From Pulitzer Prize-winning movie critic and New York Times bestselling author Stephen Hunter comes a brilliant, freewheeling, and witty look at the movies. Evanston, Illinois, was an idyllic 1950s paradise with stately homes, a beautiful lake, a world-class university, two premier movie houses, and one very seedy movie theater--the Valencia. This was the site of Washington Post film critic Stephen Hunter's misspent youth. Instead of going to school, picking up girls, or tossing a football, Hunter could be found sitting in the fifteenth row, right-hand aisle seat of the Valencia, sating himself on one B-list movie after another. The Valencia had a sticky floor, smelly bathrooms, ancient popcorn, and a screen set in a hideously tacky papier-mache castle wall. It was also the only place in town to see westerns, sci-fi pictures, cops 'n' robbers flicks, slapstick comedy, and Godzilla. In Now Playing at the Valencia, the bestselling thriller author Stephen Hunter has compiled his favorite movie reviews written between 1997 and 2003, bringing to the discussion the passionate feelings for cinema he discovered in the '50s, a time when genres were forming, mesmerizing stars played unforgettable characters, and enduring classics were made. While filmmaking has changed tremendously since Hunter first frequented the Valencia, the view from the fifteenth row, and the thrill of down and dirty entertainment, has remained the same.

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.

Another action-packed thriller from Stephen Hunter, this time starring Ray Cruz, the son of ex-Marine sniper Bob Lee Swagger, who was introduced in Hunter's previous bestseller, Dead Zero. Ten thousand people jam the aisles, the corridors, the elevators, and the escalators of America, the Mall--a giant Rubik's Cube of a structure with its own amusement park located in the spacious center atrium. Of those people, 9,988 have come to shop. The other twelve have come to kill. Ray Cruz, one of the heroes of Hunter's last bestseller, Dead Zero, is in the mall with his fiancée and her family. The retired Marine sniper thought he was done with stalking and killing--but among the trapped thousands, he's the only one with a plan and the guts to confront the self-proclaimed "Brigade Mumbai." Now all he needs is a gun.

A daredevil British agent goes behind enemy lines in this WWII-era spy thriller from Pulitzer Prize-winning critic and bestselling novelist Stephen Hunter. Basil St. Florian is an accomplished agent in the British Army, completing dangerous missions across the globe. But going undercover in Nazi-occupied France during World War II might be his toughest assignment yet. He must search for a religious manuscript that doesn't officially exist, one that genius professor Alan Turing believes may crack a code that could prevent the deaths of millions and possibly even end the war. St. Florian isn't the classic British special agent with a stiff upper lip - he is a swashbuckling, whisky-drinking cynic and thrill-seeker who resents having to leave Vivien Leigh's bed to set out on his crucial mission. Despite these proclivities, Basil's superiors know he's the best man for the job, with enough charm and quick wit to make his foes lower their guards. Action-packed and bursting with intrigue (much of which has basis in fact), Basil's War is a classic espionage thriller. Reviews for Stephen Hunter: 'An outstanding WWII spy thriller' Nelson DeMille 'One of the best thriller novelists around' Washington Post 'The front rank of the thriller novelists' People

A daredevil British agent goes behind enemy lines in this WWII-era spy thriller from Pulitzer Prize-winning critic and bestselling novelist Stephen Hunter. Basil St. Florian is an accomplished agent in the British Army, completing dangerous missions across the globe. But going undercover in Nazi-occupied France during World War II might be his toughest assignment yet. He must search for a religious manuscript that doesn't officially exist, one that genius professor Alan Turing believes may crack a code that could prevent the deaths of millions and possibly even end the war. St. Florian isn't the classic British special agent with a stiff upper lip - he is a swashbuckling, whisky-drinking cynic and thrill-seeker who resents having to leave Vivien Leigh's bed to set out on his crucial mission. Despite these proclivities, Basil's superiors know he's the best man for the job, with enough charm and quick wit to make his foes lower their guards. Action-packed and bursting with intrigue (much of which has basis in fact), Basil's War is a classic espionage thriller. Reviews for Stephen Hunter: 'An outstanding WWII spy thriller' Nelson DeMille 'One of the best thriller novelists around' Washington Post 'The front rank of the thriller novelists' People

Mississippi, 1951: The last place any sane man wants to visit is Thebes State Penal Farm. Of the few who make the journey there, even fewer return.

