A must-read, overlooked Classic!

books:


	• Point of Impact Stephen Hunter Arrow Books Ltd, 2003 - 528 pages average customer review:based on 185 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Great Read

This book was given to me by a friend and, one boring day, I started it. It was absolutely fantastic -- I like guns and I like adventure stories. At several points, I caught myself thinking "its all over -- why are there so many pages left?" Hunter is a master of plot twists. The movie "Shooter", made off this book was pretty good, but it missed some of the complexities of Bob Lee Swagger's life and psyche. My ONLY complaint is that the audio only comes in an abridged version -- this is too great a read for an abridgement!

Better than the movie

I saw the movie first and then read the book. While the movie does give a very nice visual rendition of the book, reading is much more engaging. The storyline was great. As a woman, some of the gun aspects of the book were a bit too detailed for me, but it was educational. Will definitely read other Stephen Hunter books.

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hope the movie is as good

We recently listened to the audiobook during a long road trip. Both my husband and I thought the book was well-written, had well described characters, and was worth the purchase. Highly recommend!

A must-read, overlooked Classic!

What makes this book great:

1. Ever imagined a scenario of one man against the world? We've all seen movies or read books about people overcoming insurmountable odds. But Vietnam Veteran Bob's foes are tougher than all of them. Mentally, they have him beat. Some of the most devious minds have come together to plan the perfect conspiracy. If that isn't enough, a shamed, but ingenious evil psychiatrist has Bob all figured out. He knows his fears and weaknesses. The bad-guys certainly have more connections than Bob. The entire U.S. Government and mass media is intent on ending his life. In terms of firepower, even discounting the nation's law enforcement personal, and the hand-picked group of ex-military types that personally hate Bob, a well-trained and battle-hardened group of Central American commandos are poised to fill our hero with bullets. If Bob's lucky, he'll get a long range rifle, an incompetent ex-FBI agent, and an 80 year old southern lawyer to help him out. If he's unlucky, maybe he gets a .45 ACP and the Ouachita Mountains. How can it get any better than this?

2. Tension and uncertainty aren't great things in life, but they are when you're reading a suspense novel. This book is packed with plot twists and unexpected turns. A book that has believable, yet riveting, surprises is the kind of book that I want to read. Stephen Hunter incorporated plenty of this into "Point of Impact."

3. Sometimes a passionate romantic encounter, sporting event, or life threatening situation will make your heart accelerate, but how about a book? This book is more than a slowly decaying lump of processed wood and splattered ink. This book will make your heart thump, thunder, and accelerate. I found my eyes racing through paragraphs during the multiple climaxes in this book.

4. Awaiting the revenge part. This book has some disgusting villains that badly need to be punished for their atrocities. This can be a fulfilling thing to read about. And you're guaranteed to keep turning the pages until the evil-doers get what's coming to them.

5. Appreciate a good conspiracy? Or would you rather see it come unraveled by the hands of a real American hero? In this book, we have the perfect conspiracy. You won't see a more immaculate frame-up. Even if you hate the undercover villians, you'll appreciate their professionalism as they plan to send Bob the Nailer, and a few innocents, to their doom. The best part is seeing the conspiracy fall apart, though.

6. Better than the movie "Shooter." We've all heard this adage before, so there is no use in me repeating it. Just trust me on this one.

7. If you appreciate guns and marksmanship, then that's something else you'll like about this book. Some of the calibers might be foreign to you if you're a novice like me, but if you like target shooting or gun collecting, this book will really resonate with you.

So what are you waiting for? Get lost in a world of suspense, intrigue, guile, and all those other adjectives for a few hours. Give your brain a kick, figuratively of course. You can let Bob Lee Swagger be your guide and not risk being picked off at the top of a hill.

Here's some more stuff about the book if you're eager.

Characters:

Bob Lee Swagger: AKA Bob the Nailer. A Vietnam vet with a reputation for superb sniping abilities. He is not without battle scars, both mental and physical. Physically, he was shot in the hip by a sniper during Vietnam. Mentally he has problems too. After Bob got shot in the leg, his best friend Donny Fenn tried to save him and got killed in the process. Bob came back from Vietnam and went through some difficult times and finally settled down in a lonely cabin in rural Arkansas. He has no companions but a handful of friends that he spoke to on occasion. He also has his dog. His life consists of collecting his checks from his services to the armed forces and shooting. Shooting is his only passion and pastime. He methodically hones his rifles to perfection on a daily basis. This hobby is a form of escape really. Bob shoots targets and forgets about everything else in life. Bob is intensely patriotic and never lost his southern humor, despite the hardships and setbacks that he has faced. Something about his psychological profile convinced a handful of masterminds that he would be the prime fall guy for their assassination plot. Swagger shows what he has left in him as he struggles against what appear to be insurmountable odds.

