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Book Summary and Reviews of I, Sniper by Stephen Hunter

I, Sniper by Stephen Hunter

I, Sniper

Bob Lee Swagger Novel #6

by Stephen Hunter

  • Critics' Consensus (1):
  • Published:
  • Dec 2009, 400 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

Four famed '60s radicals are gunned down at long range by a sniper. Under enormous media scrutiny, the FBI quickly concludes that Marine war hero Carl Hitchcock, whose ninety-three kills were considered the leading body count tally among American marksman in Vietnam, was the shooter. But as the Bureau, led by Special Agent Nick Memphis, bears down, Hitchcock commits suicide. In closing out the investigation, Nick discovers a case made in heaven: everything fits, from timeline, ballistics, and forensics to motive, means, and opportunity. Maybe it's a little too perfect.

Nick asks his friend, the retired Marine sniper Bob Lee Swagger, to examine the data. Using a skill set no other man on earth possesses, Swagger soon discovers unseen anomalies and gradually begins to unravel a sophisticated conspiracy -- one that would require the highest level of warcraft by the most superb special operations professionals. As Swagger penetrates the deepest secrets of the sniper world and its new technology, Nick stands firm in the face of hardball PR initiatives and an inflamed media calling for his ouster.

Swagger soon closes in, and those responsible will stop at nothing to take him out. But these heavily armed men make the mistake of thinking they are hunting Bob, when he is, in fact, hunting them.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Starred Review. Hunter is back at the top of his game. He’s the best on the subject of guns and what damage bullets can do to human flesh." - Publishers Weekly

"Starred Review. [I, Sniper] will leave even unsympathetic readers gasping." Booklist

"Hunter's thrillers are always taut, exciting, and well written, and his latest is no exception." - Library Journal

This information about I, Sniper was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

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Author Information

Stephen Hunter Author Biography

Author photograph by Kelly Campbell

Stephen Hunter was born in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1946, and grew up in the Chicago area. He graduated from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University in 1968 and then spent two years in the United States Army as a ceremonial soldier in the 3rd Infantry in Washington, D.C.

Stephen Hunter retired as a chief film critic for The Washington Post, where he won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Distinguished Criticism. He has written several novels, published two collections of film criticism and a nonfiction work, American Gunfight.

Some of his recent works include Dead Zero (2010), The Third Bullet (2013) and Sniper's Honor (2014).

He lives in Baltimore, Maryland.

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