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| Point of Impact | 
 enlarge | Author: Stephen Hunter
Publisher: Bantam
Category: Book
List Price: $7.99
Buy New: $0.01
You Save: $7.98 (100%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  (185 reviews)
Sales Rank: 5009
Languages: English (Unknown), English (Original Language), English (Published)
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 592
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.4
ISBN: 0553563513
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780553563511
ASIN: 0553563513
Publication Date: December 1, 1993
Release Date: November 1, 1993
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Point Of Impact March 14, 2007
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
I've become somewhat saddened by the garden variety thriller genre. Most of my disgust with the modern thriller genre is that it now seems to mimic popularity over originality as evidenced by adventure thrillers using historical relevance in the plot alas Dan Brown. So begrudgingly I recently picked up a copy of Point of Impact mainly for the upcoming release of Shooter. Doing so I discovered an amazingly technical thriller that is easily recommendable for a nicely convoluted plot, decent characterization, and a nice amount of action. Hunters Bob Lee Swagger is a good character to write a series on although I didn't like his constant showing up to the secondary character of Nick Memphis. The technical details of shooting shows someone with a great deal of knowlege in what He's writing about. Its also better to not watch promo material for Shooter as the book does contain some nice well choreographed suprises. If I had one complaint its that like other writers who do better with action, I didn't like the romantic involvement Hunter imparts upon his characters. His description of Swagger falling through floors was overly dramatic and somewhat boring in describing love making. Also despite being decent, the book goes on for too long after the main villains have been killed. Its at least sixty pages afterwards before the book ends which was too much in my opinion.
Other than a great read well worth it if theres nothing on your docket for a while.
 Hunter's Impact! March 8, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Since the movie is coming out soon, titled "Shooter" instead of the novel's name, I thought I'd read this book. I've seen this author's name and novels for over a decade, but for some unexplicable reason, never tried them.
My bad.
Stephen Hunter is an extraordinary writer. Point of Impact proves it.
It has everything a classic novel of this type has. Even though I loved this book, and know the movie will not be nearly as good, I will still see the movie and have purchased four more of this author's novels.
It is too bad that this novel could be made into a better television mini-series to do it justice. That's what it would need to tell the full story.
But if you haven't tried a Hunter novel, this is a great place to start. Highly entertaining.
The best suspense thriller March 5, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I read or listen to 75-100 books per year. I originally read this book in hardcover when it was first published and thought it was the best of its genre that I had ever read. I just re-read the book. I enjoyed it even more the second time. I have read all of Hunter's books that feature the hero of this book, Bob Lee Swagger, and those that feature his father Earl. All of them are entertaining. This one is the best. It has great characters and clever plot twists. If you like thrillers, read this one. You will be hard pressed to find a better read.
Part of a winning literary trifecta March 4, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
When I was younger, my reading M.O. was fairly simple: I'd find a writer I liked, and then read everything they ever wrote. This worked well for a while, as I worked my way through the offerings of such genre greats as Ray Bradbury, Harlan Ellison and Robert Bloch. Over the years, however, my tastes expanded to the point where I could no longer indulge myself that way ("So many books, so little time.") Before Stephen Hunter, I hadn't read three books in a row by the same author in fifteen years.
A good friend of mine turned me on to Hunter, recommending POINT OF IMPACT, wherein the author introduces Bob Lee Swagger, a professional shooter known to his peers as "Bob the Nailer." In POINT, Swagger becomes involved in a conspiracy of massive proportions and has to fall back on the lethal skills he learned in Vietnam in order to extricate himself. The incredible action sequences and the swift pacing of POINT left me anxious for more.
I moved on to DIRTY WHITE BOYS, which has one of the most memorable first lines you'll ever read. DWB tells the story of lawman Bud Pewtie and his encounter with an escaped convict, the savage and wily Lamar Pye. As Pewtie's son says later in BLACK LIGHT, "They were fated somehow, mixed together." Pewtie seems to have a strange affinity for Pye, tracking him against all odds until the two square off in an epic battle at book's end. By now I was well and truly hooked on Hunter.
Imagine my glee when I heard that he had just published another book, the last leg of a loose knit trilogy involving POINT OF IMPACT and DIRTY WHITE BOYS. BLACK LIGHT tells the tale of Russ Pewtie, son of lawman Bud, who decides to write a book about Earl Swagger, Bob Lee's father. Russ is fascinated by Earl, who died in a bloody shootout with Jimmie Pye, Lamar's daddy. Pewtie enlists the reluctant Bob Lee's help, and together they travel back to west Arkansas to investigate the strange circumstances of Earl Swagger's death. Their arrival stirs up a world of trouble, and only Bob Lee's extraordinary talent for survival keeps the pair alive.
These novels really cook. Hunter is a truly American phenomenon--his prose evokes Steinbeck (the parallels to OF MICE AND MEN in DIRTY WHITE BOYS really strike a chord) and Faulkner, and his obsession with the past reeks of Ross MacDonald. Don't get me wrong, though, this ain't no "lit'ry" book as Lamar Pye might say. These novels speed along like runaway freight trains--the action is intense, and the suspense Hunter generates is on the level of Forsythe's DAY OF THE JACKAL or David Morrell in TESTAMENT or BLOOD OATH. Hunter also has a sense of humor--if he doesn't leave you sweating, he'll leave you laughing.
Hunter also displays great expertise in the field of weaponry; the pages of these books teem with gun lore and technical minutiae. Guns and rifles play an integral part in these tales, providing insight into the protagonists and the world they inhabit. Hunter may be entirely wrong on the details, but he writes with such authority I doubt that's the case. I'm not a big gun fan, but I found the level of detail fascinating.
Hunter is a powerful, violent, unsettling, entertaining and informative writer. I ended my streak at three straight, but I continue to eagerly snap up any title with Hunter's name on the cover.
 OK February 22, 2007
1 out of 9 found this review helpful
In my opinion i felt like the first half of the book contained to much back story and not enough action, but once the action starts it does carry the story very well.
My only other criticism is that Bob the Nailer wasn't that interesting of a character. He didn't have any personal faults or things in his path that would have given him more depth.
I read the book with intention of going to see the movie but after reading the book the only thing i would want to see the movie for is to see what they added to make the book more interesting.
My personal favorite reocurring character in a book is Mitch Rapp who is a government operative that works in the middle east. I suggest you pick up one of his books if you would like non-stop action beginning to end and a character with a lot of depth.
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