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Earl Swagger #4
The Bullet Garden
The long-anticipated origin story of legendary sniper, fan favorite, and father of literary icon Bob Lee takes us to the battlefields of World War II as Earl Swagger embarks on a top secret and deadly mission—from Pulitzer Prize–winning and New York Times bestselling Stephen Hunter, “one of the best thriller novelists around” (The Washington Post).
July, 1944: The lush, rolling hills of Normandy are dotted with a new feature—German snipers. From their vantage points, they pick off hundreds of Allied soldiers every day, bringing the D-Day invasion to its knees. It’s clear that someone is tipping off these snipers with the locations of American soldiers, but who? And how?
General Eisenhower demands his intelligence service to find the best shot in the Allied military to counter this deadly SS operation. Enter Earl Swagger, an Army Major assigned this crucial and bloody mission. With crosshairs on his back, Swagger can’t trust anyone as he infiltrates the shadowy corners of London and France for answers.
From “a true master at the pinnacle of his craft” (Jack Carr, author of the Terminal List series), The Bullet Garden is an electrifying historical thriller that is sure to become a classic.
July, 1944: The lush, rolling hills of Normandy are dotted with a new feature—German snipers. From their vantage points, they pick off hundreds of Allied soldiers every day, bringing the D-Day invasion to its knees. It’s clear that someone is tipping off these snipers with the locations of American soldiers, but who? And how?
General Eisenhower demands his intelligence service to find the best shot in the Allied military to counter this deadly SS operation. Enter Earl Swagger, an Army Major assigned this crucial and bloody mission. With crosshairs on his back, Swagger can’t trust anyone as he infiltrates the shadowy corners of London and France for answers.
From “a true master at the pinnacle of his craft” (Jack Carr, author of the Terminal List series), The Bullet Garden is an electrifying historical thriller that is sure to become a classic.
480 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 24, 2023
655 people are currently reading
656 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Hunter
110 books1,964 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Stephen Hunter is the author of fourteen novels, and a chief film critic at The Washington Post, where he won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland.
Stephen Hunter is the author of fourteen novels, and a chief film critic at The Washington Post, where he won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 204 reviews
February 12, 2023
Excellent Earl Swagger WWII novel. If you like Stephen Hunter, as I do, you’ll love this one.
November 11, 2022
There are A LOT of happenings in Stephen Hunter's The Bullet Garden, and all of them are fantastic. The Bullet Garden fills in some gaps in the Earl Swagger story and is reminiscent of his earlier works involving Papa Swagger. After D-Day, German snipers began taking out high ranking personnel at night around Normandy. Swagger is brought in to learn how the Germans were able to shoot at night, and stop them.
The Bullet Garden is old-school Hunter at his absolute best. Hunter has created a multiple storyline knockout involving leadership principles, a mole hunt, a sniper hunt, military feuds, lovestruck fools, and everything in between. There is a pivotal detail so out of left field I could have 20 million guesses and I would have never thought of said detail.
If you want to learn more about Earl Swagger or just learning of him, The Bullet Garden encapsulates everything Earl Swagger is.
My sincere thanks to Stephen Hunter, Atria/Emily Bestler Books, and NetGalley for the privilege of reading an advanced copy of The Bullet Garden!
The Bullet Garden is old-school Hunter at his absolute best. Hunter has created a multiple storyline knockout involving leadership principles, a mole hunt, a sniper hunt, military feuds, lovestruck fools, and everything in between. There is a pivotal detail so out of left field I could have 20 million guesses and I would have never thought of said detail.
If you want to learn more about Earl Swagger or just learning of him, The Bullet Garden encapsulates everything Earl Swagger is.
My sincere thanks to Stephen Hunter, Atria/Emily Bestler Books, and NetGalley for the privilege of reading an advanced copy of The Bullet Garden!
November 18, 2022
The D-Day landings have been a success. The Allies are now in France. But they're not making a great deal of headway because of one dreaded word: snipers.
The areas between the hedges are being called the bullet garden, thanks to snipers working seemingly without any limitations, picking off soldiers at will. It's clear that to get going inland, the Allies are going to have to solve this particular problem.
Enter Gunnery Sergeant Earl Swagger. He is not, at this time, working as a sniper. Injured in the Pacific campaign, he's now instructing fresh new Marines at Parris Island, dealing out hard truths. He's talked into going to Europe for the OSS (the precursor to the CIA) to flush out the snipers gumming up the works. He agrees, is giving a commission as a Major in the US Army, and put on a plane.
He's given a staff, some offices, and told to get to work, which he does - much to the chagrin and annoyance of another officer, who doesn't like any other fiefdoms clogging up his own fiefdom. Swagger isn't one much for office politics and tells his staff - primarily, his second in command, who in reality outranks him, and his aide de camp - to ignore the other officer, as he'll handle it. He does this as well, in a subtle way, the amusing lesson worthy of being taught to office workers in modern times.
In the meantime, in a sequence I personally thought funny as hell thanks to the crazy reasoning he gives, Swagger puts together a profile of the snipers to his boss and a couple of other brass, which they accept as sound. I'll leave it at that so as not to spoil it, but I urge you to think hard on it as the book continues, to see if you can spot the reason why before Swagger explains it.
Swagger is then given a field team to go sniper hunting, which includes two young soldiers who left Harvard to join, and whom we met in the opening chapters. While some readers may be able to figure out the how of the snipers striking as they do, it's much more difficult to get to the who of the group - and I certainly didn't guess their identities.
There's a subplot about a romance and a spy in the office, but the latter was dead easy to spot. That aside, it's a terrific read and well worth the time to invest.
Four and a half out of five stars, rounded up to five.
Thanks to Atria/Emily Bestler Books and NetGalley for the reading copy.
The areas between the hedges are being called the bullet garden, thanks to snipers working seemingly without any limitations, picking off soldiers at will. It's clear that to get going inland, the Allies are going to have to solve this particular problem.
