The 47th Samurai (Bob Lee Swagger, Bk 4)
2 journalers for this copy...
The 47th Samurai - Bob Lee Swagger, Bk 4
Author: Stephen Hunter
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.
Author: Stephen Hunter
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.
Well, this wasn't my favorite Swagger thriller. It could be sub-titled: Bob Lee Swagger goes to Japan and becomes a Samurai warrior. To me this just didn't seem to fit very well with the Swagger novels I have come to know and love. After all, Swagger is a sniper not a swordsman and his being able to learn in 5 days how to use a Japanese sword proficiently enough to survive and win against experienced swordsmen, just is too far-fetched to be believable. Some of this one really dragged for me including the many Japanese words and descriptions of Samurai fighting and the Japanese worship of ancient swords and Samurai warriors. I did like how Earl Swagger's experiences on Iwo Jima were brought into the story but this was not quite enough to make this a great Swagger thriller. I would still marginally recommend this only because I really do enjoy Hunter's action adventures - hopefully, the next Swagger novels will get back to his strengths.
Journal Entry 3 by 
perryfran
at Virtual BookBox, A Bookbox -- Controlled Releases on Thursday, July 3, 2014
perryfran at Virtual BookBox, A Bookbox -- Controlled Releases on Thursday, July 3, 2014
Released 9 yrs ago (7/3/2014 UTC) at Virtual BookBox, A Bookbox -- Controlled Releases
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
Heading to quickheels in Florida. A selection from the Mystery/Thriller VBB. Enjoy!
Happy 4th!!
Happy 4th!!
I really enjoyed this book, although the very end was fairly predictable.
