Bob Lee Swagger Books

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Bob Lee Swagger is the chief protagonist in the Bob Lee Swagger series of novels by American author of thriller novels, Stephen Hunter. We first are introduced to Bob Lee Swagger in Point of Impact, the first novel in the series.

Stephen Hunter grew up in Evanston, Illinois where his father worked as a Northwestern University speech writer and his mother wrote children’s books. He went to Northwestern University himself where he graduated with a degree in journalism. After college he served two years in the United States Army, serving in The Old Guard in Washington, DC. During this time he got a start on his journalism career as he wrote for the Pentagon News during his military time.

After leaving the Army, he would work for the Batlimore Sun for a decade at the copy desk before becoming their film critic in 1982. He served in that position for awhile before moving to The Washington Post, also as a film critic. He was awarded the Distinguished Writing Award from the American Society of Newspaper Editors in 1998. He would later get his greatest award of all in 2003 when he received the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.

Hunter published his first Bob Lee Swagger novel while still working at the Baltimore Sun and continued to write in his free time while also keeping his film critic career. Hunter is known as a firearms enthusiast and his attention to detail when it comes to guns comes through in the Bob Lee Swagger novels.

Bob Lee Swagger was in the military where he served as a sniper until his retirement as Marine Gunnery Sergeant. The book series begins immediately after his retirement, after he was permanently disabled after being shot in the hip by a Soviet sniper in Vietnam.

The first novel in the series, Point of Impact begins with the master sniper Swagger living the life of a recluse in the Arkansas Mountains. Having seen too much death, he is done with the violent life and just wants to be left alone. He is convinced to join a highly secretive and dangerous mission. His patriotism wins out in the end and he joins the team only to find that he has been double-crossed. Escaping death by a whisker, he is now on the run for his life.

The only people that can help him unravel the mystery of who set him up and to what end, are a beautiful woman and a disgraced former FBI agent. Stephen Hunter weaves a multi-layered story full of additive nonstop action, twists and turns that shows why he won the Pulitzer Prize in 2003.

There are two spinoffs of the Bob Lee Swagger series. The first focuses on his father, Earl Swagger, and the second focuses on Bob’s long unknown son, Ray Cruz. The Earl Swagger series is a flashback, taking place post-World War II.

BOB LEE SWAGGER BOOKS INTO TV/MOVIES

Two of the novels in the Bob Lee Swagger series have been adapted into movies. Point of Impact, which is one of the most popular in the series, was released in 2007 as the highly successful movie Shooter. The movie was created by Antoine Fuqua and starred Michael Wahlberg in the lead role of Bob Lee Swagger. In 2016, the USA Network announced that it would be releasing a TV series titled Shooter based on Point of Impact. Ryan Philippe would star in the lead role of retired Marine Bob Lee Swagger. The 47th Samurai, the fourth book in the series was adapted into a movie by New Regency under the title The Sword. The movie is still in development with New Regency picking Robert Kamen of The Transporter and Taken franchises, as lead writer.

BEST BOB LEE SWAGGER BOOKS

Syndicated into a movie and TV series, and one of the most popular of the Swagger books, Point of Impact is generally considered the finest work in the Bob Lee Swagger series. The book is a hot-torch scorcher that is sure to be highly addictive for any action thriller fan.

Time to Hunt, the 4th book in the Bob Lee Swagger series is one of Stephen Hunter’s most highly regarded books. Replete with historical truths, vivid gunfights, and the wicked suspense we have come to associate with Hunter, the novel sees Bob face his deadliest foe to date. Now married and living in the idyllic settings of the remote Sawtooth Mountains in Idaho, his life is interrupted when peering out of his telescopic sight, he sees a mortal enemy from his Vietnam days approaching. With a tale that spans the corridors of power in Washington to the Killing fields of Vietnam, this is a tale of local and international intrigue.

Another masterfully written book in the Bob Lee Swagger series is the ninth book in the series, Sniper’s Honor. In the novel that is part modern adventure, part historical thriller, Hunter tells the compelling story of how and why the greatest sniper of the Second World War was erased from history. Once one of the most wanted persons on the planet, Ludmilla “Mili” Petrova had provoked the ire of Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin. Things get thicker when Swagger, contracted to investigate her mysterious disappearance, becomes a target. Why is someone so concerned about the world finding out about such an old story coming out.

OTHER BOOK SERIES YOU MAY LIKE

Many fans of the Bob Lee Swagger series of novels also like the “Kyle Swanson” series by Jack Coughlin. Similar to Swagger, Kyle Swanson is a top marine sniper and a gunnery sergeant that has to contend with betrayals, intrigue, and the never constant dangers of war. Bob Lee Swagger fans also like the “Dewey Andreas” series by Ben Coes. Dewey Andreas is a retired Delta Force officer who likes to work alone unraveling international terrorist plots against the United States.

What Is The Next Book in The Bob Lee Swagger Series?

There doesn't seem to be an upcoming book in The Bob Lee Swagger Series. The newest book is Targeted and was released on January, 18th 2022.

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