Enter Gunnery Sergeant Earl Swagger. He is not, at this time, working as a sniper. Injured in the Pacific campaign, he's now instructing fresh new Marines at Parris Island, dealing out hard truths. He's talked into going to Europe for the OSS (the precursor to the CIA) to flush out the snipers gumming up the works. He agrees, is giving a commission as a Major in the US Army, and put on a plane.
He's given a staff, some offices, and told to get to work, which he does - much to the chagrin and annoyance of another officer, who doesn't like any other fiefdoms clogging up his own fiefdom. Swagger isn't one much for office politics and tells his staff - primarily, his second in command, who in reality outranks him, and his aide de camp - to ignore the other officer, as he'll handle it. He does this as well, in a subtle way, the amusing lesson worthy of being taught to office workers in modern times.
In the meantime, in a sequence I personally thought funny as hell thanks to the crazy reasoning he gives, Swagger puts together a profile of the snipers to his boss and a couple of other brass, which they accept as sound. I'll leave it at that so as not to spoil it, but I urge you to think hard on it as the book continues, to see if you can spot the reason why before Swagger explains it.
Swagger is then given a field team to go sniper hunting, which includes two young soldiers who left Harvard to join, and whom we met in the opening chapters. While some readers may be able to figure out the how of the snipers striking as they do, it's much more difficult to get to the who of the group - and I certainly didn't guess their identities.
There's a subplot about a romance and a spy in the office, but the latter was dead easy to spot. That aside, it's a terrific read and well worth the time to invest.
Four and a half out of five stars, rounded up to five.
Thanks to Atria/Emily Bestler Books and NetGalley for the reading copy.
February 8, 2023
It's fortythree years since he published his first book and it's fortytwo years since I first started target shooting with the Mauser and it's almost thirty years since I discovered him. Stephen Hunter is by far one of the best authors now living. The Bullet Garden is another great masterpiece with Earl Swagger as the lead character. All the Swaggers are fantastic individuals in my mind but Earl is the one that stands out the most. He sure is one tough marine. I have never been let done by one of Hunters books and I have reread them numerous times and will continue doing so as long as I can read. I do however object to two things in this book! Jaktstuga is spelled with a k not a c and it does this mistake three times and it sticks out like a sore thumb everytime I see it. The same goes for muti, it should be mamma. Those mistakes are small but when you take time to search for the spelling of a foreign word you should spell it right. Now I am sure not many people will notice this but as a native Swede I do. Well, apart from this the book is a masterpiece, few people can write a book about the actions in a worldwar with so little action and still the reader is spell bound by the story. This book was made even better because some of it is set in London with the OSS people there and another one of my favorite authors W.E.B. Griffins has set one of his series there and this one reminded me of the crazy interactions at OSS London station. I had such a great time reading this book that I will play it back in my mind for a long time. I sincerely hope that we will get many more great stories from this author in the future.
February 4, 2023
Eh, that were some flashes of the Stephen Hunter who wrote Pale Horse Coming and Hot Springs, but otherwise, so-so.
February 10, 2023
OK but no cigar. In other words, mediocre with flashes of brilliance.My rating is 3 1/2 stars, and that was being kind.
January 18, 2023
Enemy snipers!
Just what has Gunnery Sergeant Earl Swagger become involved in?
World War II, and it looks like German snipers are targeting forces on the front. Not just any soldier but those in command.
Swagger is sent to track the snipers down. On his side he has to cope with Realpolitik within the command situation. Realpolitik is something like seeing into the future, beyond the tactical, beyond strategy. Taking the long game! Then there’s the possibility of an enemy spy amongst the personnel, someone else is attempting to pull rank for their own benefit, and oh my gosh, a myriad of other situations.
I admit to my eyes glazing over as various rifle and scopes were discussed in detail but the action was well worth me skipping quickly through those descriptions to the more meaty aspects of the chase, of moves and counter moves and the growing certainty of what is uncovered and dealt with.
The spy was a surprise and yet not. The presentation of the entitled British class was amusing and certainly had its benefits.
Thoroughly enjoyable!
An Atria ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.
Just what has Gunnery Sergeant Earl Swagger become involved in?
World War II, and it looks like German snipers are targeting forces on the front. Not just any soldier but those in command.
Swagger is sent to track the snipers down. On his side he has to cope with Realpolitik within the command situation. Realpolitik is something like seeing into the future, beyond the tactical, beyond strategy. Taking the long game! Then there’s the possibility of an enemy spy amongst the personnel, someone else is attempting to pull rank for their own benefit, and oh my gosh, a myriad of other situations.
I admit to my eyes glazing over as various rifle and scopes were discussed in detail but the action was well worth me skipping quickly through those descriptions to the more meaty aspects of the chase, of moves and counter moves and the growing certainty of what is uncovered and dealt with.
The spy was a surprise and yet not. The presentation of the entitled British class was amusing and certainly had its benefits.
Thoroughly enjoyable!
An Atria ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.
June 28, 2025
Hunter’s Swagger books - Earl’s and Bob Lee’s - about snipers have gotten flabby. (Hunter’s “Basil St Florian” stand alone WWII novel was unreadable.). Over written, cliched, and florid in a “boy’s own paper” adolescent style with too much gun porn, it says something that it is only a small flaw that the premise of this book, that one man and his squad of snipers held up the entire DDay advance, is wildly overblown. But I gave two stars and probably should have given only one because the “German” sniper turns out to be an easily identifiable public figure, a minor one (overshadowed by his wife, writer Isak Dinesen) and perhaps not a nice man in real life but not a volunteer killer for the 3rd Reich. This seems cheap and nasty as well as authorially lazy, even unethical. (I don’t know Swedish libel law but if the Von Blixen family is still around they might seek legal advice.) Anyway, in WWII the Germans didn’t need the Swedes to do their killing for them. Hunter adheres to the discredited notion that there was a division in the German army between crazed Nazis and professional soldiers, who are depicted as nice guys with great equipment; gun porn again. A Panzer division features in this (with a trooper who wants to work in Hollywood after the war!! Lots of job openings after all the Jews in the industry are killed; you have to shake your head at Hunter’s obtuseness) and in real life that would have been the “Das Reich” division which massacred the town of Oradour sur Glane, an indelible war crime. Hunter should visit the town, which has been left in its ruins as a memorial, some time. There’s also an American spying for the Soviets named Millicent Fenwick: the family of four term NJ congresswoman Millicent Fenwick wants a word. Lazy again - as are tics like sampling (plagiarizing?) lines from writers such as TS Eliot. Just for fun, there’s a nasty crack about Hemingway’s soon to be fourth wife, journalist Mary Walsh. Hunter has a Hemingway problem in a couple of his books: envy?
