Dead Zero
| Language | English |
|---|---|
| Series | Bob Lee Swagger series |
| Genre | Thriller |
| Publisher | Simon & Schuster |
Publication date | December 28, 2010 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (hardback) |
| Pages | 384 pp |
| ISBN | 978-1-4391-3865-6 |
| Preceded by | I, Sniper |
| Followed by | The Third Bullet |
Dead Zero is a novel by Stephen Hunter, published by Simon & Schuster in 2011. It is Hunter's seventh novel whose hero is Bob Lee Swagger, a U. S. Marine Corps sniper who first appears in Point of Impact[1] which is partially set in the Vietnam War. It is eleventh in order of publication and seventh in the chronology of the character.
Summary
Several months after the betrayal of a covert operation in Afghanistan leaves a Marine sniper team dead, the target of that mission, top Taliban commander Ibrahim Zarzi (aka "the Beheader"), changes sides. Zarzi travels to the U.S., where he meets the president and key congressional leaders and offers the State Department its best chance at achieving a stable, reliable Afghan government. Meanwhile, a Marine radio operator receives a message from Gunnery Sgt. Ray Cruz, one of the snipers believed to have been killed. Cruz has returned stateside to continue the mission. The FBI calls in retired Marine sniper ace Bob Lee Swagger to help find Cruz before he blows off the Beheader's head, but someone is following "Bob the Nailer" to get to Cruz first.
Reception
Reception was mixed, with Kirkus saying, "A premise that had a chance to be compelling is diffused by a momentum-killing willingness to digress. Hunter has done much better."[2] and The Oregonian calling it "a disappointment" [3], while Publisher's Weekly gushed that a "solid characterization complements the tight, fast-moving plot." [4]
References
- ^ "Point of Impact" (Bantam Books hardcover edition published March 1993)
- ^ "Kirkus".
- ^ "The Oregonian".
- ^ "Publisher's Weekly".