Books by Stephen Hunter

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TheFrontRange

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I read an interview with Stephen Hunter in a recent gun mag (maybe "American Handgunner"...can't remember) and I think I've seen some comments about his work out here. Intrigued, I checked "Black Light" out from the local library and started reading it over lunch...and very nearly forgot that I needed to get back to work before an hour was up!

This is GREAT stuff!!! :)
 
What are they about?

The Swagger clan. Arkansas shooting men, Marines, LEO, etc.

A group of men and the bad guys who torment them.

Hunter knows his firearms and writes well.

Point and Time, Hot Springs, (was it?) Dirty White Boys, Pale Horse ALL good reading and re-reading.

Adios
 
They are about a WWII vet which becomes a LEO and progress into his son's life, where he becomes a sniper in Vietnam and runs into assorted badguys afterward. Both won the MOH.

Very interesting, good overall plots and fairly accurate firearms handling.
 
HK,

Didn't Earl receive the MOH? Bob Lee? Don't think so as it was a point of contention in POI (faked letter to Pres. with three exclamation points!!!). Or was it Time? No that was later.
Maybe it was Earl's daddy.
Whatever.

Great reading.

Does he still write Movie Reviews for paper back in DC/Balt.?

I'll hafta do a Google search on Mr. Hunter and see what comes up.

Adios
 
Baba is right. It was a faked letter complaining about not getting the MOH in POI (don't you just love all the acronyms :D ) that helped put the trail/blame on Bob Lee.

All of Mr. Hunter's books have at least one character that can be found in another book or two, tying his universe together(including the lesser known earlier books). Most all of them are a great read and all of them are at least a good read.

Greg
 
The best thing Hunter is able to do is actually craft the story. If read in the order first published, "Dirty White Boys" has seemingly no connection to "Point." However the way he blends the two storylines in during "Blacklight" is perfect.

Hunter is, flat out, one of the best fiction writers around today.
 
TheFrontRange,

I don't know if you care about reading books in the order they were written but just incase you didn't know, Black Light is several books into the series.

The first one is Point of Impact.

Black Light was great; they are all very good; altogether they are a great body of work; I can't wait for the next.
Don.
 
In order, the trilogy goes Point of Impact , Dirty White Boys , Black Light . His last one tied somewhat into the others as well and was very good--can't remember the name. He's amon my favorite authors. Knows his stuff about shooting.

Mark
 
Almost all of Hunter's books are great, and he knows guns.

The Master Sniper--a WWII fanatic German sniper on a secret mission at the war's end, armed with 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 multi-ton block of titanium, an 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.
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 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...BIG mistake.

Time To Hunt--The Russian sniper responsible for wounding Bob Lee and his partner comes after Swagger years later. 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 pursues 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 takes 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.
 
You may be right Baba. Been a loooooong time since I read POI. Now that I think about it, that was the "calling card" the colonel used to get Bob to talk to him.

If I had not read any of his books, I'd read them in the story timeline. That would be (I think)

Hot Springs
Pale Horse Coming
Dirty White Boys
Point of Impact
Black Light
A Time to Hunt
 
It's certainly not my intention to hijack the thread (because I am a big fan of Stephen Hunter). But, if you like the "Swagger Series", you're almost sure to love John Ross's Unintended Consequences.

FWIW, Stephen Hunter wrote a really great tribute to Carlos Hathcock. It's my understanding that the Bob Lee Swagger character is modeled, more or less, after Gunnery Sgt. Hathcock.

IIRC, I found Hunter's piece on Carlos Hathcock via a google search "Carlos Hathcock". Dang, now THERE was a man!

R-Tex12
 
R-Tex,

Actually Hunter modeled a lot after Hathcock. Donny, Swagger's spotter is based on John Burke, Hathcock's spotter.

HK is right about reading in the timeline, I read "Hot Springs" first, on advice from others, and it really helped me understand the storyline better.

Personally of the Bob Lee books, I think "Time To Hunt" is the best. It has become my "I'm bored, this will only take a day to read" book of choice!
 
All of his books are outstanding. One thing that sticks out in my mind is, I listened to the audiobook of Pale Horse Coming. The actor who read it, whose name I forget, did an outstanding job. Different voices for different characters, all of that. So if you don't get a chance to read, audio versions of a lot of Hunter's stuff is out there. Highly recommended!
 
I've read everything he's written. Not my favorite contemporary writer, but very entertaining.

"Daddy's home." <--- That cheesy line gave me chills in TTH. He must be okay. :D
 
Thank you!

Thank you, ddc and Citadel99, for supplying the order of these books for me...I'm so hooked into "Black Light" that I'm gonna finish it and then start from the beginning of the series.

Thanks, too, R-Tex12 for a reference on that John Ross novel, I'll check that out, too.

Happy reading, everybody!
 
I read POI in '95.. Hot Springs and Dirty White boys came out later. but of starting now.. try to read them in order. some of his books are serious page turners and i couldnt put it down , soem kinda drag. but as far as i can tell, Hunter takes the time to find the details of the guns hes talking about... all the guns in hot springs are cool... the tommy guns and BAr shootouts will have your minds eye drawing pictures... I always though they would make GREAT movies.. and you have a built in number of sequels...
 
El Toro, there was talk for a while about a movie being made based on "Point of Impact," with Tommy Lee Jones playing the role of Bob the Nailer. That may have been over on TFL -- might be worth a look to check. Haven't heard anything about that lately. Maybe I'd better do some research.
 
OK, I poked around a bit and found out that the film version of "Point of Impact," now titled "Shooter," is supposed to star Tommy Lee Jones and be directed by William Friedkin. The project has apparently run into problems and no production schedule has been set.
 
Swampgator wrote:
Actually Hunter modeled a lot after Hathcock. Donny, Swagger's spotter is based on John Burke, Hathcock's spotter.

Now that you mention it, 'gator, that rings a distant bell (my hearing's not all that it used to be :) ). I believe I read that somewhere a while back - had just forgotten it. Thanks!

Thumper, I have to agree. When I read that "Daddy's home." line I laughed out loud, then had to tell my wife what was so funny.
 
As for Hunter's technical accuracy, for the most part he gets it all right. However do a TFL search and there's a thread where several people list a few mistakes he's made. The one I remember is at the end of Hot Springs and concerns a Tommy gun.

I actually missed it and someone else pointed it out to me, that's why it is now memorable.

But never, ever, will you read, "Swagger flipped the safety off of his revolver!"
 
I've been told to read them in this order:

1 - Point of Impact
2 - Black Light
3 - Dirty White Boys
4 - Time to Hunt
5 - Hot Springs
6 - Pale Horse Coming

I'm up to Hot Springs. Great stuff. I think "Time to Hunt" would make an excellent movie.

He's also written some other WW2 and Cold War books I haven't yet read.
 
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