January 28, 2023
Author and film critic Stephen Hunter has been bringing us novels that feature his most prolific character, Bob Lee Swagger, for decades. In fact, the character is so popular he has produced both film and television series starring big-name Hollywood actors like Mark Wahlberg and Ryan Philippe.
With the release of his latest novel, THE BULLET GARDEN, readers are treated to a Swagger story that is unlike any Stephen Hunter has written to date. For long-time readers of this intense series featuring the expert sniper, prayers have been answered as THE BULLET GARDEN is the long-awaited prequel set during WWII and starring Bob Lee’s father, Earl Swagger. The leaf does not fall far from the tree in the case of the Swagger family as Earl is as tough as they come and it tapped on the shoulder in this historically themed novel to take on a top secret mission that will go a long way towards assuring an Allied victory in the Great War.
We have already seen the successful storming of the beaches of Normandy, but the U.S. Troops and their allies have no time to celebrate for the Nazi Germany threat is a mighty one and features one of the toughest armies every created. It seems some highly-skilled German Army snipers have been picking off key U.S targets with ease and unfortunate regularity. It is almost as if someone were sharing the location of the American GI’s that have been victimized by theses snipers bullets.
Thus, we have the emergence of one Earl Swagger. The mission he takes on involves infiltrating the German military forces, behind enemy lines, to locate whoever is behind these sniper attacks and putting an end to them in violent and abrupt fashion. Swagger accepts this responsibility without thinking twice and brings the skill set he honed as a hero in the Pacific Theater to work with trying to counter the deadly SS mission that seeks to obliterate the Allied threat in Europe.
Earl Swagger is a gunnery Sergeant, not a sniper, and was injured during his heroic feats in the Pacific. Still, General Eisenhower is confident that he is the right man for this job. Swagger is able to put together a team of snipers to assist in his mission --- two in particular that will ring as extremely familiar to readers of this series --- and they end up being the right men for the job. Yet, as he travels from England to France, he finds there are not many people he can fully trust and he and his small team may indeed be on their own to see this mission full to the end --- even if it costs them their lives.
There are not many authors out there who can handle the subject matter of THE BULLET GARDEN like Stephen Hunter, and this reinforces why he has earned the reputation he has for intense, no-nonsense military thrills that have always been on display in all his Swagger novels. This story does not disappoint and makes for an engaging and exciting read from cover to cover.
Reviewed by Ray Palen for Book Reporter
With the release of his latest novel, THE BULLET GARDEN, readers are treated to a Swagger story that is unlike any Stephen Hunter has written to date. For long-time readers of this intense series featuring the expert sniper, prayers have been answered as THE BULLET GARDEN is the long-awaited prequel set during WWII and starring Bob Lee’s father, Earl Swagger. The leaf does not fall far from the tree in the case of the Swagger family as Earl is as tough as they come and it tapped on the shoulder in this historically themed novel to take on a top secret mission that will go a long way towards assuring an Allied victory in the Great War.
We have already seen the successful storming of the beaches of Normandy, but the U.S. Troops and their allies have no time to celebrate for the Nazi Germany threat is a mighty one and features one of the toughest armies every created. It seems some highly-skilled German Army snipers have been picking off key U.S targets with ease and unfortunate regularity. It is almost as if someone were sharing the location of the American GI’s that have been victimized by theses snipers bullets.
Thus, we have the emergence of one Earl Swagger. The mission he takes on involves infiltrating the German military forces, behind enemy lines, to locate whoever is behind these sniper attacks and putting an end to them in violent and abrupt fashion. Swagger accepts this responsibility without thinking twice and brings the skill set he honed as a hero in the Pacific Theater to work with trying to counter the deadly SS mission that seeks to obliterate the Allied threat in Europe.
Earl Swagger is a gunnery Sergeant, not a sniper, and was injured during his heroic feats in the Pacific. Still, General Eisenhower is confident that he is the right man for this job. Swagger is able to put together a team of snipers to assist in his mission --- two in particular that will ring as extremely familiar to readers of this series --- and they end up being the right men for the job. Yet, as he travels from England to France, he finds there are not many people he can fully trust and he and his small team may indeed be on their own to see this mission full to the end --- even if it costs them their lives.
There are not many authors out there who can handle the subject matter of THE BULLET GARDEN like Stephen Hunter, and this reinforces why he has earned the reputation he has for intense, no-nonsense military thrills that have always been on display in all his Swagger novels. This story does not disappoint and makes for an engaging and exciting read from cover to cover.
Reviewed by Ray Palen for Book Reporter
February 25, 2023
Excellent visit to the early days of Earl Swagger
Not only does Hunter find the perfect opportunity within his Earl Swagger storyline to deliver a visceral yet intellectual journey, the descriptions and settings in this novel are at times whimsical, photo realistic, poetic and immersive. They do not distract, but rather add to the narrative and enhance the read tremendously.
Not only does Hunter find the perfect opportunity within his Earl Swagger storyline to deliver a visceral yet intellectual journey, the descriptions and settings in this novel are at times whimsical, photo realistic, poetic and immersive. They do not distract, but rather add to the narrative and enhance the read tremendously.
