Stephen Hunter is creator of the Bob Lee Swagger novels as well as many others. The retired chief film critic for The Washington Post, where he won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Distinguished Criticism, he has also published two collections of film criticism and a nonfiction work, American Gunfight. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland.
Bob Lee Swagger, retired marine master sniper and hero of bestseller Hunter's 1993 thriller, Point of Impact (forthcoming as the film Shooter), returns in this riveting homage to the myth of the samurai. Philip Yano, the son of the Japanese officer who commanded the bunker on Iwo Jima where Swagger's marine father won the Medal of Honor in 1945, approaches Swagger about a missing sword wielded by his father, Hideki, during the battle for the island. The sword turns out to be not just a family heirloom but a national treasure that evokes echoes from the most sacrosanct corners of Japanese history. Yano's search reveals there are those who will gladly kill for the honor it bestows upon the possessor. Plunged into a Japan where honor and loyalty outweigh even one's own life, Swagger finds that an old warrior like himself still has much to understand. While the action builds to the inevitable climax, the joy of the journey will keep readers turning the pages. (Sept.) Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.
Memo to bad guys: Don't mess with Bob Lee Swagger (Black Light), even if he is getting old. Swagger returns in an exciting adventure that begins in the closing days of World War II, when Bob Lee's father, Earl (Havana), earns the Medal of Honor on Iwo Jima and takes a Japanese officer's samurai sword as a souvenir. Decades later, Bob returns the sword to the dead officer's son and family. But the sword turns out to be historically and politically important, and the Japanese family is slaughtered to get it. This horror causes Bob Lee to obsess about both avenging the family and retrieving the sword. In effect, he becomes a samurai, and his confrontations with the murderers are extremely bloody. Although heavy on both the explanations of Japanese customs and the sordid world of incredibly savage Japanese criminals, this work is compelling, exciting, and satisfying, a dark adventure that will appeal to thriller fans. Hunter is also a chief film critic at the Washington Post, where he won a Pulitzer Prize in 2003. Recommended. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 5/15/07.]-Robert Conroy, Warren, MI Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.
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