Bob Lee Swagger
Encyclopedia
Bob Lee Swagger is a fictional character
created by Stephen Hunter
. He is the protagonist in a series of books that relate his life after and during the Vietnam War
—Point of Impact
, Black Light
, Time to Hunt
, The 47th Samurai
, Night of Thunder, I, Sniper
and, most recently Dead Zero. He is also the protagonist of the film Shooter (based on Point of Impact). Swagger is loosely based on USMC Sniper Carlos Hathcock
.
who was born in 1946 and raised in Blue Eye (a fictionalized version of Mena, Arkansas
) in Polk County, Arkansas. He is the son of Arkansas State Trooper
Earl Swagger (Earl was also a former Marine
First Sergeant
and Medal of Honor
recipient) and June Swagger. Bob Lee had a natural gift for firearms from an early age, something seemingly possessed by all male Swaggers. He had a half brother, named Lamar Pye, the product of a one night stand between his father and Edie White Pye.
After his father died in 1955, Bob Lee joined the Marines, forging a successful career as a Marine Sniper. Bob Lee served three tours in Vietnam
, working with Special Operations, and earned the nickname 'Bob the Nailer' for his uncanny ability with a rifle. Despite official counts crediting him with 87 combat kills, in reality he has killed a total of 391 men, with his most notable success being an engagement with a battalion of the North Vietnamese Army who were closing on a lightly defended Special Forces Base. Bob Lee and his spotter, Lance Corporal Donny Fenn, succeeded in delaying the battalion for two days until air support could arrive, and during the engagement Bob Lee killed in excess of 80 enemy troops, only stopping when his ammunition ran out.
While serving in Vietnam, Swagger was shot in the hip from a distance of 1400 meters by T. Solaratov, a Soviet sniper who also killed Fenn soon after with a shot to the chest from the same distance.
Bob Lee was retired by the Marine Corps in 1975, suffering from a permanent disability due to the hip wound. He became an alcoholic to numb his depression, which resulted in the break-up of his first marriage, and he retreated to a hermitic existence on family land near Blue Eye. Sworn off killing, he hunts trophy deer using an innovative paintball style bullet which stuns them for several minutes, during which he saws off their antlers so they are no longer attractive to trophy hunters.
The events of Point of Impact
begin at this stage of his life (1992) when he is approached by a clandestine organization to prevent the assassination of the President by a highly trained sniper, who he is told is the same sniper who shot him and killed his spotter. When the assassination attempt kills a visiting dignitary from Salvador, Bob Lee finds himself framed as the 'lone gunman'. With the help of Nick Memphis, an FBI agent assigned to the case, and attorney Sam Vincent, an old friend of Earl Swagger, Bob Lee manages to clear his name and destroy the people who set him up.
He goes on to marry Julie Fenn, the widow of his spotter, and they have a daughter, Nikki Swagger. In Black Light
, Swagger unravels a conspiracy behind the murder of his father by a prominent presidential candidate.
In Time to Hunt
, Swagger solves the mystery of his spotter's death, which culminates into a duel with a Solaratov. This novel also depicts a portion of Bob Lee's service in the Vietnam War.
The fourth Bob Lee Swagger novel, The 47th Samurai
, was published on September 11, 2007. In this novel, Bob Lee travels to Japan to return a samurai sword recovered by his father in World War II to its rightful owner, but quickly finds himself wrapped up in yet another deadly plot. This novel reveals the story of Earl's tour of duty on Iwo Jima
.
The fifth novel, Night of Thunder, was published in 2008. In this novel Swagger, at 63 yrs old, is trying to find out who ran his 24 yr old daughter Nikki off the road in an attempt on her life. Set in NASCAR country and centered around the big race at Bristol, the Grumleys from Hunter's "Hot Springs
" re-appear in this novel. Once again Swagger finds himself hunting the hunters and at his advanced age is still shooting straight and fast. He makes his way through Malvern and Sheridan.
The sixth novel, I, Sniper
, was published in 2009. In this novel, the FBI enlists Bob Lee's help in investigating the murders of several prominent 1960s Vietnam war protesters. Although the evidence initially points to former Marine sniper Carl Hitchcock (based on Carlos Hathcock
), Bob Lee quickly discovers that Hitchcock was framed for the murders and sets out to find the real killer. His investigation takes him into the world of modern military sniper warfare, which technology has altered greatly since his days in Vietnam.
