Product Description

In The 47th Samurai, Bob Lee Swagger, the gritty hero of Stephen Hunter's bestselling novels Point of Impact and Time to Hunt, returns in Hunter's most intense and exotic thriller to date.

Bob Lee Swagger and Philip Yano are bound together by a single moment at Iwo Jima, 1945, when their fathers, two brave fighters on opposite sides, met in the bloody and chaotic battle for the island. Only Earl Swagger survived.

More than sixty years later, Yano comes to America to honor the legacy of his heroic father by recovering the sword he used in the battle. His search has led him to Crazy Horse, Idaho, where Bob Lee, ex-marine and Vietnam veteran, has settled into a restless retirement and immediately pledges himself to Yano's quest.

Bob Lee finds the sword and delivers it to Yano in Tokyo. On inspection, they discover that it is not a standard WWII blade, but a legendary shin-shinto katana, an artifact of the nation. It is priceless but worth killing for. Suddenly Bob is at the center of a series of terrible crimes he barely understands but vows to avenge. And to do so, he throws himself into the world of the samurai, Tokyo's dark, criminal yakuza underworld, and the unwritten rules of Japanese culture.

Swagger's allies, hard-as-nails, American-born Susan Okada and the brave, cocaine-dealing tabloid journalist Nick Yamamoto, help him move through this strange, glittering, and ominous world from the shady bosses of the seamy Kabukicho district to officials in the highest echelons of the Japanese government, but in the end, he is on his own and will succeed only if he can learn that to survive samurai, you must become samurai.

As the plot races and the violence escalates, it becomes clear that a ruthless conspiracy is in place, and the only thing that can be taken for granted is that money, power, and sex can drive men of all nationalities to gruesome extremes. If Swagger hopes to stop them, he must be willing not only to die but also to kill.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13176 in Books
• Published on: 2007-09-11
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 384 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Bob Lee Swagger, retired marine master sniper and hero of bestseller Hunter's 1993 thriller, Point of Impact (forthcoming as the film Shooter), returns in this riveting homage to the myth of the samurai. Philip Yano, the son of the Japanese officer who commanded the bunker on Iwo Jima where Swagger's marine father won the Medal of Honor in 1945, approaches Swagger about a missing sword wielded by his father, Hideki, during the battle for the island. The sword turns out to be not just a family heirloom but a national treasure that evokes echoes from the most sacrosanct corners of Japanese history. Yano's search reveals there are those who will gladly kill for the honor it bestows upon the possessor. Plunged into a Japan where honor and loyalty outweigh even one's own life, Swagger finds that an old warrior like himself still has much to understand. While the action builds to the inevitable climax, the joy of the journey will keep readers turning the pages. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From AudioFile
Buck Schirners deep drawl recounts 60-year-old Bob Lee Swaggers decision to come out of retirement to find a samurai sword. When he is visited by Philip Yano, Swagger is reminded of his own experiences in war, as well as his fathers heroism in WWII. Yano seeks his fathers sword, and Bob Lee is persuaded to help him. When he succeeds, he brings it to Japan, where its arrival causes the murder of Yano and his family. Turning into a sort of cowboy samurai, Bob Lee is determined to avenge their deaths. Schirner makes easy transitions from American to Japanese characters as Swagger strides through Japan. And in Hunters scenes from WWII, Schirner just as easily portrays the world of Iwo Jima. S.W. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From Booklist
*Starred Review* This is the novel Hunter's fans have been waiting for, the book that brings together his father-and-son protagonists: Earl Swagger, World War II hero and hard-nosed cop, and Bob Lee Swagger, Vietnam sniper and, like his father, the kind of guy who can't say no to righteous violence. Until now, Earl and Bob have each starred in their own books, but this time, ingeniously, Hunter brings them together when Bob is contacted by a retired Japanese soldier, Philip Yano, who believes that his father's samurai sword may have wound up in Earl's hands after the war. Bob tracks down the sword, travels to Japan, and presents it to Yano—after which the Yano family is slaughtered. Bob could walk away, but, of course, he doesn't. Throwing himself into samurai culture, he learns swordsmanship from a master and sets off to avenge the Yanos—and, in a sense, his father. Sure, this sounds clichéd, but much of Hunter's genius comes from his ability to manipulate archetypes—especially the classic western scenario of the lone avenger—drawing on the almost subconscious pull these themes exert on the reader but always infusing them with multiple layers of complexity. As Bob is drawn into the samurai world, and tension builds to the inevitable confrontation with his adversary—a modern samurai seduced by the dark side—Hunter simultaneously fuels our need for bloody resolution and reveals the horrors wrought by devotion to honor and duty. But this time he does it with parallel narratives—juxtaposing the story of Earl Swagger and Philip Yano's father against the contemporary drama and playing off the same themes across generations. This is probably Hunter's most violent novel—and that's saying something—but violence may have never been more integral to story than it is here. Hunter celebrates the samurai soldier while showing the appalling underside of the samurai way of life and the ideals that drive it. Ott, Bill

Customer Reviews

Bring Back "The Nailer"
This book requires a complete suspension of critical thinking. The original premise, the return of a WW2 Samurai sword to the family of its owner, is fine. From there, it degenerates into entertaining idiocy. Yakuza gangsters enamored of the Samurai tradition, wreak havoc. Bob Lee learns how to sword fight in a crash course, having snuck into Japan on a false passport (explained late in the book). Then allied with off duty Japanese soldiers/Samurai enthusiasts he slashes his way to justice, including on the way a sword fight against a Samurai master. There is a surprise twist that makes the whole thing slightly less absurd. By the way, Bob's family plays no part in the book. The Iwo Jima combat scenes featuring Earl Swagger are ok--but see Eugene Sledge or William Manchester for the real thing described more vividly. Hunter also glosses over WW2 Japanese atrocities, with his theme of a trans-national "code of the warrior." In spite of all that, I sort of enjoyed the chase, and as an over fifty, enjoyed reading about Bob Lee wreaking havoc with his Samurai sword training and inate cleverness. But, please bring back "The Nailer."

Almost reads as if ghost written
I am an unabashed fan of the series, from Point of Impact to the Earl Swagger novels (which are almost a separate series all their own). That said, I didn't like this novel very much. The setting was not bad, although Eric Van Lustbader does a better job with Japanese culture. What bothered me was the dialog attributed to Bob Lee. At times, it read as though someone else wrote it. The words simply didn't fit the previous novels and the "sound" of the taciturn, defensive Arkansas vet so carefully crafted before. Could we posit that this is due to the aging of the man? Well, perhaps so, but my dad and his brothers sounded remarkably the same in the later years as they did in my childhood memories. My feeling is that such a forceful personality would perhaps age, but not really change much.
I can't help but agree that the feeling that the level of expertise Bob Lee was supposed to have acquired begs belief. Indeed, the ability to concentrate could perhaps be related to the skills and abilities acquired as a sniper. The specific techniques though, seem way too complex to have learned in the short period of time presented.

I was disappointed. I didn't want to be. That makes it worse.
But I'm still eagerly awaiting the next book. It should be better.

another swagger comes Along ...
Didn't enjoy the latest installment from this author.The intro starts out well enough and I am thinking that this could be another fiction book written in a delicious a la Eric Van Lustbader style. But I was wrong. Mr hunter's writing is a little dry and uninteresting. After the rather good intro, I felt my attention span wandering and I simply gave up and moved to another book.

Cheers,