Synopsis
New York Times bestselling author Stephen Hunter returns with his popular hero Bob Lee Swagger and kicks it up another notch when Swagger has to track down an AWOL Marine sniper who resurfaces to complete his last mission. Ray Cruz called the Cruise Missile by the grunts because he never missed a shot is still hunting a warlord who has since become America’s proudest ally in the Afghan war and may be political savior all have been waiting for. Has Ray gone rogue, or insane, or has he turned? Or is someone imitating Ray while playing a deeper game with a more terrifying objective. Swagger, on the task force meant to catch Ray Cruz before he takes out his prey, has to find out, even if in some deep place, his heart in with the sniper. In a starred review of Hunter’s previous bestseller, I, Sniper, Publisher’s Weekly declared that “Hunter is back at the top of his game.”
Publishers Weekly
Several months after the betrayal of a covert operation in Afghanistan leaves a Marine sniper team dead, the target of that mission, top Taliban commander Ibrahim Zarzi (aka "the Beheader"), changes sides, in bestseller Hunter's stellar seventh Bob Lee Swagger thriller (after I, Sniper). Zarzi travels to the U.S., where he meets the president and key congressional leaders and offers the State Department its best chance at achieving a stable, reliable Afghan government. Meanwhile, a Marine radio operator receives a message from Gunnery Sgt. Ray Cruz (aka "the Cruise Missile"), one of the snipers believed to have been killed. Cruz has returned stateside to continue the mission. The FBI calls in retired Marine sniper ace Bob Lee Swagger to help find Cruz before he blows off the Beheader's head, but someone is following "Bob the Nailer" to get to Cruz first. Solid characterization complements the tight, fast-moving plot. (Jan.)