books:

	Hot Springs (Earl Swagger Novels) Stephen Hunter Pocket, 2001 - 560 pages average customer review:based on 81 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

The book is so good I will enjoy reading Dirty White Boy now with all the information from Hot Springs.

And I'll just have to wait for Pale Horse Coming...

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Earl Tracks Down Earl's Father

There's not a lot of Bob the Nailer in this one, but I'm beginning to see his father (Earl, who is the main character) much more clearly and I may even learn to enjoy reading his adventures as much as I do those of Bob.

Take yourself down to the seamy side of life.
VISIT Sunny, friendly Hot Springs, Arkansas; Vice capital of the 1930's South.
LEARN more about Earl S, and about his father who was a sheriff before him.
SEE the shootout in the bordello.
HEAR the ambush in the trainyard.
DISCOVER the shameful secret of the First Generation of the Swagger family

Not a whole lot of sniper action in this one. But the book opens up with Earl Swagger (Bob Lee's daddy) receiving The Medal from the President, and all the while he has a pint of whiskey and a cocked 'n locked 1911 tucked under his tunic. Now, why would a war hero with a pretty new bride think he needs booze and guns on what should be the best day of his life?

This is as seamy as "Dirty White Boys", but somehow it seems not so dirty; the bad guys are sinful, disgusting and deadly, but mostly they just don't seem quite as sick as Hunter's first excursion into the Life and Times of Earl Swagger.

If you don't have this book, you need to get it. Read it quickly, 'cause you really want to have it as a companion for "Pale Horse Coming"...

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Entertaining Read

I feel a little out of my depth in reviewing this book. I have no experience with guns, gunfights, or gangsters, but I do know an entertaining read when I come across one and this was great entertainment. Earl Swagger, just home from fighting in WWII, heads up a team of men reminiscent of the "Untouchables" to clean up the town of Hot Springs, Arkansas which is rife with gangsters, gambling and prostitution. Earl is a somewhat dark character except when he is doing his job...training his team of law enforcers and taking out bad guys. When he is in his element, he is downright jovial. Earl's wife, June, is less well developed and the author made some errors in writing about her pregnancy and delivery (A face down presentation is normal. A face up presentation would be a problem. And, as any woman who has given birth could tell you, ten centimeters is the magic number for cervical dilation, not twelve to fifteen.). But since this is, in large part, a "guy book", these errors do not distract from the major story line. There is plenty of exciting action to keep the reader interested. I have been a fan of Stephen Hunter's since "Black Light" and I enjoy his writing style very much. This is a very good addition to the Swagger saga.

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A bit disappointing...

I'm a big Stephen Hunter fan and have enjoyed most of his previous books. It was a disappointment, therefore, to find that this novel was not up to the standard of his usual works.

The outstanding flaw with this story is its one dimensional villains, a bunch of mobsters who are straight out of some cheesy Mafia movie. The most interesting thing about lead criminal Owney Maddox is that he occasionally affects an English accent. Add to the cliched mobsters some cliched hillbilly muscle and the story has some real problems.

Earl Swagger is an interesting enough character, although in certain ways a little too perfect. Yes, he can be a drunk and a bad husband, but in a fight, he is so utterly superior that it reduces some of the suspense.

Hunter is a great writer (usually) and he can even make this weaker effort exciting at times. The second half of this book in particular has some good moments. Nonetheless, this book would not be a good introduction to Hunter's works, and I cannot recommend it to anyone other than his usual fans.

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The entire Swagger family proves to be tough-as-nails

I suppose that it only makes sense that Hunter give us some more info on his favorite character, Bobby Lee Swagger, by doing a book on his father. After all, Bobby Lee's life was pretty full and he did deserve a break. So this story is about Earl Swagger, the tough marine who fathered Bobby Lee. Earl has recently left the army after getting being awarded the Medal of Honor and is at a lost of what to do. He quickly finds himself recruited though to work for an ambitious prosecutor to clean up the town of Hot Springs from the mob controlled casinos and whore houses.

The book does an excellent job of giving us more depth on all the characters from the previous Swagger novels by filling in an interesting and realistic family history. At the same time, we get to enjoy a story that stands by itself, that includes a lot of action with a Mob-centric theme and that keeps our avid interest throughout the book. About the only negative that I had was that the book is set in the 1940's; I enjoy stories set in current day and not "period" books. However considering that this is about the father of a current day character, it had to be set in the past.

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reviews: 1, 2, 3, page 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

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