August 29, 2022
480 pages
5 stars
WWII rages. Marine Gunnery Sergeant Earl Swagger is recovering from a wound received during his island hopping journey through the Pacific Islands. He is a sniper par excellence.
He is recruited through the auspices of none other than General Eisenhower to solve a little problem they are having in France. German snipers. They are killing officers and NCO’s by the dozens demoralizing the troops.
Earl receives a special commission in the Army as a major. He does his homework. Along with Leets, who is another unsung hero, they procure maps, intelligence and lists of causes of deaths. They talk to people. They keep their mission a closely guarded secret.
While there is much discussion and dialogue, there is also action and tension.
The story is interspersed with vignettes of one of the snipers, the best perhaps, whose ethnicity comes as a surprise. This is only one of the many surprises this book holds.
Mr. Hunter portrays Earl as a true American hero. The reader gets a real feel of Earl: level-headed, no bs, take him or leave him, but respectful. I like Earl very much. This book is very well written and plotted. It reads quickly, pulling the reader into the story effortlessly. I’ve read many of this author’s books, and this novel is one of my favorites. More Earl please, Mr. Hunter.
I want to thank NetGalley and Atria/Emily Bestler Books for forwarding to me a copy of this great book for me to read, enjoy and review. The opinions expressed here are solely my own.
5 stars
WWII rages. Marine Gunnery Sergeant Earl Swagger is recovering from a wound received during his island hopping journey through the Pacific Islands. He is a sniper par excellence.
He is recruited through the auspices of none other than General Eisenhower to solve a little problem they are having in France. German snipers. They are killing officers and NCO’s by the dozens demoralizing the troops.
Earl receives a special commission in the Army as a major. He does his homework. Along with Leets, who is another unsung hero, they procure maps, intelligence and lists of causes of deaths. They talk to people. They keep their mission a closely guarded secret.
While there is much discussion and dialogue, there is also action and tension.
The story is interspersed with vignettes of one of the snipers, the best perhaps, whose ethnicity comes as a surprise. This is only one of the many surprises this book holds.
Mr. Hunter portrays Earl as a true American hero. The reader gets a real feel of Earl: level-headed, no bs, take him or leave him, but respectful. I like Earl very much. This book is very well written and plotted. It reads quickly, pulling the reader into the story effortlessly. I’ve read many of this author’s books, and this novel is one of my favorites. More Earl please, Mr. Hunter.
I want to thank NetGalley and Atria/Emily Bestler Books for forwarding to me a copy of this great book for me to read, enjoy and review. The opinions expressed here are solely my own.
April 25, 2023
Earl Swagger was detached from the Marines for a special sniper-stopping mission in Normandy after D-Day: who knew? That’s the fun of a long-running series grounded in history – the clever author can always imagine previously untold adventures that fill in gaps in the hero’s known record. (Bernard Cornwell does this over and over in Richard Sharpe’s timeline). In THE BULLET GARDEN, Earl Swagger – called the “best combat rifleman in American service” (loc625) by the War Department’s talent scouts – is promised a return to his beloved Marines in the Pacific Theater if he can figure out how to stop the German snipers who are keeping American troops pinned down in the nearly impenetrable hedgerows country (or “bocage”). Earl’s opponent(s) “can hit a quarter-sized target through a scope in near darkness from two hundred yards out from a field position time after time” (loc4135) – which terrifies the ordinary American infantrymen into paralysis. However, hunting the hunters is the natural work of “that sphinx of masculinity, taciturnity, and implacability, the war god Swagger” (loc2624). The reader will have no doubt that Swagger and author Stephen Hunter will deliver the kill shot and do it in ways that are exciting, gritty and authentic.
February 6, 2023
Improbable as it was, it was still hard to put down.
This is the most chatty novel that I have read from this author. It seemed a completely different style. I've never heard of a marine gunny from the south who could put down his colloquialisms, accent and salty language so effortlessly and so seamlessly step into a believable army major. I could believe that he might be an expert sharpshooter, hunter/stalker, low light shooter and master of the archane art of ballistics, but would he also be knowledgeable about fighter pilots and tactics? Would he be able to out maneuver career politician army officers? Would he be a master spy catcher? I think that one man is too good at too many things, yet I wanted to believe. I had to keep reading to see what Earl came up with next. I did enjoy this novel but it was a departure from the author's usual high speed, ballistics laden, tactics driven shooter novels. Not to worry. I bought the first Bob Lee novel for a friend, an old marine sniper who had somehow never heard of Bob Lee, and I'm confident that he'll be another Swagger fan.
This is the most chatty novel that I have read from this author. It seemed a completely different style. I've never heard of a marine gunny from the south who could put down his colloquialisms, accent and salty language so effortlessly and so seamlessly step into a believable army major. I could believe that he might be an expert sharpshooter, hunter/stalker, low light shooter and master of the archane art of ballistics, but would he also be knowledgeable about fighter pilots and tactics? Would he be able to out maneuver career politician army officers? Would he be a master spy catcher? I think that one man is too good at too many things, yet I wanted to believe. I had to keep reading to see what Earl came up with next. I did enjoy this novel but it was a departure from the author's usual high speed, ballistics laden, tactics driven shooter novels. Not to worry. I bought the first Bob Lee novel for a friend, an old marine sniper who had somehow never heard of Bob Lee, and I'm confident that he'll be another Swagger fan.
February 13, 2023
Kind of a prequel to the wonderful Bob Lee Swagger stories featuring Bob Lee's hero father, Earl Swagger's adventures in WWII before his law enforcement history in Arkansas..."The Bullet Garden," references the Normandy hedgerow country that bottled up the D-Day invasion forces before the breakout of Operation Cobra...Morale was being affected by German snipers began taking out personnel at night along the Allied lines and Earl Swagger is brought in to investigate the German tactics, equipment and personnel that successfully stymied early efforts to breakout...Good Stuff!
