[Wayne D]

It's about Earl again, this time he's in Havana. I thought all you Stephen Hunter junkies (like me) would want to know.

[Cliff]

glad to hear it, I'll pick up my copy tomorrow.:D

[Chris Rhines]

Nuts.

Between this one, Quicksilver, and the new Repairman Jack novel coming out next month, Borders is going to take me to the cleaners...

- Chris

[Hkmp5sd]

I just blew $140 at B&N this afternoon and didn't see his book. Now I gotta make another trip.

[Thumper]

Earl goes to Havana?

Oooh, do Jordan and Keith come along to help again?

[Wayne D]

Oooh, do Jordan and Keith come along to help again?

No, but Frenchy Short is back.

I just blew $140 at B&N this afternoon and didn't see his book. Now I gotta make another trip.

I don't know if it's in bookstores yet, I got mine from Amazon.com about a week ago so I would assume it is.

[garrettwc]

Darn it! Now I have another book series to catch up on. It sounds like you guys are really into Hunter. I guess I should check them out.

Since there seem to be some recurring characters is their a particular order they should be read in.

[SteelyDan]

I'm not familiar with Stephen Hunter, but I'm always interested in finding a new author. Can you give a quick overview or summary of the books? Thanks.

[James Bondrock]

I'm not familiar with Stephen Hunter, but I'm always interested in finding a new author. Can you give a quick overview or summary of the books? Thanks. Stephen Hunter has written quite a few action-adventure novels. A common theme is his technical knowledge of firearms, ammunition, handloading, etc. Some of the books actually have major plot twists that hinge upon the weight of a bullet, the length of a firing pin, etc., and you will not find silly errors like manual safeties on Glock pistols, etc. Most of them feature the Swagger clan of Blue Eye, Arkansas -- Bob Lee, the son, and Earl, the father. Some of the books featuring Bob Lee are Point of Impact, Black Light, and my personal favorite, Time to Hunt. Some featuring Earl are Hot Springs and Pale Horse Coming . Others (not featuring the Swaggers) include Dirty White Boys, The Day Before Midnight, and The Second Saladin.

[MountainPeak]

Wayne, thanks for the heads up!

[natedog]

Some can get very sexually graffic, especially Dirty White Boys. Just to give a heads up... :uhoh:

[Hkmp5sd]

Since there seem to be some recurring characters is their a particular order they should be read in.
Hot Springs
Pale Horse Coming
Havana
Dirty White Boys
Point of Impact
Black Light
A Time to Hunt

[ke6guj]

You can read them in the order they were printed, or read them in time line order. Either way works. Same with Clancy, if read in printed order, the "prequels" fill in back story, and are not required to be read befor the later (in timeline) books.

Jack

[SteelyDan]

Thanks for the background information, I'll check it out. Hope they don't read like reloading manuals, though.:) The warning about sexually explicit content is also appreciated, but that will just be incentive to get through the earlier books to get to the risque one...

[Travis McGee]

SteelyDan: May I suggest my own 2nd amendment novel, set in the near future?

http://matthewbracken.web.aplus.net/bookcover.jpg

[James Bondrock]

Hope they don't read like reloading manuals, though. Nooo, definitely not!

[Moparmike]

Did he write a book where the main character is a Vietnam Vet sniper (Marine?) who was contacted by some Alphabet Soup agency for his skills?

Edited to take complete description of book out (that I read 6 years ago!) and to thank ke6guj for confirming the title. I need to go buy that book again (I lost my other copy that I only read once :()

The cover featured a lot of red, with a scope recticle and I think a sillouette of a man. Did he write that?

Thanks,

[ke6guj]

YUP, that is "Point of Impact", sweet book. You may want to edit your post, that is a big spoiler for someone who has not read the book.

[kudu]

Cool, I'll have to go get it to add to my collection of Hunter books.

[bayerta]

Thanks for the info. I know which book I will be reading next. Now if I can only finish Mission Compromised.

[Kamicosmos]

I've read almost of of Hunter's books, very good, but I loved the original Bob Lee trilogy the best (point of impact, black light, and time to hunt). The Earl stories I didn't get into as much. In fact, haven't even picked up pale horse coming yet, and didn't finish Hot Springs.

Question: Saw Day Before Midnight at Border's the other day. I know that's one of his early books...should I get it? Worth the read? Is it as detailed, suspenseful, and such as the Bob Lee ones?

[buzz_knox]

I thoroughly enjoyed Hot Springs and Pale Horse Coming, although it took a while to get into the latter. There is little in the way of "gun nut" fiction set in the '40s and '50s and these books helped fill that gap.

I also enjoyed the Bob the Nailer trilogy, although the last one was my least favorite.

[45crittergitter]

[Question: Saw Day Before Midnight at Border's the other day. I know that's one of his early books...should I get it? Worth the read? Is it as detailed, suspenseful, and such as the Bob Lee ones?]

yes, get it.

[TonyB]

I'be been looking for the new one .....I love the Earl and Bob Lee books,but didn't like Midnight as much.....When I finish my John Sandfrord book(night Prey)I'll pick it up.....Sandford is good (the Prey series)but Hunter rules.:cool:

[dfariswheel]

THE STEPHEN HUNTER BOOKS:

The Master Sniper--
A WWII fanatic German sniper on a secret mission at the war's end, armed with a MP-44 and the "Vampir" sight.