Nick Memphis: All Nick ever wanted was to be an FBI agent. Early in his career he landed the prestigious position of sniper for the FBI. In a hostage situation, he was in the position to take the shot at the deranged criminal. Perhaps due to his own nerves; or perhaps because of the commanding officer barking orders as loud as possible into his ear piece, Nick messed up the shot in the worst possible way and hit the hostage in the spine. As a result, his career took a dive. He lost his sniper position and was reassigned to the FBI headquarters in New Orleans. He married the wheelchair bound woman that he hit in the spine that terrible day. They surprisingly build a loving relationship. But everything takes a turn for the worse when she passes away. Sometimes unsure of himself and plagued with bad luck, Nick does his best to be a stellar agent but things just never seem to work out for him. Despite his work ethic and loyalty, he struggles to not get fired as he works for the FBI. Everything is elevated when he finds himself in the middle of the investigation and chase to capture Bob the Nailer.

Jack Payne and Colonel Shreck are ex-elite military veterans. They are the muscle behind the assassination and conspiracy plot.

Dr. Dobbler is an evil psychiatrist who no longer has a license. But this does not keep him from working for a covert front that might be loosely connected to the CIA. He's got Bob's profile.

There are more villains than meets the eye. Among them is a brutal Central American General, government law enforcement agents, a local policeman or two, and perhaps some government officials that are pretty high up. There is also another sniper, and evil one. He seems to be the opposite of Bob, and he might even be more skilled.

Plot summary:

Bob is at home, minding his own business, when a handful of strangers show up at his rural Arkansas trailer. Bob does not want to talk to them initially, but one of them flips him his congressional medal of honor and Bob listens to him in part as his patriotic duty. The strangers have a wonderful proposition for him. They are representatives of a cutting edge ammunition company that has designed a process to make the most accurate and reliable rounds in the world. They need a top notch marksman like Bob the Nailer to sample their product, endorse it, and represent it. But to make sure Bob endorses the product in good faith, they invite him to test the ammunition at their facility. Bob starts out with some simple tests; firing and checking the marking of different kinds of ammunition, including the new company's ammunition and Bob's custom loads. Just to show Bob that the ammunition was truly phenomenal, the mysterious company had Bob simulate some real life sniping events. During the final event, Bob simulated the murder of a drug-cartel Kingpin from several hundred yards. By the force of some ingenious psychological manipulation that will not be revealed in this review, Bob becomes angered and nearly traumatized. The whole ammunition bit was a set up to lure Bob into a covert operation to protect the President of the United States!

Bob's new covert allies inform Bob that they have obtained top secret knowledge that the man who shot Bob and killed Bob's best friend, Donny Fenn, during Vietnam, was planning on killing the president. They needed his sniping expertise to find out more information so that they could stop the terrible event.

To Bob's surprise, he is set up and framed for the assassination attempt (and murder). Now he has the entire federal government, and local law enforcement personal, and everyone else in the country on his tail.

Bob has a two goals, vengenance and clearing his name. The first goal is greater than the first. Somewhere over the course of the book, Bob's character develops in the midst of these hardships and he acquires a third goal. He wants to start a new life. He seeks to emerge from the hermit-like existence that has consumed him in rural Arkansas and find love and family like many other Americans. Bob is up against top secret organizations and powerfully efficient foes. He must utilize stealth and violence to survive.

One of my favorite parts of the book is when our wrongly accused sniper matches his jungle fighting prowess with a sizable group of Central American commandos.

This book successfully manages to have multiple climaxes in a way that other books fall short. The first climax involves multiple master snipers, elite villains, psychological manipulation, and involves Bob going toe to toe with the evilest of covert, conspiring, and absolutely brutal villains.

The second climax is Bob matching his wits with the sharpest young (and old) minds of the federal government.

I'm not sure which of the climaxes was more exciting, although the second one is a bit further outside of Bob's area of expertise.

The book is highly recommended. It is the kind of book that you read for enjoyment, and it is a classic in this regard. Very few books (if any) surpass this work in its ability to show the reader a good time.

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My husband liked the ballistics

I ordered this title to give my husband a break from the literary and artst-craftsy material I usually provide - and it worked. He enjoyed the "gun" descriptions which I didn't understand, and the fast-moving story.

reviews: 1, 2, 3, page 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

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