December 3, 2024
I was looking forward to reading this book but was dissapointed. Far from his best and somewhat hackneyed at times.... "Carruthers"....!???
I found myself skipping entire paragraphs to get to the "good bits"...
The action sequences were up to the expected standard but the author's attempt at the "spy world" was lame and ill-conceived.
Attempting to bring in J R R Tolkien as an "intelligence source" was ludicrous.
Lucky to get the 3 stars that I awarded.
I found myself skipping entire paragraphs to get to the "good bits"...
The action sequences were up to the expected standard but the author's attempt at the "spy world" was lame and ill-conceived.
Attempting to bring in J R R Tolkien as an "intelligence source" was ludicrous.
Lucky to get the 3 stars that I awarded.
January 28, 2023
Not bad
Hunter isn’t as good as he used to be, but he’s still above average. I don’t care for the way he writes English characters. They are too disjointed & all over the place & it detracts from the larger story. This book starts slow and the story ended a few chapters before the book did.
Hunter isn’t as good as he used to be, but he’s still above average. I don’t care for the way he writes English characters. They are too disjointed & all over the place & it detracts from the larger story. This book starts slow and the story ended a few chapters before the book did.
December 9, 2023
So tedious. Hunter's Pale Horse Coming is one of my favorite thrillers ever and here Earl Swagger hunts snipers in France after D Day. But it's a short story at best and Hunter pads the story with so much military jargon, there were pages I found impenetrable without googling what the hell he was talking about. Was happy to meet up with Earl again, but sad it was under these circumstances.
December 8, 2022
The Bullet Garden is WW II historical fiction from Stephen Hunter.
"July 1944 - Snipers have slowed the Allied advance. General Eisenhower demands his best shot in the Allied military. Enter Army Major Earl Swagger - pulled from the battles of the Pacific islands - for this crucial mission.
Swagger can't trust anyone as he infiltrates the shadowy corners of London and France for answers."
This is a unique story from Hunter. No matter how much WW II fiction you have read you won't have seen this one. Hunter gets into a little known period right after the Allied invasion. Earl Swagger has appeared in several of Hunter's books and this is a bit of an origin story. Swagger is first and foremost a hunter, and in this story he is hunting an enemy that is well hidden and little known.
Hunter has always been very detailed about weapons and ammunition and he does that here. There's even a scene where the specs of a Panzer tank come into play.
Swagger is a bigger-than-life character. He is smart and brave and unwilling to hide behind others to take care of a problem. And he's not fond of those that do. He is also surprisingly effective at playing the necessary political games to take care of problems.
Hunter writes a fast-paced narrative. He pulls you in and holds your attention. I had a hard time putting this one down. Great pick for a new twist on WW II fiction.
"July 1944 - Snipers have slowed the Allied advance. General Eisenhower demands his best shot in the Allied military. Enter Army Major Earl Swagger - pulled from the battles of the Pacific islands - for this crucial mission.
Swagger can't trust anyone as he infiltrates the shadowy corners of London and France for answers."
This is a unique story from Hunter. No matter how much WW II fiction you have read you won't have seen this one. Hunter gets into a little known period right after the Allied invasion. Earl Swagger has appeared in several of Hunter's books and this is a bit of an origin story. Swagger is first and foremost a hunter, and in this story he is hunting an enemy that is well hidden and little known.
Hunter has always been very detailed about weapons and ammunition and he does that here. There's even a scene where the specs of a Panzer tank come into play.
Swagger is a bigger-than-life character. He is smart and brave and unwilling to hide behind others to take care of a problem. And he's not fond of those that do. He is also surprisingly effective at playing the necessary political games to take care of problems.
Hunter writes a fast-paced narrative. He pulls you in and holds your attention. I had a hard time putting this one down. Great pick for a new twist on WW II fiction.
December 23, 2022
Bravo! I’ve been a fan of Hunter since his first book. The Master Sniper , came out over 40 years ago. This is one of his best ones—-it starts out a little slow but once it gets going it is really good. Suspenseful, complex, well written and intelligent — a historical fiction thriller of the highest order. Hunter knows his war stuff and military intelligence and certainly knows a lot about military equipment-from uniforms to sniper rifles. There is a lot of good stuff going on in this book. Read it. Highly recommended.
September 5, 2024
A great introl to Sgt Swagger!! Super soldier.
February 16, 2023
This is one of the best (if not the best) of Stephen Hunter books. I just couldn't stop, had to finish it as soon as possible
February 10, 2023
Stephen Hunter is among my favorite authors in the military action/combat genre. He is particularly good at writing with bigger than life protagonists such as the Swaggers...both father, Earl and son Bob Lee. In this one it's Earl during his days as a sergeant in WWII who gets a special assignment away from his efforts in the Pacific over to the European theater in the days after the Normandy invasion.
He is brought in to determine how the Germans have managed to stall the progress of the Allied advance into Europe by what appears to be an exceptional strategy employing snipers to identify and eliminate certain key leaders in the Allied troops during nighttime combat excursions.
It's a convoluted tale that is a bit hard to follow...which is my one big complaint with the story. However, it is continually saved by Hunter's great use of the Swagger character and his depiction of the secondary characters who were involved in the efforts on both sides of the battles. The payoff at the end allows you to enjoy going back and understanding how the espionage was so well hidden.
He is brought in to determine how the Germans have managed to stall the progress of the Allied advance into Europe by what appears to be an exceptional strategy employing snipers to identify and eliminate certain key leaders in the Allied troops during nighttime combat excursions.
It's a convoluted tale that is a bit hard to follow...which is my one big complaint with the story. However, it is continually saved by Hunter's great use of the Swagger character and his depiction of the secondary characters who were involved in the efforts on both sides of the battles. The payoff at the end allows you to enjoy going back and understanding how the espionage was so well hidden.
