This is the third of the Bob Lee Swagger books but for me it's the one I read last...I managed to skip it as I was reading them and had to come back and "pick it up". So, in a way here I'm looking at the entire run of Bob Lee Swagger books. All in all, pretty good action reads, some a bit better than others. My favorite in the series is I, Sniper, the sixth in the series.Here we pick up after Bob has gotten through the events of the first two novels. He's still in sad shape, deep in the bottle struggling to hold on to life and not lose his wife and daughter whom he loves very much. Sadly in spite of that love his own personal demons are threatening to take everything away. Another struggle the family is having is that Bob has not been able to make a really good living and they are mostly getting by on Bob's retirement from the military.Then someone from Bob's past shows up, apparently the Russian sniper that wounded Bob in Vietnam has returned. He shoots a man he mistakes for Bob and then Bob's wife and almost his daughter...Bob has to come out of his funk or really lose everything he loves.The story here opens and about half the book takes place during the Vietnam war both in Nam and the U.S. The story moves forward and gives us some insight and more details on back story that we've known about since the first volume. This one moves along quickly with lots of action a good plot and more information filled in about our characters. Here we get a little more of a "spy novel" flavor than we have in most of the other Swagger novels and there's a twist at the end (though I suspect you'll see it coming). Not a bad book at all. I think I like the first 2 a bit better (and of course as I noted the 6th is my favorite, filled with action and good dollop of humor)in some ways but the look at the Vietnam era in this one is very real. Having lived through it I remember the confusion so many had, the pain, the loss.As noted pretty good book, I recommend it.
Blah. I hate doing this, but I'm abandoning this book. Here's why. Although I loved Point of Impact, absolutely ADORED Dirty White Boys, and overall ended up liking Black Light, this one was just far too rough for me. I realized half a chapter in I'd actually tried to read this before & given up for SIMILAR reasons, but this time I stuck with it a little more.So here's the thing: Donny Fenn was Bob Lee Swagger's Bucky, the one who died back in the old days & who gives our hero some tragic backstory. That's really all the story the character ever needed. In Time to Hunt, after a jaw-dropping opening, we're given 100 pages of the heroic choices Donny Fenn made that got him punished by being thrown into the already-ending Vietnam War. I did not care. The next 200 pages are Donny & Bob bonding in Vietnam and, I assume, setting up the things that would pay off in the finale. Finally, around page 300, we're brought back to the present, and, of course, the opening was a clever sleight-of-hand maneuver. Fair enough. But, seriously, the plot I wanted took THREE HUNDRED PAGES to start! I felt as if Hunter wasn't really interested in writing another BLS book, and so why should I be? I realized, while Hunter is a great writer, I've got tons of other books I could be reading and enjoying more. Especially, say, an Alex McKnight book, which is similar in many ways to the Bob Lee Swagger books, except a little more up-to-date and, so far, the author doesn't seem to be tired of the series.I might one day pop in to check out whatever the next book in the BLS series is, but man, this one really just didn't work for me.
What do You think about Time To Hunt (1999)?
Half of this book is in the Vietnam era, and is deeply seeped in the flavor of that conflict and the deep conflicts in the US itself over the war itself. The politics of the Cold War are suitably cold, but it's all brought home through the very personal dilemma of Donny Fenn. I like that Hunter said that he was so taken by the story of John Burke, Carlos Hathcock's spotter in Vietnam, he had to write about it.It's a haunting story, and really has made me think a great deal about what true integrity means and what kinds of choices can be made. It's also a really solid action adventure, and all the action was utterly believable, with exquisite play on both sides of the board. I have to admit that I love many of Hunter's *action* villains nearly as much as his heroes.
—Liralen
This is a hard one to get a handle on. I wish we could do half stars. The opening of the book annoyed me with it's cliffhanger opening with Bob Lee apparently being killed. Then it switches to 1971 and Bob Lee's spotter Donny Fenn. That also kind of annoyed me at first, but the Donny Fenn section was by far the best part of the book. Hunter really filled out the character, made him very compelling and interesting. I enjoyed that part of the novel. When the focus came back to Bob Lee, I didn't care for the book very much. His anger at the Ivy League types didn't ring true and his brilliant abilities against the CIA also were kind of out there. Overall the book was not a bad read. Not Hunter's best, but I will move on to the next Bob Lee novel, The 47th Samurai tonight.
—Chompa
Stephen Hunter has an excellent resume including being the chief film critic for the Washington Post and also the honor of being awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 2003. His books are also very highly rated by Goodreads contributors which led me to this novel. This book is a fast paced book about an ex Viet Nam war veteran with personal problems but high skills at his miltary trade. Very simply the book is about an ex-Russian sniper that picks on the wrong guy and his family. The book dances around from decade to decade, but one of the confrontations between this ex sniper, his partner and the Viet Cong was particularly engaging. The main character seemed to have many of the characteristics of a Lee Child or Vince Flynn hero and as a result I will look forward to my next Stephen Hunter novel.
—Chuck