The Second Saladin--
An Arab infiltrates the US/Mexican border to attack America. So-so.

A Tapestry of Spy's--
A Spanish Civil war spy story. So-so.

The Day Before Midnight--
A take-over of an impregnable missile site, a key to Hell, an impervious multi-ton block of titanium, a kidnapped master metal cutting expert, and two Vietnam era tunnel experts; one an American tunnel-rat, the other a Viet Cong woman.

Point of Impact--
Retired Marine sniper Bob Lee Swagger is framed for attempting to assassinate the President. The plotter's mistake.....failing make SURE Swagger is DEAD.
A far-reaching plot, one of the legendary Winchester "Black Kings", a failed FBI SWAT member, and a Bob Lee who's "unhappy" with how he's been treated.
Be sure to catch the Safety Deposit Box "hook" at the end.

Black Light..
Bob Lee goes home to Arkansas to find out just how it was his hero State Trooper father came to die in a corn field shoot-out with two punks.
There were only three guns at the site, a .357, a 44 Special, and a rare .38 Super. So how come Earl died with a 110 grain .30 bullet in his heart?
Somebody doesn't want him to find out, and uses the Southern Mob to stop him......BIG mistake.

Time To Hunt--
The Russian sniper responsible for wounding Bob Lee and killing his Vietnam spotter comes after Swagger years later.
Something doesn't add up.
Swagger does his math, and starts to subtract people.
Two statements to remember...."Daddy's Home" and "Front Toward Enemy".

Dirty White boys--
Three escaped Oklahoma convicts go on a murderous crime spree, and the State Trooper who they left for dead.
He isn't a Swagger, but that doesn't matter to the escaped killers, he'll do....for them.

Hot Springs...
1940's Hot Springs Arkansas, the gambling capital of America. Earl Swagger, retired Marine Medal of Honor winner decides to clean up the town.
The town doesn't want to be cleaned up.
Swagger and Jelly take out the trash.

Pale Horse Coming--
Earl Swagger is asked to look into odd events at a notorious Southern Prison farm.
People don't like him sticking his nose into their business and do something about it.
As is common with the Swagger family, they sorely regret not making SURE he's DEAD.
Earl goes back to "settle up", taking along the most famous and deadly American gunmen in history. Among them, a young, baby-faced Medal of Honor winning Army vet-turned actor, who just happens to have brought something called a "MP-44" home.

Havana--
Earl Swagger is hired to provide protection to a sleazy Arkansas Congressman on a "fact finding" tour of 1950's Cuba's sex scene.
The Cuban Secret police, the American Mob, the CIA, the Russians, and the Cuban Communists are all involved with a young, rather stupid activist and baseball player named Fidel.
To all their regret, they get Earl involved in their convoluted plots.
Earl doesn't do convoluted, and gets back to basics real fast.

[Hkmp5sd]

If given the option, I would read the Swagger books following the timeline. I actually read each book as published, starting with The Master Sniper when it came out back in 1980.

Either way, a "must read" set of books.

[Jason Demond]

I have read them all, and can't wait for the next one! Someone should invite Stephen Hunter to THR.

[motorep]

Thanks for the heads-up, Amazon's sending me mine.

[SteelyDan]

Travis, did you write the "Enemies" book?

I read and enjoyed all of the Travis McGee books years ago (maybe I missed one or two, but I doubt it).

The Hunter books sound good. I can't wait to check them out.

[Travis McGee]

DteelyDan:

The Travis McGee here is actually me, Matt Bracken.

I think that most Hunter books are great fun, but not very realistic. The "gun parts" are reality based, but the plots are not. They have gotten more and more silly as the Swagger books have rolled on. Just my opinion, and without a doubt lots of folks love fun escapist novels, silly plots and all. Just look at Clive Cussler, for example.

I think that Hunter is now heading into Cussler terrirtory, silly plot wise. Anyone who wants to read more "reality based" fiction should check out Gerald Seymour, for one example. Or my novel, for another.

http://matthewbracken.web.aplus.net/bookcover.jpg

[VictorLouis]

I thoroughly enjoyed Hot Springs and Pale Horse Coming, although it took a while to get into the latter.

[Stevie-Ray]

Never read The Second Saladin, though from what I've heard, I don't want to. Dirty White Boys is actually one of the best. But I really like the Bob Lee series. The Earl books are good also, though the renaming of the figures in gun history and their use in Pale Horse Coming was a bit hokey to say the least. Not quite up to his usual standards. Thought The Master Sniper was probably his worst.

Anybody ever read the Clay Harvey novels:

A Flash of Red
A Whisper of Black
Dwelling in the Grey

Excellent!

[chadintex]

Does anyone know what became of the plans to make a Bob Lee Swagger movie with Tommy Lee Jones? I remember reading that it was in planning stages back on TFL.

I've read them all and enjoyed them, but like mentioned above, Earl is becoming a bit unreal.

[Al Thompson]

Clay Harvey was pretty good. Sorry he didn't get better press. Second Saladin was a good read. Don' know why you wouldn't like it Stevie-Ray.

I checked out "Havana" yeesterday - not bad, but SH is getting to the "comic book" hero stage these days. Glad I got it at the library.