Dead Zero
A Bob Lee Swagger Novel
By Stephen Hunter
Simon & Schuster
$26.00, hard cover, 415 pages, 978-1-2019-3865-6 (2010)
Stephen Hunter’s Bob Lee Swagger (Bob the Nailer) is a retired Marine sniper who served three tours in
In his previous novel, I, Sniper, Swagger saw the big 6-0 come and go – but he never lost a step. Not so with Dead Zero. In this novel, Swagger is an old man who gets duped, beat up, ambushed (twice), and routinely has his opinions ignored by the FBI. This is a far cry from the action hero of earlier novels like Point of Impact, Time to Hunt, or Black Light. The author has had Swagger age appropriately since his service in ‘
Hunter is taking a big chance with this novel – because although it’s called a “Bob Lee Swagger Novel” it’s not the same Bob Lee that many of his fans expect. Sure, Swagger is still prominent throughout the book, but he definitely plays more a supporting role. Perhaps the time has come for Bob Lee to step aside and let a new, younger “nailer” take over. (Certainly, if his readers cry outrage, Hunter can still write a book about Swagger at a younger age – just as he did about his father, Earl Swagger, in
So enough already about Swagger being an old geezer, what’s Dead Zero about? It begins with a marine sniper team on a mission in the Afghan-Pakistan border to assassinate an Afghan warlord, Ibrahim Zarzi, sometimes called “The Beheader”.
The sniper team is led by Gunnery Sergeant Ray Cruz, aka “The Cruise Missile” and his spotter. The team is ambushed by professionals with high-tech weaponry; Cruz is wounded, his spotter is killed. The ambushers continue pursuing Cruz who manages to escape and persists on finishing his objective. He nearly succeeds when the hotel he was staying in mysteriously explodes.
Everyone assumes that Cruz is dead. Months pass and now Zarzi the Beheader is being touted as an American asset in the region and he’s on his way to
CONFIDENCE IS HIGH.
At the request of his old friend Nick Memphis of the FBI, and the beautiful CIA agent Susan Okada who featured prominently in the novel The 47th Samurai, Swagger is quickly brought in to stop Cruz from completing his mission. In addition to having Swagger on his tail, Cruz also has the same assassins that tried to kill him in the Afghan desert after him.
But all is not as it seems. Swagger is the first one to question
“It’s nothing if he doesn’t give himself up now,” Nick said.
“And I’m telling you,” said Bob, “he doesn’t buy into your ability to protect him. After all, there’ve been two attempts on his life so far by a real hard-core professional team.”
Swagger faced his own absurdity: when he was with Cruz, he argued for Nick and Susan. When he was with Nick and Susan, he argued for Cruz. He realized he had no future in
“As for me,” said Susan, her face mandarin and remote and official, “I see where this is leading and I don’t like it. I told you this and I don’t get why you’re not listening. The Agency will not stand still for an outside investigation of its operations in
“It ain’t about a witch hunt. There wasn’t no witches, right? But maybe Cruz does have enemies. And maybe they’re our enemies too. I don’t have no dog in this fight, I ain’t here to steal turf from any outfit called by its initials. I’m here for the truth, and I’m going to find it or look for it until you put me in the bag.”
That’s the Bob Lee Swagger folks want to read about: a hard-nosed, never quit, all-chips-in fighter who won’t stop until the job is done – even if he doesn’t have a sniper rifle in his hands. And that’s the hero I’ll keep reading about until Stephen Hunter runs out of ideas for new novels. Until then, I’m just passing time waiting for the next Bob Lee Swagger novel.
Buy it on Amazon here.
Everyone assumes that Cruz died. The months passed and Decapitation Zarzi now presented as an asset in the region of America and is on its way to Washington to be wined and dined by the Administration.
Posted by: sell gold bars | February 11, 2020 at 04:38 PM
Years of total enjoyment of Bob Lee Swagger.
Yes, he is aging so am I. He is a man of truth and as brave as they come. His dad was my first hero, Bob was the second. Bob is a man of thought now, cannot do the action stuff any more. Bt his mind and heart are alive and well. Technical stuff has advanced, but the basics are still needed. We hope and trust that the disappointments from "Dead Zero" with regard to Bob Lee are overcome and he is allowed to still be himself and in the game. But Please do it Right. Bob Lee and his fans deserve that– at least.
Posted by: Richard John Melillo | October 07, 2020 at 12:56 PM