But when an old friend disappears inside Thebes, ex-marine and Arkansas State Police Sgt. Earl Swagger takes a personal interest in the case. As he infiltrates the prison, what he experiences defies his wildest nightmares -- a savage world where death is the only salvation. As tough as he is, Swagger barely escapes with his life -- and his mind -- intact. But he's not going to stay away for long. Recruiting six of the hardest, deadliest gunmen ever known, bloody vengeance is soon at hand. Because Earl Swagger is going back to Thebes.

From "New York Times "bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize winner Stephen Hunter comes a thriller that pits former Marine sniper Bob Lee Swagger against the only man who might be able to outshoot him.
A marine sniper team on a mission in tribal territories on the Afghan-Pakistan border, Whiskey 2-2 is ambushed by professionals using the latest high-tech shooting gear. Badly wounded, the team's sole survivor, Gunnery Sergeant Ray Cruz, aka "the Cruise Missile," is determined to finish his job. He almost succeeds when a mystery blast terminates his enterprise, leaving a thirty-foot crater where a building used to be--and where Sergeant Cruz was meant to be hiding.
Months pass. Ray's target, an Afghan warlord named Ibrahim Zarzi, sometimes called "The Beheader," becomes an American asset in the region and beyond, beloved by State, the Administration, and the Agency. He arrives in Washington for consecration as Our Man in Kabul.
And that brings Ray Cruz out of hiding.
Swagger, the legendary hero of seven of Hunter's novels from "Point of Impact "to last year's bestselling "I, Sniper, "is recruited by the FBI to stop the Cruise Missile from reaching his target. The problem is that the more Swagger learns about what happened in Zabol, the more he questions the US government's support of Zarzi and the more he identifies with Cruz as hunter instead of prey.

"New York Times" bestselling author Stephen Hunter sends former Marine sniper Bob Lee Swagger deep into the heart of NASCAR country in this action-packed thriller.
Talk about a ride
Woe unto he who crosses Bob Lee Swagger, especially when his daughter's life is at stake. Forced off the road and into a crash that leaves her in a coma, clinging to life, reporter Nikki Swagger had begun to peel back the onion of a Southern-fried-conspiracy bubbling with all the angst, resentment, and dysfunction that Dixie gangsters can muster. An ancient, violent crime clan, a possibly corrupt law enforcement structure, gunmen of all stripes and shapes, and deranged evangelicals rear their ugly heads and will live to rue the day they targeted the wrong man's daughter. It's what you call your big-time bad career move. All of it is set against the backdrop of excitement and insanity that only a weeklong NASCAR event can bring to the backwoods of a town as seemingly sleepy as Bristol, Tennessee.
A master at the top of his game, Hunter provides a host of thrilling new reasons to read as fast as we can. When Swagger picks up peeling where his daughter left off, and his swift sword of justice is let loose, we find a true American hero in his most stunning action to date. And--in the form of Brother Richard, a self-decreed "Sinnerman" out of the old fire-and-brimstone tradition--Hunter offers up his most diabolical, engaging villain yet. A triumph of story, character, and style, "Night of Thunder" is Stephen Hunter at his very best.

The explosive "New York Times" bestseller by Stephen Hunter that sends ex-Marine sniper Bob Lee Swagger into the thick of an FBI investigation and features some of the greatest gunfights ever to grace the page.
"It takes a seasoned killer..."
""Four famed '60s radicals are gunned down at long range by a sniper. All the evidence--timeline, ballistics, forensics, motive, means, and opportunity--points to Marine war hero Carl Hitchcock. Even his suicide. The case is almost too perfect.
."..to hunt one."
Recruited by the FBI to examine the data, retired Marine sharpshooter Bob Lee Swagger penetrates the new technology of the secretive sniper world to unravel a sophisticated conspiracy run by his most ruthless adversary yet--a marksman whose keen intellect and pinpoint accuracy rival his own. But when the enemy and his deadly henchmen mistake Bob for the hunted, it's clear that some situations call for a good man with a gun...and the guts to use it.

