Hot Springs (novel)
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| Author | Stephen Hunter |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Series | Earl Swagger |
| Genre | Thriller |
| Publisher | Simon & Schuster |
Publication date | 2000 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (Hardback) |
| Pages | 701 pp |
| ISBN | 978-0-671-03545-7 |
| Followed by | Pale Horse Coming |
Hot Springs (ISBN 978-0-671-03545-7) is a fictional work by Stephen Hunter, published in 2000.
Hot Springs is a novel telling about gangsters and gambling in U.S. city Hot Springs, state Arkansas. It is the first novel in the series featuring Hunter's character Earl Swagger.
It is summer 1946 and Earl Swagger, ex-Marine and holder of the Congressional Medal of Honor, feels he is an angry man with nowhere to go in the post-war peace. But then he joins a new war, the one against organized crime, and in this hellish crucible rediscovers his courageous true self.[1]
Plot summary
Right after the official ceremony of receiving the Congressional Medal of Honor in United States capital Washington, D.C., Sgt. Earl Swagger (retired) is being approached by district attorney of Polk County Fred Becker and ex-FBI agent D. A. Parker. The two men propose him a new job in Hot Springs, Arkansas to fight against organized crime and finally end the gambling and corruption of the city. Swagger's mission is to train 10 young policemen into a "dream team" and instruct them during operations in city casinos. The mission is to close down all gambling places without hurting people.
Soon after accepting the new job, Earl finds out that his wife June is pregnant. She doesn't support Earl's idea to work in Hot Springs and is afraid of him being killed. However she successfully gives birth to their son, Bob Lee Swagger.
Same time, a few characters in the "dream team" are going their own way. Young policeman Frenchy Short (who also appears in Black Light) is trying to lead the investigation with his own methods.
Short's partner Carlo Henderson is asked by D. A. Parker to investigate Swagger's past and find out, how is Swagger so familiar with Hot Springs's landscape. Parker suggests that Swagger has the death instinct.
The plot also involves Sam Vincent, who at the time is assistant of attorney in Garland, Arkansas. Vincent also appears in other Hunter's novels, such as Point of Impact and Black Light.
Notes
- ^ "fansasticfiction.co.uk". Retrieved 2009-08-14.