[.ca] Time to Hunt (ISBN 0440226457)

From Amazon.com:
After a literally explosive opening where sniper fire cuts through the chest of an unnamed victim (Swagger?), readers of Time to Hunt are plunged into the final years of the Vietnam War and the struggles of Marine Donny Fenn. Stationed in Washington, D.C., after recovering from a nearly mortal wound, Fenn is asked to spy on Marines who may have ties to the peace movement. What Donny quickly learns, however, is that his Navy superiors are more interested in framing somebody than they are in finding the truth. In this first section, readers waiting to discover the outcome of the assassination and glimpse Bob "The Nailer" Swagger will instead be swept away by Hunter's vivid painting of the divided loyalties and torn identities that plagued soldiers and citizens in the early 1970s. But all of this action is only a prelude to Donny's subsequent relationship with Swagger in Vietnam. Hunter fleshes out the mythology that he began to create in Point of Impact as readers watch Swagger add to his famed body count and confront his nemesis, Solaratov. Hunter moves deftly from the mind of Solaratov to Donny and back to Swagger, and in each character finds the core of the Vietnam experience--fear, coldness, sadness, horror, elation. The last two sections cut to contemporary events and find Swagger married to Donny's former love, Julie. Slowly, the events of the first half of the book begin to merge with Swagger's present history and stories that readers will recognize from Hunter's earlier novels. Swagger uncovers a deep connection between the Vietnam demonstrations of the 1970s, the predatory work of the CIA, and the killer who is after him and his family now. Nothing is as it first seems, and readers of Point of Impact and Black Light will have to revise all their expectations. --Patrick O'Kelley

One of my favorite books!:
This is one of my favorite books! I loved this booked and suggested it to several friends and they loved it too. The pace slows down in the middle of the book but the ending was well worth the wait!!

One great action-packed book.:
Time to Hunt By: Stephen Hunter Reviewed by: O. Wang Period: 5 This book was a great book overall, basically about a lance corporal, Donny Fenn - Bronze Star, who is hired by Ward Bonson he wants Donny to spy on Eddie Crowe to raise his own rank to a Sergant, one of his PFC's and while he gets information about Eddie Crowe, Donny finds out more about his job. He was to find out about Trig Cater whom the marines believe were part of Weather Underground, soon Donny gets Eddie and they are sent to judgement, Donny is asked whether he finds Eddie guilty of charge, but Crowe is let off, and Fenn, back to Vietnam. While he is packing his things, he gets married with Julie, they are given the money from a generous First Sergant who is then shipped off to Vietnam too. Donny is now in Vietnam with Sergant Bob Lee (Bob the Nailer) Swagger a man very attached to his rifle. They're squad was the snipers of Sierra Bravo Four. They set off to "Dodge City" where they will wait until evac day and keep Dodge City safe. When they get there, they encounter many "sappers" of the Vietnamese people, who serve Colonel Hu Co. They had defeated all of the sappers while getting to Dodge City, when the had reached Dodge City, they had a Russian sniper on their tail. T. Solaratov. While scouting out one day, they see Solaratov, he had tried to stakeout at Dodge City, but when Bob and Donny went on patrol, they encounter the sniper, they try to take him out, but they call in the M60's and Napalm. Miraculously Solaratov survived, his tale, untold. He was left weaponless and is forced to create a new rifle, one which would match his own unique talent for sniping. Swagger had found Solaratovs old gun, the SVD Dragnuv a Russian creation, a semi-automatic sniper rifle. He was awarded from the find. When they were 1 day away from DEROS, Swagger was to take patrol again, Fenn, foolish enough wanted to go with him, Swagger left with no choice, let him go with him. Solaratov was sniping and Fenn is now dead. It was now in the mountains of Utah which was where Swagger now is. Swagger married Julie, Fenn's widow. Swagger then faces many problems, and sets out to find out about them. Trig Carters past was discovered and how his death was only made as a coverup. Trig is then linked to many other activities of the U.S.S.R. and many other things. Swagger met with Bonson now Deputy Director of the CIA. He then goes back home with all his questions answered except one thing. Solaratov. He goes back and realized Solaratov is after his wife, he calls Bonson and is parchuted for the drop and the dramatic scene ends, but there is still the final end to come, What ever happened to the U.S.S.R.? Read this book and find out what happens. I enjoyed this book very greatly, not only by the action, but by the excellent description on the many different items in this story. I think the plotline was excellent and as for all the rest of the story. I also enjoyed some of the violence such as "I saw the blood foaming from his mouth" and the many other great details about this story. I also disliked the book in a way because i felt there was no point to Crowe, there shouldve only been Trig and his followers, and Fenn were to track down Trig, because Crowe had no point in this story that much. I also enjoyed the sniper events where Hunter always included how they zoomed their scopes. "He set his rifle and saw the two men 600 Meters away. Solaratov pulled the trigger." I think that Hunter's cliffhangers are awesome and very excellent. My favorite part of the book was in the end, when Swagger ingenuously found out about the Secret Conspiracy and put an end to it, i especially enjoyed the part where he had asked the leader how he did it all, and which of his men did what kill whomever. I find it amazing to how he figured it all out, without even dying.

Never A Dull Moment:
In the prolog of this book, there is a very startling development. Bob Lee Swagger is shot in the chest by a sniper while out horseback riding with his wife and daughter. The reader is drawn into the following story, eager to discover what led to this devastating outcome. The story centers on the war in Vietnam and the peace demonstrations in Washington DC. Then the scene shifts to Washington DC and the post-war political intrigue. Bob Lee Swagger is looking for answers while his life is being threatened. There are several twists and surprises in this story. Just when the reader thinks he has it all figured out, the story takes a whole new direction. Things aren't settled until the very last page. A lot of edge-of-your-seat suspense and well-plotted action. Never a dull moment.

Hunter's Best:
I have read almost all of Hunter's thrillers including all of the Bob Lee Swagger novels. This one is the BEST of them all. When that 2 man sniper team in the jungle holds the NVA battalion off from overrunning the Special Forces camp late in the war it is just incredible. Who says one man cannot make a difference?

Greatest Thriller, Ever:
Time to Hunt By: Stephen Hunter Reviewed by: B. Ma Period: 1 This book was a great book overall, basically starting about a lance corporal, Donny Fenn. He is sent on a mission, and is then sent off for doing the wrong things. He was forced to go to 'nam and has to stay until he has fought enough of the soldiers. He met sergent bob lee swagger, a famous man known for his rifle. He thoroughly enjoyed being in vietnam. They were being hunted by a russian sniper, T. Solaratov. Swagger is back on his estate and he tries to piece together the puzzle, how everything is connected, and he realizes, it was under his nose this whole time.. I enjoyed this book because of all the military action, the advanced technological weapons, and all of the action and violence was what i loved about this book. This book was great because of the great way the sequence of events were placed. "The blood spurted all over the ground" I disliked this book also because of the way the plot of charactors kept changing and the location changed from place to place, sometimes it seemed like the battle was raging in some sort of blank area where nothing was happening. In most cases I just liked the scene of the battle, but not where it was taking place. "He reached for his grease gun to fire" My favorite part of the book was when Bob Lee Swagger was able to mend his own bad situation by looking for a better way to fix everything, he is truly a person of excellent knowledge and is capable of doing much more than he is said to do. I believe that Bob Lee "The Nailer" Swagger is more than just a fictional charactor, it felt as if i were just in that story, fighting along-side him as a soldier infantry learning from his experience