Point of Impact

by Stephen Hunter

Book Overview

He was one the best Marine snipers in Vietnam. Today, twenty years later, disgruntled hero of an unheroic war, all Bob Lee Swagger wants to be left alone and to leave the killing behind. But with consummate psychological skill, a shadowy military organization seduces Bob into leaving his beloved Arkansas hills for one last mission for his country, unaware until too late that the game is rigged. The assassination plot is executed to perfection--until...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0553071394
• ISBN13: 9780553071399
• Release Date: February 1993
• Publisher: Bantam Books
• Length: 451 Pages
• Weight: 1.69 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

The lone gunman--except now, you're rooting for him!

Bob Lee Swagger is not a man to mess around with. He was a military sniper, with the second highest number of kills in Vietnam. Then he came home to a country that shunned sniping, and he went into seclusion in the Arkansas mountains.Now he's been called out. A shady government conspiracy wants to use him in an assassination--as the fallguy. And when Swagger does indeed fall for it, lured into a trap, he promises his tormentors will pay...with their blood...Helping him is FBI agent Nick Memphis, who's just recieved his third strike. An odd pair, but together, they must unravel a far-reaching conspiracy...and bring vengence upon those who deserve it."Point of Impact" was the first Stephen Hunter novel I read. It got me hooked on his writing, though few other novels lived up to it ("Dirty White Boys" was pretty good, if I recall correctly). This novel is a thriller of the highest caliber (no pun intended). It's about a proud Southern gunman pushed to the limits...the one spot where you DON'T want him to be! This is a terrific, suspenseful book, and if you are a fan of thrillers and haven't read it yet, then you absolutely must.

The Best In a While

"Point of Impact" is the best book that I've read in quite a while. I purchased Stephen Hunter's book on a whim, and hope that it would be entertaining. It was more than just entertaining, it was good. The book is about an ex-Marine sniper, named Bob Lee Swagger, who spent three tours in Viet Nam. For the last twenty years, he's been holed up in the Ouachitians mountains living with his dog Mike and his rifles. The soft-spoken marksman is approached to help out a government branch in tracking down an assassin. Nick Memphis, a down on his luck FBI agent, is investigating a gruesome murder of an informant that was trying to reach him. As the informant dies, he writes the words, ROM DO on the floor with his own blood. The two stories quickly become entwined in a turbulent plot full of double cross, ballistic charts, and 1,400 yard shots. Hunter does a great job of telling just enough of the story to let you think you know where he is going. Then he turns the story on you leaving you surprised. He does this throughout the book. Only once was I able to guess where he was going. All the times that I thought I had him, Hunter was laughing at me from in front of his typewriter. He does it from the very beginning as we open up on Swagger in a deer blind waiting for Ole Tim, the largest buck in the forest. Swagger's character grows on you, even though he appears tough and rough around the edges. Hunter is a master of the false-direction. He sets everything up so perfectly that once he changes the tables on you, you can see how he set you up. It all makes sense. It's the literary version of magic. Some authors are good at it, for others you can see the wires. Hunter is very good at it. If you like action/adventure, good writing, and an author that's good a deception, check this one out. I'll definitely read more of Hunter.

Incredible!

Wow, this book is amazing! Well written and technically pretty good. Bob "the Nailer" is not one of those annoyingly perfect good guys that don't really exist. He has his share of problems, which are explained in the book but not dwelled on for long.There are some pretty good reviews here that sum up the story pretty well, so I'm going to skip that. I will say that I normally read only sci-fi/fantasy and had long ago grown weary of these type of books. But the way Hunter combines the convoluted plot twists that Ludlum loves so much with the attention to detail that Clancy is so known for and then adds his own ability to tell a story in an interesting way really hooked me.You just may find yourself shopping for a Winchester mdl 70 or a Remington 700 (in .308, of course) before the end of this one!"One shot, one kill"

Silent Souls Leave .308 Holes!

I am an Ex-Special Operations veteran and an avid shooter. Mr. Hunter has done his homework! I highly recommend this great book to all service members, rifle shooters, snipers, and members of the law enforcement community. The following "Bob Lee Swagger Series", books are equally exceptional.

Ranks on my top 10 books of all time

Stephen Hunter must have been a gun in a previous life. He knows shooting. I was hooked after the first couple of pages, and couldn't put this one down. I have since read the book 3 times. If you like guns in any small way, or just plain like a good thriller, it doesn't get any better than this. Hunter builds the main character in a way that you can see every hard line of his face, the way he walks, and the sound of his voice. If I were casting a movie of this book, I'd put Ed Harris in the role. The story is full of interesting and unpredictable plot twists, gun lore, action and revenge. It won't let you down. Hunter's sequels to this book don't hold up as well; Dirty White Boys is a bit too harsh, and Black Light moves too slowly. But Point of Impact is a stroke of genius.