vonn
US Veteran
Any readers? I have seen a few quotes , and was curious who likes what and why.
Stephen Hunter books
- Thread starter vonn
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shouldazagged
Absent Comrade
I've only read one, Point Of Impact. Pretty good. There are people on the forum who've read a lot more of his stuff. I expect they'll chime in soon.
Ivan the Butcher
Member
I've read most of the Bob Lee Swagger series, but only one of the Earl Swagger series. I've enjoyed them a great deal. I have no Military or Police sniper experience, But I do long range shooting and have family in both fields and they say most of what S. Hunter has written is at least plausible.(within the reality of a novel) Ivan
Yup, read, I believe, all his books (I strongly prefer fiction no matter who I'm reading, get enough "non fiction" in real life lol). Big fan, they're entertaining, fast reads. He likes to "get it right" when it comes to guns/gun stuff.
S&WIowegan
US Veteran
I've read all his books, some more than once. Hunter is a "gun guy' himself and really tries to get his gun stuff correct. His "Third Bullet" book on a fictional theory about the Kennedy assassination was a bit off on the .38 Super but that's OK since the cartridge is a bit obscure.
Highly recommended!! Start off with "Dirty White Boys" and you'll be hooked.
Highly recommended!! Start off with "Dirty White Boys" and you'll be hooked.
nawilson
US Veteran
They're well written, entertaining, and he does his research. If you want some good escapism reading, go for Stephen Hunter.
Jeff423
US Veteran
I travel a lot for my job and listen to many audio books in the car. I have listened to a couple of Swagger books but I much prefer the Mitch Rapp and Jack Reacher books.
I find the Swagger books too "wordy" and I often hit fast forward. IMHO they are one of the few books I can think of that would be better in an abridged version.
I think the Jack Reacher books have the tightest plots of any popular fiction I have read. I also like Rapp's ways of dealing with terrorists.
Jeff
I find the Swagger books too "wordy" and I often hit fast forward. IMHO they are one of the few books I can think of that would be better in an abridged version.
I think the Jack Reacher books have the tightest plots of any popular fiction I have read. I also like Rapp's ways of dealing with terrorists.
Jeff
Faulkner
Member
I've read most of the Swagger books, my favorite being "Hot Springs".
I recently bought a three pack and finished my first Lee Child's book with Jack Reacher. I'm hoping the other two are better, wasn't impressed with the rambling plot of the first one.
I recently bought a three pack and finished my first Lee Child's book with Jack Reacher. I'm hoping the other two are better, wasn't impressed with the rambling plot of the first one.
guns and more
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Me too. Sadly, Vince Flynn passed away last year.
My favorite, before Mitch Rapp appeared, was "Term Limits" where corrupt congressmen started dying off. Funny how you recognize a lot of situations where you root for the good/bad guys.
I also recommend Brad Thor for a very similar series.
Jeff423
US Veteran
If you like fantasy you really need to read the 47th Samurai by Stephen Hunter.
hatchdog
Member
I've read all the Swagger books, both Bob and Earl. I recommend googling the chronological order and read them in order. All are very good, a few are fantastic and the last few were getting a bit lame. (especially the NASCAR themed book). I also have read the Third Bullet and I highly recommend it to anybody who is a shooter. Fiction but very well done with an interesting twist on the JFK murder. Interestingly, I got onto Hunter after reading an article about him in the American Rifleman.
Horseless Trooper
Member
I have read several and my favorites are Dirty White Boys, Pale Horse Coming, Hot Springs and Blacklight. I prefer Earl to Bob in general but then again I have been a cop and not a sniper so they resonate a little more with me.
Malpasowildlifer
SWCA Member
The Swagger books are awesome and all of Hunter's other works have been awesome as well.
I love the characters, the stories, his detailed descriptions and his knowledge of firearms.
Hunter has a way of describing things and it is so easy for me to visualize it in my mind. And it is extra good since I like the old days and firearms.
I love the characters, the stories, his detailed descriptions and his knowledge of firearms.
Hunter has a way of describing things and it is so easy for me to visualize it in my mind. And it is extra good since I like the old days and firearms.
OP
vonn
US Veteran
Thanks for all the replies . I have read all of his books , some more times than others .He captured the essences of a number of guys I knew in Nam better than anyone else I have read is what struck me most I guess. Hunter must have been there or know Bob Lee .You can not make that up .
There have been several Stephen Hunter threads if you search for them. Here are my comments from one of them, with a little updating:
There is an unofficial Stephen Hunter fan site here: The Unofficial Stephen Hunter Website Unfortunately it doesn't look like it's been updated for several years. It does list most of his books in order here: Books by Stephen Hunter The newest ones not listed are I Sniper, Dead Zero, Soft Target and The Third Bullet. According to Amazon his newest book is titled Sniper's Honor (formerly She, Sniper) and is due to come out May 2014. From reading a small excerpt it appears to be about a female sniper in Stalingrad during WWII, and Bob Lee Swagger's efforts to find out about her.
