G-Man

Bob Lee Swagger, Book 10

By: Stephen Hunter

Narrated by: R.C. Bray

Length: 14 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

From bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize-winner Stephen Hunter, the latest episode in his Swagger family saga - replete with Hunter's wicked suspense, vivid gun fights, and historical truths.

1934 was a pivotal year in the ongoing battle between the FBI and America's most famous outlaws - it was a year of giant personalities and huge shoot-outs, and it marked the deaths of John Dillinger, Bonnie and Clyde, and Pretty Boy Floyd, among others. But that year, FBI agent Sam Cowley's priority was to nab the most dangerous gangster this country has ever produced, a man so violent he scared Al Capone and was booted from the Chicago mob - Baby Face Nelson. To stop him, Cowley recruited the most talented gunman of the time - Charles Swagger.

When Bob Lee Swagger, now in Idaho, finally sells the land he owned in Arkansas, the developers begin to tear down the old homestead and uncover a steel case hidden in the foundation. The case contains a batch of 1934 memorabilia - a much-corroded FBI badge, a .45 automatic preserved in cosmoline, a gun clip, and a cryptic diagram, all belonging to Charles Swagger. Bob never knew his grandfather Charles, who died before he was he born, and his father Earl refuses to mention him. Fascinated by this new information, Bob is driven to find out what happened to his grandfather, and why his own father, whom he worshipped, never spoke of Charles. But as he investigates further, Bob learns that someone is following him, someone with his own obsession of finding out what Charles Swagger left behind.

©2017 Stephen Hunter (P)2017 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

G-peers Creepers that was AWESOME!

OK, ready.
GREAT book. Lots of action. High on historical-exciting-action. Low on boring-emotional-melodrama. Thick on bared fisted story telling. The best kind of history. I enjoyed this book. A lot.

SPOILER ALERT ~ read no further if you don't wish a twist revealed in this great tale.

Yeah. Now. I'm a cranky old guy, who feels every single injury I got in my life full of fighting every-day when I get up out of bed each morning.
But ...I loves my action & fighting filled history.
This book filled so many of my "Happy Places" I was near giddy half was through.
It's characters and plot are as tough as smoking hot shooting irons.
It's got men called "man-killers" with total dead seriousness.
Then, way into the tale, they throw the "twist of all twists" at you.
Sucker punch to the head.
KA-POW!
A very tough character tells some-one he's cursed ...with a desire for other men.
He has dreams ( or nightmares ) every night about lusting after other men.
Well, when I read THAT you could have picked my jaw off the floor with a shovel!
I'm an old, beat-up fighter - been practicing several martial arts my whole life ( since I was 10 and saw Bruce Lee in a Hong-Kong movie.)
I love guns - I think they are amazing pieces of cultural art.
And I'm gay. Most folks would never know that least I tell 'em, but there is it.
When this point of the book played out, the tale opened up it was like a night-blooming flower full of of beauty and venom.
Pure genius.
I felt for the hurt and soul-killing wounds of this character who had to deal with his "otherness" way way back in the 1930's. Imagine...
Now, I grew up in the mid-west in the 70's. No easy thing either. I told no-one I was gay. I left home early, went to a big city and beat my way through many red-necks till I found a place where I could just be me. Eventually I told my folks. Eventually they got ok with it. I even found a tougher guy than me to fall in love with, and lived happily-ever-after.
But, it wasn't easy ...not at all.
This is one of the best books I've had the pleasure to read/listen to. It's a tale high in male testosterone. When one of the toughest characters turns out to be gay, it became so refreshingly new and so darned real.
It wasn't the thing that made him what he was - just part of it. It also gave him the fight of his life inside his head while all heck broke loose around him. Amazing, brilliant story telling. But one of the best of that ultra-macho, Good, Bad and Ugly tales about men for men.
Hat's off to Mister Hunter. I'm getting more of your books sir.
GREAT WORK!

A new member in the Swagger family story

Meet Charles Swagger, grandfather of Bob Lee. It's a Charles Swagger story told across time as Bob Lee tries to learn more about the grandfather that he never knew. Charles is like the other Swaggers, a hero, with personal demons, who does his best. The kind of man you would want at your back or your side in a gunfight. The book is also illuminating on the gangster era of America.

awesome story

not usually my type of book but after finishing it I'm rather happy I did give it a go. fantastic narration by Rc Bray as usual.

History we don’t know

The story is well managed from the present and the past. You will learn a lot.

Hunter Still Has Some Teeth

What does R. C. Bray bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Bray is exceptional. He handles the material perfectly. It was a joy to listen to, with a couple of niggling exceptions. Bray repeatedly refers the the Browning Automatic Rifle as the "bar", instead B.A.R. And Des Plaines (IL.) is pronounced "dess plaines", just like it's spelled, not "de plain" like Fantasy Island. I blame the producer. These things should be worked out prior to recording.

Any additional comments?

This is really a beautiful piece of work. The story is fascinating and nobody this side of James Lee Burke understands (and can explain) the nature of hard men better than Hunter. One of Hunter's best.

A Great Author

There are so many books out there that are very poorly written, so it is surprising to find a book written by an author with real talent, that makes all the difference in the enjoyment of a book. This is only the second book I have read in the Swagger series, and while I enjoyed it. I still enjoy much more the international thriller books of today's world. As the book I read was from audible, I also must give credit to the reader, R.C. Bray who does a terrific job of narration. When you put a great author together with a great narrator, you end up with a very enjoyable book. I would recommend both to anybody.

another great tail with historical and factual mix

another Steven Hunter novel in the series that combines history and scientific accuracy with a Shooters overlook.

fantastic

loved it along with all the others in the series. can't wait for the next

Fanastic Read

I've enjoyed the majority of Bob Lee Swapper series however the books chronicling his father and grandfather: Black Light; and G-Man are two of my favorites. G-Man was incredible.

Hard Core Crime

Terrific story and narration about Wild West meets modern civilization in crime arena.
All the famous suit wearing gun toting mobsters are there plotting against a backdrop of the inchoate FBI.
Great listen.