February 9, 2023
Hearing the cases Miller v. California & Paris Adult Theatre I v. Slaton, SCOTUS worked its magic during the 1973 docket to change the definition of obscenity, paving the way for wider distribution of obscene materials, mainly pornography, across the United States. In the last 25 years, the internet has cemented its place as the premier channel of this distro and made allowances for parodying the prurient drive and interest in all kinds of specific subjects, borrowing the label in name only and normalizing it for general parlance. Despite the author's early ridicule of caliber worship, bullet spec appreciation, and weapon deets infatuation only being impressive to 12 year-olds, THE BULLET GARDEN is gun porn of the highest caliber with a sniper hunt at its core taking place in the heyday of Nazi-bustin' days of World War II.
Parachuting the reader right into an SOE-OSS muck job in the middle of France in the middle of the Big One, WWII, THE BULLET GARDEN is all Stens and Brens, Thompsons, explosive 808 and more MG-42 than you can throw a bratwurst at. The fourth Earl Swagger novel tries hard at WWII flair and for most who weren't there (which'll probably be all his readers), it'll work. It's certainly nothing like the legendary tomes of Jeff Shaara, but bonus points for trying. THE BULLET GARDEN, or bocage if you enjoy your taters French fried, makes for a difficult set of terrain due to vegetation, topography, and deadly lead from sneaky Jerry. As usual, the author expertly infuses the demoralizing bane of sniper war. An enemy unseen, constant fear, and instant death. Swagger territory. General Omar Bradley's having problems with it, so someone with the Sniper's Eye needs to come in and solve the Gordian Knot. Infil the Swagger for a SWOT analysis that no one else hanging around SHAEF is capable of. The words of Major Dutch Schaeffer echo faintly--why don't they use the regular Army? 'Cause some damn fool accused him of being the best. It seems, however, that at first there's urgency, and then Swagger's to build a team and submit a TPS report 'every Friday'.
THE BULLET GARDEN, it turns out, is a love letter to the M1 Garand and hate mail for Hemingway, minus any mention of Garand Thumb, sadly. Marksmanship, then, the central faith of the Marine Corps, is Earl Swagger's neighborhood, and quite far from Blue Eye, Polk County, Arkansas, west of Little Rock. The enemy of grammar, super Southern, he's a war-god whose second language is 'NCO'. In what sounds like a refurbished Chuck Norris joke, it's said that Swagger, Earl, was born so brave, bullets were afraid of him. Stoic, cool, tanned, and nary a smile in decades, the gunnery Sergeant enjoys his Camels to a disturbing degree. It almost looks like Earl is just a younger incarnation of Bob Lee Swagger, the author trying to write a younger BLS novel and opting to use the father as vessel. What occasionally feels like trying for a WWII version of THE DEER HUNTER, THE BULLET GARDEN reads like a Joe Eszterhas script mixed into a Jerry Bruckheimer produced movie. When the dialogue isn't pseudo 40s sass, it feels like a staccato cadenced slam poetry session that might be aimed at approximating (erratic) thoughts. Like Abbott and Costello, or as close as it gets for something written 80 years later.
As one of the daddies of modern MIL-procedurals, Stephen Hunter's THE BULLET GARDEN does not delve into anachronistic lingo that dots almost everything published today. There are no SDRs, head-on-a-swivel, press-checks, or slow-is-smooth-smooth-is-fast in sight. And that's a good thing. The World War II feel is on full authentic display with cameos by Kim Philby, Wild Bill Donovan, Omar Bradley, and Ike. There are also T-52s, Cromwells, Shermans, and Tigers...Oh my! Stephen Hunter used to ply his trade as a newspaper man, a movie critic in particular, and his celluloid references are shining through; CASABLANCA, DESPERATE JOURNEY, BATAAN, WATERLOO BRIDGE, and THE WIZARD OF OZ. In between lead flying, THE BULLET GARDEN reminds that pig latin is the language that unites war, to never refuse a banana from the enemy, and that in war, it isn't so simple to die--it involves a lot of paperwork. Sitting smack dab in the center of the Swagger-Cosmos, THE BULLET GARDEN does not disappoint and delivers on deflection, drop, and windage, as well as other cool items like outrage fatigue, the Bell Shot and LS/MFT. One thing quite baffling for a novel looking to bask in authenticity is that there are a handful of misspelled foreign words and a quote wrongly attributed to Trotsky. Sure there is the usual disclaimer that all errors are the sole doing of the author, though in 2023 where it's so easy to use online translators and look things up, why go through such painstaking research and detail for, say, weapons, uniforms and tactics, to sound authentic and legit, but skimp on other details?
Rich in enhancing the Swagger family chronicles, THE BULLET GARDEN also tangentially mentions an insanely interesting topic for an exciting Earl Swagger novel--the Banana Wars in Honduras during the 1930s. In a world of vegetarian freethinkers and intellectual chrysanthemums, get your Swagger on and re-experience the cunning politics and brutality of World War II. For a bocage busting good time, enter the wilderness of THE BULLET GARDEN; you might end up in Berlin or San Francisco, or maybe hell. Don't hedge, get THE BULLET GARDEN, a novel that hits as hard as Krupp Steel. Relentless, savage, ruthless.
February 9, 2023
Read this book in one day. I’m a sucker for anything to do with “The War” and when I saw this was also somehow taking Earl Swagger to Europe then I had to see how Mr. Hunter accomplished this strange act. No problem, he had a solution to that and it made sense to me. I’m not going to write a long review but had to mention that the prose in this book was a thing of beauty. There was a chapter early in the book that was a masterpiece of descriptive terms that I had to read it over again.
I’ve read many of the Swagger books and this one has ascended to the pinnacle as far as I’m concerned.
I’ve read many of the Swagger books and this one has ascended to the pinnacle as far as I’m concerned.
March 23, 2023
Meh. The Earl Swagger parts were OK, but any sections of the book that were piled high with British wartime slang was painful to get through. I almost bailed on the book at the beginning, as it seemed to be another stab at Basil's War, which was easily the worst thing I've attempted to read in years. I loved reading the Bob Lee books of the past, and also the Ray Cruz ones, but the last couple of Hunter's books that I've read are making me think that our time together may be done.