The seventh Bob Lee Swagger novel, "Dead Zero", released Dec. 28th 2010, and is set in the current global war on terror. A marine sniper named Ray Cruz, on an assassination mission, is betrayed, and in the time after, the target, Ibrahim Zarzi, also known as "the beheader" becomes a prospective Afghan Presidential candidate. Zarzi professes loyalty to the U.S. after attempts on his life, but Cruz resurfaces to complete the mission. Bob Lee Swagger is brought in as a consultant by request of Assistant Director Nick Memphis, friendly with Swagger since the events of 'Point of Impact' and C.I.A. Agent Susan Okada, of 'The 47th Samurai'. Swagger is asked to help find Cruz, but along the way becomes sympathetic of Cruz and doubts his guilt. Later it is revealed that Cruz is Swagger's son, byproduct of a previously unknown marriage to a Vietnamese woman who was killed during the Tet Offensive. The loss of his wife and disappearance of the baby, it is theorized, motivated Swagger to take a third tour of duty, this time as a Sniper, and establishing his legend.
In Dead Zero,Swagger moves from action hero to detective and strategist. Other elements in Dead Zero new to the Bob Lee Swagger novels are the inclusion of Private Security Contractors and their presence in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. One of the plot elements is a three man team referred to as "unidentified contractor team". They use the M82 Barrett Sniper Rifle, also new to this series.
Other devices new in this series are a miniature transponder called an "active RFID" or RFID tag.
The use of "drones" (remote controlled unmanned aerial vehicles) is also new in this novel, and on the final page of the novel, Swagger is figuratively seen as using a drone for a sniper kill.
"Dead Zero" in sniper and precision shooting usage refers to the desirable state of affairs where after several trial shots (called "Ranging Shots") the horizontal cross-hair in the optical reticle have been adjusted for the distance and elevation of the target, and the vertical cross-hair has been adjusted for windage, and so the crossing of the two in the field of view of the shooter corresponds to the anticipated point of impact. The cross-hairs meet on the target just as one sees on movie and TV use of telescopic sights
is the basis for the movie Shooter, starring Mark Wahlberg
as Swagger. The film takes place in present day, with many of the circumstances updated to a contemporary setting.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
created by Stephen Hunter
Stephen Hunter
Stephen Hunter is an American novelist, essayist, and Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic.-Life and career:Stephen Hunter was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and grew up in Evanston, Illinois. His father was Charles Francis Hunter, a Northwestern University speech professor who was killed in 1975....
. He is the protagonist in a series of books that relate his life after and during the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
—Point of Impact
Point of Impact
Point of Impact is a 1993 thriller novel by award-winning author Stephen Hunter.-Plot introduction:The plot revolves around a former Vietnam sniper named Bob Lee Swagger or Bob 'the Nailer'. This character is loosely based upon the real Vietnam sniper and Marine Corps legend Carlos Hathcock...
, Black Light
Black Light (Novel)
-Plot summary:There are two interconnected plots that unfold simultaneously in this novel; one is set in the present, and deals with Bob Lee Swagger and Russ Pewtie, while the other is set in 1955, and deals with Bob Lee's father, Earl, and the events leading up to his death.This book catches the...
, Time to Hunt
Time to Hunt
Time to Hunt is a 1999 thriller novel, and the third in the Bob Lee Swagger series by Stephen Hunter. In narrative sequence it is preceded by Point of Impact and Black Light.-Plot summary:...
, The 47th Samurai
The 47th Samurai
The 47th Samurai is a 2007 thriller novel, and the fourth in the Bob Lee Swagger series by Stephen Hunter. In narrative sequence it is preceded by Point of Impact, Black Light, and Time to Hunt.-Plot:...
, Night of Thunder, I, Sniper
I, Sniper
I, Sniper is a novel by Stephen Hunter, published by Simon and Schuster in 2009. It is Hunter's sixth novel whose hero is Bob Lee Swagger, a U. S. Marine Corps sniper who first appears in Point of Impact which is partially set in the Vietnam War...
and, most recently Dead Zero. He is also the protagonist of the film Shooter (based on Point of Impact). Swagger is loosely based on USMC Sniper Carlos Hathcock
Carlos Hathcock
Carlos Hathcock was a United States Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant sniper with a service record of 93 confirmed kills. Hathcock's record and the extraordinary details of the missions he undertook made him a legend in the Marine Corps...
.
Fictional character biography
Bob Swagger is a retired Marine Gunnery SergeantGunnery Sergeant
Gunnery Sergeant is the seventh enlisted rank in the United States Marine Corps, just above Staff Sergeant and below Master Sergeant and First Sergeant, and is a staff non-commissioned officer...
who was born in 1946 and raised in Blue Eye (a fictionalized version of Mena, Arkansas
Mena, Arkansas
Mena is a city in Polk County, Arkansas, United States. It is also the county seat of Polk County.It was founded by Arthur Edward Stilwell during the building of the Kansas City, Pittsburg and Gulf Railroad . It was Stilwell who decided Mena would be the name of this new town along the route to...
