Black Light

I became a fan of author Stephen Hunter upon reading The 47th Samurai. Since then, I’ve yet to come across an author who can describe a violent scene the way he does, or dispel so much knowledge when it comes to guns and ammo.

According to the acknowledgments page, the book Black Light is the third novel of a Bob Lee Swagger trilogy which include the books; Point Of Impact (Which I’ve yet to read, because I saw the movie ‘Shooter’ which is based on the book, hey don’t judge—I got to get my money’s worth when it comes to Netflix you know) the other book is Dirty White Boys.

First a word of Warning: If you are offended by the N word stay away. That word is very popular in this novel…. you good to go? Let’s move on then.

The show more story takes place roughly five years after the events in Point Of Impact; Bob Lee is now the father of a four year old name Nikki product of his marriage to Julie Fenn (widow of the now dead sniper spotter Donnie Fenn) Two interconnected plots weave along this novel. One takes place in the present and the other in the 1950’s and it involves the investigation of a gruesome crime which saw the death of a young black girl and Bob Lee’s own father; State Trooper Earl Swagger, in the fictitious town of Blue Eye Arkansas. There is a good surprise for Bob Lee I did not see coming, involving a new family member, to say more will ruin things for those among you who’ve yet to read Black Light (which I believe refers to a type of sniper rifle scope technology?) I wasn’t too crazy about how the case gets resolved involving the rich dude at the shooting range near the end, that plot device came across as a bit of a cop-out, I was like wtf? Despite of this I still give it a five star rating, because at the heart of this tale, and amid the flying bullets, viscera, explosions and gunpowder lays a story about fathers and sons. About family, and the ties that bind us through time. Also, the book has one of the best satisfying endings (I mean the very end) I’ve come across in a Stephen Hunter novel. show less

The book is surprisingly a deeper look at the relationships between fathers and sons than one might expect from a Stephen Hunter novel. It still is at its core an action/thriller but the other stuff is well handled and adds welcome depth to the genre.

The actual plot is pretty good but is maybe a little too convoluted to really work, but is plenty good enough to be worth reading.

Read and loved "Point of Impact" so looked forward to another Bob Lee swagger book. At first I felt disappointed - the hokeyness and tone set me to wondering was this going to morph into a Grisham-like novel. But no fear there's only one Bob Lee and the story developed and was most readable and enjoyable. Not as good as PoI but well worth reading.

If the "nested" story of Bob Lee in the first 1/3 of the book was any slower I'd be able to nap between scenes. The only reason he's even in this book is so it can be part of a series, but it has nothing to do with him - it's his Daddy's story.

Well, that's not quite true I suppose, there is some story around Bob, but there's just not enough going on to make it interesting enough to read. And the stereotype characterizations are not very interesting. I don't even care enough about anything/anyone in the story for it to matter who gets killed. When you're cheering for the drug-dealing abusive bad-guy because at least he's "doing something" in the story, it's time to stop reading the series I guess.

And this one is the best Stephen Hunter yet. This guy can flat tell a story. Some of the plot is not even interesting (I'm just not fascinated by the intricacies of various guns) but even so, his stories are just so compelling.

I would have given this book 5 stars for its plot, and action but there was way to much detail given to various fir arms and ammunation. The story keeps the suspense ratcheted up. Over all, Black Light is a good thriller.

I enjoyed this as much as the first one. It was kind of weird at the beginning dealing with Earl, Bob's father, and thinking that the whole book would be about him. But then we caught up to the present and the good stuff starts.

I found the action scenes to particularly enjoyable for some reason. Not sure why, but the highway ambush really clicked.