In this tour de force--part historical thriller, part modern adventure--from the "New York Times "bestselling author of "I, Sniper," Bob Lee Swagger uncovers why World War II's greatest sniper was erased from history...and why her disappearance still matters today.
Ludmilla "Mili" Petrova was once the most hunted woman on earth, having raised the fury of two of the most powerful leaders on either side of World War II: Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler. But Kathy Reilly of "The" "Washington Post" doesn't know any of that when she encounters a brief mention of Mili in an old Russian propaganda magazine, and becomes interested in the story of a legendary, beautiful female sniper who seems to have vanished from history.
Reilly enlists former marine sniper Bob Lee Swagger to parse out the scarce details of Mili's military service. The more Swagger learns about Mili's last mission, the more he's convinced her disappearance was no accident--but why would the Russian government go to such lengths to erase the existence of one of their own decorated soldiers? And why, when Swagger joins Kathy Reilly on a research trip, is someone trying to kill them before they can find out?
As Bob Lee Swagger, "one of the finest series characters ever to grace the thriller genre, now and forever" ("Providence Journal-Bulletin"), races to put the pieces together, "Sniper's Honor" takes readers across oceans and time in an action-packed, compulsive read.

Former marine sniper Bob Lee Swagger investigates one of the most enduring controversies of our time--the JFK assassination--in this New York Times bestselling "terrific thriller" (Booklist, starred review). Bestselling author Stephen Hunter takes on one of the most shocking crimes in American history when his celebrated hero ex-Marine sniper Bob Lee Swagger follows the smallest hint of a lead to its staggering conclusion--about the fateful third bullet that ended the life of President John F. Kennedy.

Bob Lee Swagger, one of the deadliest snipers the US has ever produced, has put most of the demons of his past behind him, but not the forty-year-old killing of his father in a sensational shoot out. He returns to his roots, to find out exactly what happened that night in 1955 in Blue Eye, Arkansas. Against him is a shadowy enemy, corrupted by the secret of the older Swagger's death.

As the two circle each other they close, inevitably, to a final explosive confrontation that will blast the secrets of two generations wide open.

Only one thing stands between a son and his father's killer: forty years of lies..

On a remote Arizona ranch, a man who has known loss, fear, and war weeps for the first time since he was a child.  His tears are for the father taken from him four decades before in a deadly shoot-out.  And his grief will lead him back to the place where he was born, where his father died, and where a brutal conspiracy is about to explode.

For Bob Lee Swagger, the world changed on that hot day in Blue Eye, Arkansas, when two local boys rode armed and wild in a '55 Fairlane convertible. Swagger's father, Earl, a state trooper, was investigating the brutal murder of a young woman that day.  By midnight Earl Swagger lay dead in a deserted cornfield.

Now Bob Lee wants answers.  He wants to know the truth behind the shoot -out that took his father's life, a mystery buried in forty years of lies.  Because for Bob Lee Swagger, the killing didn't end that day in Blue Eye, Arkansas. The killing had just begun...

Weaving together characters from his national bestsellers Point of Impact and Dirty White Boys, Stephen Hunter's gripping thriller builds to an exhilarating climax--and an explosion of gunfire that blasts open the secrets of two generations.

Twenty-five years after the end of the Vietnam War, Bob, 'the Nailer' Swagger is back in the warzone. The Russian sniper with whom he duelled in the jungle and who killed his friend, Donny Fenn, has tracked him down to the remote mountains of Idaho. Soon one man is dead and Swagger's family is under threat. Why has the Russian resumed the conflict? Is it simply revenge, or does it go back further, to a dirty secret buried buried in the extraordinary times of the late sixties when ideologies clashed and America's bitter war was reaching its height?

