books:

	Hot Springs (Earl Swagger Novels) Stephen Hunter Pocket, 2001 - 560 pages average customer review:based on 80 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

HOT SPRINGS

Earl Swagger is tough as hell. But even tough guys have their secrets. Plagued by the memory of his abusive father, apprehensive about his own impending parenthood, Earl is a decorated ex-Marine of absolute integrity -- and overwhelming melancholy. Now he's about to face his biggest, bloodiest challenge yet.

It is the summer of 1946, organized crime's garish golden age, when American justice seems to have gone to seed for good. Nowhere is this more true than in Hot Springs, Arkansas, the reigning capital of corruption. When the district attorney vows to bring down the mob, Earl is recruited to run the show. As casino raids erupt into nerve-shattering combat amid screaming prostitutes and fleeing johns, the body count mounts -- along with the suspense.

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Fantastic Author

This is my Third Stephen Hunter novel. I can't believe I have gone this long in my life without ever hearing of him. Each book seems to better than the last. I read Point of Impact first (having seen the movie) then Day Before Midnight. I can not wait to read the next. Sure, there may be a flaw here and there and maybe even a stretch of the plot to get from point to point, but the writing is so well crafted and researched, its a fantastic page turner, right up to the end. Do not miss it!!


Earl Swaggert Mystery Early Years Solved.

Steven Hunter undresses Earl Swaggert for us, and shows his soft side, his weak side, and now we know why he is so hard, dependable and honest. Excitement begins with page one, and takes the reader through the tameing of an out of control, sin city, where gambling, prostitution, and drugs are king. The courage of good, well intended men put their lives on the line to make Arkansas a better place to live. Conflick abounds. A good read.
R.L. Calentino
Laguna Hills, Ca.

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Gritty and Explosive

Don't let this book pass you by. If you are into the fast paced yet creative and classic styles of writing, this book is for you. This is possibly the best of the Swagger series and Mr. Hunter's writing in general. Its a excellent example of the Gritty life of a hard times, fist pounding, gun toting, ex-marine who knows the business end of a gun. Throw in a medal of honor and a bit of Judo, and you have a man's man, ready to clean house on the bad Guys. However he is not without his demons, and Hunter skillfully works in this subplot with some surprises at the end. I would compare this book to "Shibumi" by Travanian. Which is a book you keep on the shelf for another read. Its a classic!

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It's Swagger time again!

Stephen Hunter is at his best when he writes about Swagger. So why change a winning "team"?
This time it's Earl Swagger and the story is based in 1946. Funny as it seems this time it's Earl who (also) has to deal with his father's fate - but this is not the main subject of the book.
Luckily Hunter did not copy the plot of his earlier books but created a completely different kind of mood and storyline. "Hot Springs" is not as complex as "Point of Impact" or "Time to Hunt" but straightforward, fast paced action with surprising twists and angles. This book sure is well worth reading.

Anybody who is not acquainted to Stephen Hunter books so far should read this one (and "Pale Horse Coming") before he starts reading the other Swagger books since this book is a prequel to the life of Bob Lee Swagger and explains why he became the man he is.

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Too good to be true

No one shoots straighter, hits harder, thinks clearer, talks plainer or acts manlier than Earl Swagger. By page 200, I wanted him dead. I've been a Hunter fan since I started reading his movie reviews in the Washington Post. And I think Dirty White Boys is a classic; I still have fond memories of reading it in a coin-laundry on the upper peninsula of Michigan on a very cold night. But Hot Springs got on my nerves. Writers are supposed to sympathize with their characters. Hunter goes way too far. His portrayal of Marine war hero turned lawman Earl Swagger plunges into hero worship. Earl can't just be the best shot among the lawmen assembled to bust up an Arkansas gambling syndicate; he has to be the best boxer too. No doubt, he's also a stallion in the sack. Sometimes Hunter veers disturbingly close to what seems like self-loathing for an East Coast movie critic and writer: Almost every educated, non-Southern character is a coward or a schemer, simply not worthy to stand in the presence of manly southern man Swagger. Sensing a potential chink in the armor, Hunter implausibly grants Swagger - a rural Arkansas lawman in 1946 - the enlightened racial outlook of a Freedom Rider. I started to think that Hunter and Swagger deserve the kind of treatment Mark Twain dished out to James Fenimore Cooper and Natty Bumppo. But heck, Hunter sure can tell a story. He gradually won me over again with entertaining villains and sharp storytelling. Is anyone better at keeping a story moving by cutting between different points of view? Plus, he works hard here to get the period detail (Sin City, Arkansas 1946) just right. There are even flashes of humor (something I never noticed before in a Hunter thriller), including a bit involving a clown. Bonus: a nice twist at the end for those who've read another Swagger tale, Black Light.

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

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