Hunter Books
I first learned of Hunter and his work when I read an interview with him in American Handgunner (reprinted here: The Unofficial Stephen Hunter Website). In the magazine they talked a little bit more about Pale Horse Coming, and I just had to read it. That got me hooked, and I've read all the rest of his books except Target, which is a book adaptation of a movie. I finished his latest book The Third Bullet a few weeks ago - not bad. His previous book Soft Target was not worth reading - skip it.
Pale Horse Coming was a hoot, with the last third containing thinly veiled characters based on real life gun writers and pistoleros. Totally implausible, but real fun to read.
Elmer Kaye (Elmer Keith)
Jack O'Brian (Jack O'Connor)
Ed McGriffin (Ed McGivern)
Audie Ryan (Audie Murphy)
Bill Jennings (Bill Jordan)
Charlie Hatchison (Charles Askins)
Hunter has a great talent at describing guns and shooting, with not just technical descriptions but is able to evoke the smell of burning powder, the greasy feel of lead bullets, the thump of recoil and slap of muzzle blast - the viscera of the experience.
His primary characters have been Bob Lee Swagger and his father Earl, but I love the way he interweaves characters from his earlier books - for instance a Russian mentioned in several books, and the character Frenchy Short. Havana has several characters like that, including one from his first book Master Sniper. However Earl didn't live long enough to have a lot of adventures so that well is pretty much dry, and Bob Lee is getting old. In the book Dead Zero Hunter has introduced a new character Ray Cruz whom he can continue with, thanks to a deus ex machina.
My personal favorite is Hot Springs, and I wish he'd go back to explore a character from that book - Charles Swagger, Earl's father and Bob Lee's grandfather. How did Charles actually come to be mortally wounded in that Hot Springs whorehouse? Did he really drive Earl's brother to suicide? Was he really as bad as Earl thought he was, a hypocrite quoting the Bible on one hand and consorting with black boy prostitutes on the other? But what do we really know about him? Only what small amount Earl described in bitter memory that may be tainted. I think it'd be extremely interesting to read stuff set in the Roaring '20s, Depression '30s and early '40s.
Regardless, I'd like for Hunter to flesh out this part of the Swagger clan, and read his take on an early 20th century Bible thumping, head thumping, fire and brimstone Arkansas lawman.
http://smith-wessonforum.com/lounge/348684-any-bob-lee-swagger-fans-here.html?highlight=stephen+hunter=
http://smith-wessonforum.com/lounge/323647-third-bullet-stephen-hunter.html?highlight=stephen+hunter=
http://smith-wessonforum.com/lounge/322708-steven-hunter.html
http://smith-wessonforum.com/lounge/317270-hot-springs.html
There is an unofficial Stephen Hunter fan site here: The Unofficial Stephen Hunter Website Unfortunately it doesn't look like it's been updated for several years. It does list most of his books in order here: Books by Stephen Hunter The newest ones not listed are I Sniper, Dead Zero, Soft Target and The Third Bullet. According to Amazon his newest book is titled Sniper's Honor (formerly She, Sniper) and is due to come out May 2014. From reading a small excerpt it appears to be about a female sniper in Stalingrad during WWII, and Bob Lee Swagger's efforts to find out about her.
Hunter Books
- 1980: Master Sniper
- 1982: Second Saladin
- 1985: Target
- 1985: The Spanish Gambit
- 1989: Day Before Midnight
- 1993: Point of Impact
- 1994: Dirty White Boys
- 1996: Black Light
- 1998: Time To Hunt
- 2000: Hot Springs
- 2001: Pale Horse Coming
- 2003: Havana
- 2005: American Gunfight
- 2007: The 47th Samurai
- 2008: Night Of Thunder
I first learned of Hunter and his work when I read an interview with him in American Handgunner (reprinted here: The Unofficial Stephen Hunter Website). In the magazine they talked a little bit more about Pale Horse Coming, and I just had to read it. That got me hooked, and I've read all the rest of his books except Target, which is a book adaptation of a movie. I finished his latest book The Third Bullet a few weeks ago - not bad. His previous book Soft Target was not worth reading - skip it.
Pale Horse Coming was a hoot, with the last third containing thinly veiled characters based on real life gun writers and pistoleros. Totally implausible, but real fun to read.
Elmer Kaye (Elmer Keith)
Jack O'Brian (Jack O'Connor)
Ed McGriffin (Ed McGivern)
Audie Ryan (Audie Murphy)
Bill Jennings (Bill Jordan)
Charlie Hatchison (Charles Askins)
Hunter has a great talent at describing guns and shooting, with not just technical descriptions but is able to evoke the smell of burning powder, the greasy feel of lead bullets, the thump of recoil and slap of muzzle blast - the viscera of the experience.
His primary characters have been Bob Lee Swagger and his father Earl, but I love the way he interweaves characters from his earlier books - for instance a Russian mentioned in several books, and the character Frenchy Short. Havana has several characters like that, including one from his first book Master Sniper. However Earl didn't live long enough to have a lot of adventures so that well is pretty much dry, and Bob Lee is getting old. In the book Dead Zero Hunter has introduced a new character Ray Cruz whom he can continue with, thanks to a deus ex machina.
