a classic ritual of arms, it is clear that at times there's nothing more necessary than a good man with a gun and the guts to use it."

Too close to Carlos there as the killer. And I for one think that THAT man is someone that no one should take an image from unless it is as an American Hero.