April 18, 2023
Good But Far From His Best
It’s okay. Earl as war god; omnipotent, omniscient. An interesting plot, but nowhere near some of his others. I should have borrowed it from the library.
It’s okay. Earl as war god; omnipotent, omniscient. An interesting plot, but nowhere near some of his others. I should have borrowed it from the library.
April 10, 2023
Poorly written. Hard to follow. Concept that someone in Pacific would solve problems in Europe campaign was not believeable.
November 25, 2023
The story line was a bit far fetched and not up to high quality of his other books.
January 31, 2023
Stephen Hunter writes great fiction centered on the fine arts of guns and sharpshooting. Any description of a Hunter book requires some understanding of the Hunter oeuvre—a long list of about 25 thrillers—all extremely well-written and with riveting plots.
In the early 1990s, Hunter – a journalist and Pulitzer-Prize winner – invented Bobby Lee Swagger, an Arkansan from a long line of Swaggers who, like Bobby Lee, served their country in a variety of wars, both official (Civil War, WWI, Vietnam) and unofficial (anti-terrorism). Bobby Lee was a Marine Gunnery Sergeant and sniper in Vietnam who was based on Carlos Hathcock, the Marine master sniper of that era.
Hunter wrote a dozen Bobby Lee books, then, having built a solidly successful franchise, he branched out to other Swagger generations, all Marine snipers but different wars. There are four books about Earl Swagger, Bobby Lee's father, also a Gunnery Sergeant and a master-sniper, as well as a Medal of Honor winner, in WWII. This was rounded off by two books about Bobby Lee's son, Ray Cruz, another Marine Gunnery Sergeant and shooter. In addition to those 18 books there are also 7 stand-alone books, bringing Hunter's output to 25 novels, all worth reading.
This is all by way of saying that if you don't know about Stephen Hunter, and you like testosterone-laden thrillers with great plots and lots of information about the fine art of shooting, you might want to read his latest book, then move on to Hunter's other books. There might be many happy hours ahead.
In The Bullet Garden (2022), the D-Day invasion is underway and US troops are slogging across France. They encounter an unexpected obstacle—the Germans have organized a team of snipers that are picking off U.S. soldiers in the field. The effect on the speed of the Army advance is serious: concern about instant death at any place or time is a deterrence to rapid motion, particularly when the targets are the leaders.
Efforts to identify the German sniper team and eliminate them have been fruitless, and someone comes up with the idea of bringing in a sniping expert to organize a counter-sniping operation. Word goes out to identify a person who thinks like a sniper and can out-think and out-shoot the German team. And the name that comes up is Earl Swagger, a Marine who has just finished three island invasions in the Pacific: Guadalcanal, Bougainville, and Tarawa. He is a Marine Gunnery Sergeant, a guru of sniping, and a very tough buzzard.
So Earl arrives in France to find that there is war everywhere: not just between the US and Germany, but also between the Army and the Marines. The Army officers in G-2 (Intelligence) greatly resent the choice of a Marine to do their job, and some are more intent on discrediting Earl than they are on ending the sniper problem. Earl must anticipate and deflect attacks from within, as well as organize and lead a counter-sniper team and identify the opponents and their methods.
What follows is, for me, the best in a long series of Hunter novels. If you have the chops for this genre, The Bullet Garden is a must.
In the early 1990s, Hunter – a journalist and Pulitzer-Prize winner – invented Bobby Lee Swagger, an Arkansan from a long line of Swaggers who, like Bobby Lee, served their country in a variety of wars, both official (Civil War, WWI, Vietnam) and unofficial (anti-terrorism). Bobby Lee was a Marine Gunnery Sergeant and sniper in Vietnam who was based on Carlos Hathcock, the Marine master sniper of that era.
Hunter wrote a dozen Bobby Lee books, then, having built a solidly successful franchise, he branched out to other Swagger generations, all Marine snipers but different wars. There are four books about Earl Swagger, Bobby Lee's father, also a Gunnery Sergeant and a master-sniper, as well as a Medal of Honor winner, in WWII. This was rounded off by two books about Bobby Lee's son, Ray Cruz, another Marine Gunnery Sergeant and shooter. In addition to those 18 books there are also 7 stand-alone books, bringing Hunter's output to 25 novels, all worth reading.
This is all by way of saying that if you don't know about Stephen Hunter, and you like testosterone-laden thrillers with great plots and lots of information about the fine art of shooting, you might want to read his latest book, then move on to Hunter's other books. There might be many happy hours ahead.
In The Bullet Garden (2022), the D-Day invasion is underway and US troops are slogging across France. They encounter an unexpected obstacle—the Germans have organized a team of snipers that are picking off U.S. soldiers in the field. The effect on the speed of the Army advance is serious: concern about instant death at any place or time is a deterrence to rapid motion, particularly when the targets are the leaders.
Efforts to identify the German sniper team and eliminate them have been fruitless, and someone comes up with the idea of bringing in a sniping expert to organize a counter-sniping operation. Word goes out to identify a person who thinks like a sniper and can out-think and out-shoot the German team. And the name that comes up is Earl Swagger, a Marine who has just finished three island invasions in the Pacific: Guadalcanal, Bougainville, and Tarawa. He is a Marine Gunnery Sergeant, a guru of sniping, and a very tough buzzard.
So Earl arrives in France to find that there is war everywhere: not just between the US and Germany, but also between the Army and the Marines. The Army officers in G-2 (Intelligence) greatly resent the choice of a Marine to do their job, and some are more intent on discrediting Earl than they are on ending the sniper problem. Earl must anticipate and deflect attacks from within, as well as organize and lead a counter-sniper team and identify the opponents and their methods.
What follows is, for me, the best in a long series of Hunter novels. If you have the chops for this genre, The Bullet Garden is a must.