Arthur Gordon doesn't get it. After a string of successful films his latest opus is reviled as sexist and politically incorrect. Emotionally wounded, he retreats to the sanctity of a summer cottage where carefree recollections buffer him from his self-inflicted firestorm. Only after running headlong into the realities of changing times does he decide that redemption will be his only if he can catch a big fish on a little feather.

When four famous 1960s radicals are gunned down, including the wife of an international media mogul, it would appear to be an open-and-shut case. A wealth of evidence ties the chief suspect, retired Marine sniper Carl Hitchcock, to the murders. Holder, until recently, of the record number of kills in Vietnam and anxious to reclaim his title, Hitchcock's subsequent suicide would seem to confirm his guilt. But FBI assistant director Nick Memphis has his doubts -- and calls on former Marine Corps sniper Bob Lee Swagger to investigate. As Swagger digs deeper, it becomes clear that matters are more complicated than would initially appear. The shots were not executed with the scope of a 1972 rifle, Hitchcock's weapon of choice, but by a high-tech scope used by active Marines. But as Swagger starts to unravel the tangled web of connections surrounding the murders, he finds his own days may be numbered. Because he's about to face one of his most ruthless adversaries yet -- a sniper whose keen intellect and pinpoint accuracy rivals his own. The end result will be a bloody confrontation that only one of them can survive.

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A fast-paced, definitive, and breathtakingly suspenseful account of an extraordinary historical event-the attempted assassination of President Harry Truman in 1950 by two Puerto Rican Nationalists and the bloody shoot-out in the streets of Washington, DC, that saved the president's life. Written by Pulitzer Prize-winner and New York Times bestselling novelist Stephen Hunter, and John Bainbridge, Jr., an experienced journalist and lawyer, American Gunfight is at once a groundbreaking work of meticulous historical research and the vivid and dramatically told story of an act of terrorism that almost succeeded. They have pieced together, at last, the story of the conspiracy that nearly doomed the president and how a few good men-ordinary guys who were willing to risk their lives in the line of duty-stopped it. It begins on November 1, 1950, an unseasonably hot afternoon in the sleepy capital. At 2:00 P.M. in his temporary residence at Blair House, the president of the United States takes a nap. At 2:20 P.M., two men approach Blair House from different directions. Oscar Collazo, a respected metal polisher and family man, and Griselio Torresola, an unemployed salesman, don't look dangerous, not in their new suits and hats, not in their calm, purposeful demeanor, not in their slow, unexcited approach. What the three White House policemen and one Secret Service agent cannot guess is that under each man's coat is a 9mm automatic pistol and in each head, a dream of assassin's glory. At point-blank range, Collazo and then Torresola draw and fire and move toward the president of the United States. Hunter and Bainbridge tell the story of that November day with narrative power and careful attention to detail. They are the first to report on the inner workings of this conspiracy; they examine the forces that led the perpetrators to conceive the plot. The authors also tell the story of the men themselves, from their youth and the worlds in which they grew up to the women they loved and who loved them to the moment the gunfire erupted. Their telling commemorates heroism-the quiet commitment to duty that in some moments of crisis sees some people through an ordeal, even at the expense of their lives.

In this book, his first as movie critic, Hunter does what no one else has done - identified the most important or notorious 100 movies released since 1982, organized them by topic, and analyzed them for how they uniquely deal with, and what they say about, violence. Because it deals with a subject on the minds of many Americans and American politicians, Violent Screen is thus extraordinarily timely. Yet, as a serious book by a serious reviewer, it is timeless, too. It's also entertaining. Hunter's movie-reviewing is rife with energy, humor, sharp-edged analysis, and intensity. He's a man who loves the movies so much he can't walk away from a reviewing job at a daily newspaper despite earning substantial sums on each of the novels he now writes. His first book of non-fiction will appeal to the millions of film and video lovers whose idea of entertainment is a regular trip to the movie theater or the video store, and whose idea of a good discussion is one centering on a recent or important movie they've seen at home or in a theater.