) in Polk County, Arkansas. He is the son of Arkansas State Trooper
Arkansas State Police
The Arkansas State Police is the state police agency for Arkansas, which has jurisdiction anywhere in the state. It was created to protect the lives, property and constitutional rights of people in Arkansas...
Earl Swagger (Earl was also a former Marine
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
First Sergeant
First Sergeant
First sergeant is the name of a military rank used in many countries, typically a senior non-commissioned officer.-Singapore:First Sergeant is a Specialist in the Singapore Armed Forces. First Sergeants are the most senior of the junior Specialists, ranking above Second Sergeants, and below Staff...
and Medal of Honor
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed by the President, in the name of Congress, upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her...
recipient) and June Swagger. Bob Lee had a natural gift for firearms from an early age, something seemingly possessed by all male Swaggers. He had a half brother, named Lamar Pye, the product of a one night stand between his father and Edie White Pye.
After his father died in 1955, Bob Lee joined the Marines, forging a successful career as a Marine Sniper. Bob Lee served three tours in Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, working with Special Operations, and earned the nickname 'Bob the Nailer' for his uncanny ability with a rifle. Despite official counts crediting him with 87 combat kills, in reality he has killed a total of 391 men, with his most notable success being an engagement with a battalion of the North Vietnamese Army who were closing on a lightly defended Special Forces Base. Bob Lee and his spotter, Lance Corporal Donny Fenn, succeeded in delaying the battalion for two days until air support could arrive, and during the engagement Bob Lee killed in excess of 80 enemy troops, only stopping when his ammunition ran out.
While serving in Vietnam, Swagger was shot in the hip from a distance of 1400 meters by T. Solaratov, a Soviet sniper who also killed Fenn soon after with a shot to the chest from the same distance.
Bob Lee was retired by the Marine Corps in 1975, suffering from a permanent disability due to the hip wound. He became an alcoholic to numb his depression, which resulted in the break-up of his first marriage, and he retreated to a hermitic existence on family land near Blue Eye. Sworn off killing, he hunts trophy deer using an innovative paintball style bullet which stuns them for several minutes, during which he saws off their antlers so they are no longer attractive to trophy hunters.
The events of Point of Impact
Point of Impact
Point of Impact is a 1993 thriller novel by award-winning author Stephen Hunter.-Plot introduction:The plot revolves around a former Vietnam sniper named Bob Lee Swagger or Bob 'the Nailer'. This character is loosely based upon the real Vietnam sniper and Marine Corps legend Carlos Hathcock...
begin at this stage of his life (1992) when he is approached by a clandestine organization to prevent the assassination of the President by a highly trained sniper, who he is told is the same sniper who shot him and killed his spotter. When the assassination attempt kills a visiting dignitary from Salvador, Bob Lee finds himself framed as the 'lone gunman'. With the help of Nick Memphis, an FBI agent assigned to the case, and attorney Sam Vincent, an old friend of Earl Swagger, Bob Lee manages to clear his name and destroy the people who set him up.
He goes on to marry Julie Fenn, the widow of his spotter, and they have a daughter, Nikki Swagger. In Black Light
Black Light (Novel)
-Plot summary:There are two interconnected plots that unfold simultaneously in this novel; one is set in the present, and deals with Bob Lee Swagger and Russ Pewtie, while the other is set in 1955, and deals with Bob Lee's father, Earl, and the events leading up to his death.This book catches the...
, Swagger unravels a conspiracy behind the murder of his father by a prominent presidential candidate.
In Time to Hunt
Time to Hunt
Time to Hunt is a 1999 thriller novel, and the third in the Bob Lee Swagger series by Stephen Hunter. In narrative sequence it is preceded by Point of Impact and Black Light.-Plot summary:...
, Swagger solves the mystery of his spotter's death, which culminates into a duel with a Solaratov. This novel also depicts a portion of Bob Lee's service in the Vietnam War.
The fourth Bob Lee Swagger novel, The 47th Samurai
The 47th Samurai
The 47th Samurai is a 2007 thriller novel, and the fourth in the Bob Lee Swagger series by Stephen Hunter. In narrative sequence it is preceded by Point of Impact, Black Light, and Time to Hunt.-Plot:...