June 4, 2024
Earl Swagger, USMC to the OSS
Earl Swagger returns in a prequel to Stephen Hunter’s first novel, The Master Sniper published over forty years ago. In that book, Captain James Leets, formerly a paratrooper seconded to the Office of Strategic Services finds himself moved once again to a team tasked with evaluating enemy (German) small arms. He is pitted against a master sniper who is wreaking havoc by shooting GI’s on night patrol.
The story moves very quickly. Leets, his assistant, Corporal Evans, and a death camp survivor pursue the sniper and encounter a plan to keep the Reich alive after the war. It’s very exciting and well researched. I suggest reading it before moving on to The Bullet Garden. But it’s not necessary.
Now, finally to this book. It is 1944. D-Day has occurred. The allied drive is stalled by very effective German resistance in the Normandy hedgerows. And, our forces are being stalked at night by very effective German snipers who have paralyzed our infantry’s reconnaissance patrols. In desperation, the Army turns to Gunnery Sergeant Earl Swagger, a Marine master rifleman who has survived three island campaigns and finds himself teaching marksmanship to Marine recruits. The Army would like Swagger to figure out how the Germans army is successfully stalking and killing our GI’s at night. Two problems arise….because of extensive Marine Corps publicity in World War One, the Army won’t allow the Marines in the European Theater. And, as a Marine Sergeant, Swagger won’t have the rank needed to accomplish the task. So, Swagger is temporarily commissioned an Army Major, assigned to the OSS, and given wide latitude to address the night sniper issue. Assigned to assist Swagger is OSS Lieutenant James Leets, recovering from wounds sustained in an attempt to destroy a bridge behind German lines in preparation for D-Day.
And, the chase is on. Swagger morphs from an ungrammatical, rough, kind of rural Marine staff NCO into a sophisticated, albeit mysterious bureacratic infighter, infantry tactician, detective, and eventually spy catcher. He faces jealousy motivated sabotage, copes with a spy, an assassin, and eventually figures out not only how the Germans are operating but also who is leading their efforts. The chase is very well executed, the combat action is gripping, the climax suspenseful, and the book well worth reading. Hunter switches narrative perspectives very smoothly. The villains are an unlikely group, but that doesn’t detract from the novel. A small quibble….very small…..Hunter uses the 1950’s/60’s Army enlisted rank structure in World War Two.
Moving beyond the book, Hunter has written a series of novels about three generations of Swaggers. Charles, a World War One combat veteran, small town Sheriff, 1930’s FBI Agent, and above all skilled, highly ethical gunfighter. Earl, our protagonist is a Marine, World War Two combat veteran, battler against post war corruption, Arkansas State Trooper, and, of course, skilled, ethical gunfighter. And finally, Bob Lee, Vietnam War Marine sniper, post war gunsmith, framed for an assassination, cleared, and involved in battling all sorts of criminal and terrorist plots. Whew. Any of the novels can be read as a stand alone. Reading all of them in (Hunter world) chronological order is quite an undertaking. I read each as it was published and enjoyed all of them.
Earl Swagger returns in a prequel to Stephen Hunter’s first novel, The Master Sniper published over forty years ago. In that book, Captain James Leets, formerly a paratrooper seconded to the Office of Strategic Services finds himself moved once again to a team tasked with evaluating enemy (German) small arms. He is pitted against a master sniper who is wreaking havoc by shooting GI’s on night patrol.
The story moves very quickly. Leets, his assistant, Corporal Evans, and a death camp survivor pursue the sniper and encounter a plan to keep the Reich alive after the war. It’s very exciting and well researched. I suggest reading it before moving on to The Bullet Garden. But it’s not necessary.
Now, finally to this book. It is 1944. D-Day has occurred. The allied drive is stalled by very effective German resistance in the Normandy hedgerows. And, our forces are being stalked at night by very effective German snipers who have paralyzed our infantry’s reconnaissance patrols. In desperation, the Army turns to Gunnery Sergeant Earl Swagger, a Marine master rifleman who has survived three island campaigns and finds himself teaching marksmanship to Marine recruits. The Army would like Swagger to figure out how the Germans army is successfully stalking and killing our GI’s at night. Two problems arise….because of extensive Marine Corps publicity in World War One, the Army won’t allow the Marines in the European Theater. And, as a Marine Sergeant, Swagger won’t have the rank needed to accomplish the task. So, Swagger is temporarily commissioned an Army Major, assigned to the OSS, and given wide latitude to address the night sniper issue. Assigned to assist Swagger is OSS Lieutenant James Leets, recovering from wounds sustained in an attempt to destroy a bridge behind German lines in preparation for D-Day.
And, the chase is on. Swagger morphs from an ungrammatical, rough, kind of rural Marine staff NCO into a sophisticated, albeit mysterious bureacratic infighter, infantry tactician, detective, and eventually spy catcher. He faces jealousy motivated sabotage, copes with a spy, an assassin, and eventually figures out not only how the Germans are operating but also who is leading their efforts. The chase is very well executed, the combat action is gripping, the climax suspenseful, and the book well worth reading. Hunter switches narrative perspectives very smoothly. The villains are an unlikely group, but that doesn’t detract from the novel. A small quibble….very small…..Hunter uses the 1950’s/60’s Army enlisted rank structure in World War Two.
Moving beyond the book, Hunter has written a series of novels about three generations of Swaggers. Charles, a World War One combat veteran, small town Sheriff, 1930’s FBI Agent, and above all skilled, highly ethical gunfighter. Earl, our protagonist is a Marine, World War Two combat veteran, battler against post war corruption, Arkansas State Trooper, and, of course, skilled, ethical gunfighter. And finally, Bob Lee, Vietnam War Marine sniper, post war gunsmith, framed for an assassination, cleared, and involved in battling all sorts of criminal and terrorist plots. Whew. Any of the novels can be read as a stand alone. Reading all of them in (Hunter world) chronological order is quite an undertaking. I read each as it was published and enjoyed all of them.
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