My personal favorite is Hot Springs, and I wish he'd go back to explore a character from that book - Charles Swagger, Earl's father and Bob Lee's grandfather. How did Charles actually come to be mortally wounded in that Hot Springs whorehouse? Did he really drive Earl's brother to suicide? Was he really as bad as Earl thought he was, a hypocrite quoting the Bible on one hand and consorting with black boy prostitutes on the other? But what do we really know about him? Only what small amount Earl described in bitter memory that may be tainted. I think it'd be extremely interesting to read stuff set in the Roaring '20s, Depression '30s and early '40s.
Regardless, I'd like for Hunter to flesh out this part of the Swagger clan, and read his take on an early 20th century Bible thumping, head thumping, fire and brimstone Arkansas lawman.
http://smith-wessonforum.com/lounge/348684-any-bob-lee-swagger-fans-here.html?highlight=stephen+hunter=
http://smith-wessonforum.com/lounge/323647-third-bullet-stephen-hunter.html?highlight=stephen+hunter=
http://smith-wessonforum.com/lounge/322708-steven-hunter.html
http://smith-wessonforum.com/lounge/317270-hot-springs.html
Texas Star
US Veteran
I just can't see myself reading books about heroes named Earl or Bob Lee Swagger. 
New Swagger novel coming May 16, 2017
I was getting ready to place an order on Amazon and was looking around to see if there was anything else I wanted to add. Out of curiosity I searched for books by Stephen Hunter and a new one came up! Here's the synopsis:
1934 was a pivotal year in the ongoing battle between the FBI and America's most famous outlaws--it was a year of giant personalities and huge shoot-outs, and it marked the deaths of John Dillinger, Bonnie and Clyde, and Pretty Boy Floyd, among others. But that year, FBI agent Sam Cowley's priority was to nab the most dangerous gangster this country has ever produced, a man so violent he scared Al Capone and was booted from the Chicago mob--Baby Face Nelson. To stop him, Cowley recruited the most talented gunman of the time--Charles Swagger.
When Bob Lee Swagger, now in Idaho, finally sells the land he owned in Arkansas, the developers begin to tear down the old homestead and uncover a steel case hidden in the foundation. The case contains a batch of 1934 memorabilia--a much-corroded FBI badge, a .45 automatic preserved in cosmoline, a gun clip, and a cryptic diagram, all belonging to Charles Swagger. Bob never knew his grandfather Charles, who died before he was he born, and his father Earl refuses to mention him. Fascinated by this new information, Bob is driven to find out what happened to his grandfather, and why his own father, whom he worshipped, never spoke of Charles. But as he investigates further, Bob learns that someone is following him, someone with his own obsession of finding out what Charles Swagger left behind.
I am excited - this is exactly what I was asking for! And being a greedy type I hope Hunter can generate at least a couple more Charles Swagger novels, now that he's gotten the ball rolling.
As an aside, since my original post in 2014 Hunter has come out with a couple more books, "Sniper's Honor" which is a Bob Lee detective story, and "I, Ripper" which is a fictionalized (but heavily researched) account of Jack the Ripper.
I was getting ready to place an order on Amazon and was looking around to see if there was anything else I wanted to add. Out of curiosity I searched for books by Stephen Hunter and a new one came up! Here's the synopsis:
1934 was a pivotal year in the ongoing battle between the FBI and America's most famous outlaws--it was a year of giant personalities and huge shoot-outs, and it marked the deaths of John Dillinger, Bonnie and Clyde, and Pretty Boy Floyd, among others. But that year, FBI agent Sam Cowley's priority was to nab the most dangerous gangster this country has ever produced, a man so violent he scared Al Capone and was booted from the Chicago mob--Baby Face Nelson. To stop him, Cowley recruited the most talented gunman of the time--Charles Swagger.
When Bob Lee Swagger, now in Idaho, finally sells the land he owned in Arkansas, the developers begin to tear down the old homestead and uncover a steel case hidden in the foundation. The case contains a batch of 1934 memorabilia--a much-corroded FBI badge, a .45 automatic preserved in cosmoline, a gun clip, and a cryptic diagram, all belonging to Charles Swagger. Bob never knew his grandfather Charles, who died before he was he born, and his father Earl refuses to mention him. Fascinated by this new information, Bob is driven to find out what happened to his grandfather, and why his own father, whom he worshipped, never spoke of Charles. But as he investigates further, Bob learns that someone is following him, someone with his own obsession of finding out what Charles Swagger left behind.
I am excited - this is exactly what I was asking for! And being a greedy type I hope Hunter can generate at least a couple more Charles Swagger novels, now that he's gotten the ball rolling.
As an aside, since my original post in 2014 Hunter has come out with a couple more books, "Sniper's Honor" which is a Bob Lee detective story, and "I, Ripper" which is a fictionalized (but heavily researched) account of Jack the Ripper.
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