, was published on September 11, 2007. In this novel, Bob Lee travels to Japan to return a samurai sword recovered by his father in World War II to its rightful owner, but quickly finds himself wrapped up in yet another deadly plot. This novel reveals the story of Earl's tour of duty on Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima, officially , is an island of the Japanese Volcano Islands chain, which lie south of the Ogasawara Islands and together with them form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The island is located south of mainland Tokyo and administered as part of Ogasawara, one of eight villages of Tokyo...
.
The fifth novel, Night of Thunder, was published in 2008. In this novel Swagger, at 63 yrs old, is trying to find out who ran his 24 yr old daughter Nikki off the road in an attempt on her life. Set in NASCAR country and centered around the big race at Bristol, the Grumleys from Hunter's "Hot Springs
Hot Springs (novel)
Hot Springs 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, Arkansas...
" re-appear in this novel. Once again Swagger finds himself hunting the hunters and at his advanced age is still shooting straight and fast. He makes his way through Malvern and Sheridan.
The sixth novel, I, Sniper
I, Sniper
I, Sniper is a novel by Stephen Hunter, published by Simon and Schuster in 2009. It is Hunter's sixth novel whose hero is Bob Lee Swagger, a U. S. Marine Corps sniper who first appears in Point of Impact which is partially set in the Vietnam War...
, was published in 2009. In this novel, the FBI enlists Bob Lee's help in investigating the murders of several prominent 1960s Vietnam war protesters. Although the evidence initially points to former Marine sniper Carl Hitchcock (based on Carlos Hathcock
Carlos Hathcock
Carlos Hathcock was a United States Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant sniper with a service record of 93 confirmed kills. Hathcock's record and the extraordinary details of the missions he undertook made him a legend in the Marine Corps...
), Bob Lee quickly discovers that Hitchcock was framed for the murders and sets out to find the real killer. His investigation takes him into the world of modern military sniper warfare, which technology has altered greatly since his days in Vietnam.
The seventh Bob Lee Swagger novel, "Dead Zero", released Dec. 28th 2010, and is set in the current global war on terror. A marine sniper named Ray Cruz, on an assassination mission, is betrayed, and in the time after, the target, Ibrahim Zarzi, also known as "the beheader" becomes a prospective Afghan Presidential candidate. Zarzi professes loyalty to the U.S. after attempts on his life, but Cruz resurfaces to complete the mission. Bob Lee Swagger is brought in as a consultant by request of Assistant Director Nick Memphis, friendly with Swagger since the events of 'Point of Impact' and C.I.A. Agent Susan Okada, of 'The 47th Samurai'. Swagger is asked to help find Cruz, but along the way becomes sympathetic of Cruz and doubts his guilt. Later it is revealed that Cruz is Swagger's son, byproduct of a previously unknown marriage to a Vietnamese woman who was killed during the Tet Offensive. The loss of his wife and disappearance of the baby, it is theorized, motivated Swagger to take a third tour of duty, this time as a Sniper, and establishing his legend.
In Dead Zero,Swagger moves from action hero to detective and strategist. Other elements in Dead Zero new to the Bob Lee Swagger novels are the inclusion of Private Security Contractors and their presence in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. One of the plot elements is a three man team referred to as "unidentified contractor team". They use the M82 Barrett Sniper Rifle, also new to this series.
Other devices new in this series are a miniature transponder called an "active RFID" or RFID tag.
The use of "drones" (remote controlled unmanned aerial vehicles) is also new in this novel, and on the final page of the novel, Swagger is figuratively seen as using a drone for a sniper kill.
"Dead Zero" in sniper and precision shooting usage refers to the desirable state of affairs where after several trial shots (called "Ranging Shots") the horizontal cross-hair in the optical reticle have been adjusted for the distance and elevation of the target, and the vertical cross-hair has been adjusted for windage, and so the crossing of the two in the field of view of the shooter corresponds to the anticipated point of impact. The cross-hairs meet on the target just as one sees on movie and TV use of telescopic sights
Shooter
Point of ImpactPoint of Impact
Point of Impact is a 1993 thriller novel by award-winning author Stephen Hunter.-Plot introduction:The plot revolves around a former Vietnam sniper named Bob Lee Swagger or Bob 'the Nailer'. This character is loosely based upon the real Vietnam sniper and Marine Corps legend Carlos Hathcock...
is the basis for the movie Shooter, starring Mark Wahlberg
Mark Wahlberg
Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg is an American actor, film and television producer, and former rapper. He was known as Marky Mark in his earlier years, and became famous for his 1991 debut as a musician with the band Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. He was named No. 1 on VH1's 40 Hottest Hotties of...
as Swagger. The film takes place in present day, with many of the circumstances updated to a contemporary setting.