New York Times bestselling author Stephen Hunter sends former Marine sniper Bob Lee Swagger deep into the heart of NASCAR country in this action-packed thriller. Talk about a ride Woe unto he who crosses Bob Lee Swagger, especially when his daughter's life is at stake. Forced off the road and into a crash that leaves her in a coma, clinging to life, reporter Nikki Swagger had begun to peel back the onion of a Southern-fried-conspiracy bubbling with all the angst, resentment, and dysfunction that Dixie gangsters can muster. An ancient, violent crime clan, a possibly corrupt law enforcement structure, gunmen of all stripes and shapes, and deranged evangelicals rear their ugly heads and will live to rue the day they targeted the wrong man's daughter. It's what you call your big-time bad career move. All of it is set against the backdrop of excitement and insanity that only a weeklong NASCAR event can bring to the backwoods of a town as seemingly sleepy as Bristol, Tennessee. A master at the top of his game, Hunter provides a host of thrilling new reasons to read as fast as we can. When Swagger picks up peeling where his daughter left off, and his swift sword of justice is let loose, we find a true American hero in his most stunning action to date. And--in the form of Brother Richard, a self-decreed "Sinnerman" out of the old fire-and-brimstone tradition--Hunter offers up his most diabolical, engaging villain yet. A triumph of story, character, and style, Night of Thunder is Stephen Hunter at his very best.
Swagger is more believable in this one that the last. I can't wait for the upcoming book.
Night of Thunder
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 16 years ago
The usual very entertaining Bob Lee Swagger novel but with some glaring errors in both the details of NASCAR and in the mechanics of some of the firearms used. Most unusual for Stephen Hunter.
Thunder and then some
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 16 years ago
You don't have to own a gun and follow NASCAR to love this book. Stephen Hunter's newest Swagger novel is addictive. I read it in one sitting because I couldn't wait to see what happened next. And I wasn't disappointed. It's a good story, told with characteristic wit and skill (and lots of loving attention to every scope and bullet in sight), that builds to a crescendo that is terrifying and really funny at the same time. Hunter's a great detail man -- and he has perfect pitch in Night of Thunder. From the making of an unlikely hero at a country store that will be recognized by anyone who's ever stopped to get a soda on a back-country road to the orchestrated pomp, circumstance and greed that makes NASCAR so appealing, Hunter's created a hell of a story here. One of the nicest parts of this book is the author's abiity to show how an aging and slightly creaky Swagger can still deliver the goods when they're needed. Swagger in his later years is as craggy and flinty as Clint Eastwood, an old lion but still a lion. Night of Thunder is one of Hunter's best.
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