Black Light

Bob Lee Swagger, Book 2

By: Stephen Hunter

Narrated by: Jon Lindstrom

Only one thing stands between a son and his father's killer: 40 years of lies..

On a remote Arizona ranch, a man who has known loss, fear, and war weeps for the first time since he was a child. His tears are for the father taken from him four decades before in a deadly shoot-out. And his grief will lead him back to the place where he was born, where his father died, and where a brutal conspiracy is about to explode.

For Bob Lee Swagger, the world changed on that hot day in Blue Eye, Arkansas, when two local boys rode armed and wild in a '55 Fairlane convertible. Swagger's father, Earl, a state trooper, was investigating the brutal murder of a young woman that day. By midnight Earl Swagger lay dead in a deserted cornfield.

Now Bob Lee wants answers. He wants to know the truth behind the shoot-out that took his father's life, a mystery buried in 40 years of lies. Because for Bob Lee Swagger, the killing didn't end that day in Blue Eye, Arkansas. The killing had just begun....

Weaving together characters from his national best sellers Point of Impact and Dirty White Boys, Stephen Hunter's gripping thriller builds to an exhilarating climax - and an explosion of gunfire that blasts open the secrets of two generations.

Praise for Black Light

“Nobody writes action better than Stephen Hunter and Black Light is one of his best. . . [The] action scenes play like a movie, the plot is intriguing and the writing is top-notch.” (Phillip Margolin)

“Only a handful of writers today can match Hunter for imagination and the ability to make a reader's adrenaline rush.” (New York Daily News)

©2017 Stephen Hunter (P)2017 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"Put on your seat belt - Black Light is a wild ride you won't forget." (The Chicago Tribune)

"Filled with detail, clever plotting, suspense, and a hunt to the death that leaves the reader dry-mouthed with tension. Hunter knows his guns, and he writes about them with a precision that holds the attention of even a fervent anti-gun supporter." (The Orlando Sentinel)

"One of the most skilled hands in the thriller business. The plot is fast-paced, well-constructed and builds to a pulse-pounding night ambush...it should seal his reputation as an author who not only can write bestselling thrillers, but write them exceedingly well. " (Publishers Weekly)

The best of the best!

I'm about half way through, and this book is blowing me away. Unlike all the cyborg espionage/ sniper stories that are spun out over and over again right now, Stephen Hunter writes about real flawed men. Earl Swagger and his son Bob Lee Swagger, both war vets. Earl, a World War II vet, and Bob the Vietnam War. Ear dies tragically when Bob Lee was a child, and now Bob Lee is trying to solve his murder with a man who wants to write about the crime. And in the mix of the tragic murder is a mix of murky characters. Yes this book deals with distinct racial issues, whites and blacks in Arkansas in the 1950's, etc. So yes there is racially charged language that mirrors the time. It's real and it's gritty. I'm just sad I waited to so long to find it.

Jon Linstrom is a superb narrator, with his deep drawl. He sounds just what you would picture if visualizing Bob Lee Swagger and company. I know he only narrates the first two books, but that's fine. Whoever will work. This series looks to be that good.

true to text

voices seemed accurate.
I had read the book when it came out. This Audible production was worthy.

My only issue was with production

This is a fabulous story, so much intrigue, twists, turns and a well thought out plot. It was wonderfully narrated. The only issue I have is with a software editing tool known as noise gate. When too much is used the ends of sentences are cut off which this production is guilty of many.

Good story, blah Narrator

Great story, but the narrator seemed to struggle with certain characters.... I struggled liking the Bob narrations...

Wow the twists!

This was a great complex story. There were lots of twists and turns. The characters had a lot of depth.

Had to finish

Filled with a plot that is hard to believe is fiction. You can’t wait to see how it ends. Great performance.

very good

took a little bit to get used to the flashback but they ended up helping to tell the story very well.

in depth story

while it took a very long time to come around to the details it was very thorough. in the end the full details almost felt like a narrative to finish the book versus part of the full story.

New narrator, but same old Bob

I've read the book in print before, so I knew going in I'd enjoy the story. I was a little apprehensive about someone other than Buck Shirner reading a Bob Lee Swagger novel, but the new guy (Jon Lindstrom) was just as good. I highly recommend this audiobook edition!

My take on it all.

love Stephen Hunter as a great story teller. He is the gunfighters chronicler. Factual presentation.