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The 47th Samurai: A Bob Lee Swagger Novel (Bob Lee Swagger Novels Book 4) by [Stephen Hunter]

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Stephen Hunter

The 47th Samurai: A Bob Lee Swagger Novel (Bob Lee Swagger Novels Book 4) Kindle Edition

by Stephen Hunter (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

1,049 ratings

Book 4 of 12: Bob Lee Swagger

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In The 47th Samurai, Bob Lee Swagger, the gritty hero of Stephen Hunter's bestselling novels Point of Impact and Time to Hunt, returns in this intense and exotic thriller.

Bob Lee Swagger and Philip Yano are bound together by a single moment at Iwo Jima, 1945, when their fathers, two brave fighters on opposite sides, met in the bloody and chaotic battle for the island. Only Earl Swagger survived.

More than sixty years later, Yano comes to America to honor the legacy of his heroic father by recovering the sword he used in the battle. His search has led him to Crazy Horse, Idaho, where Bob Lee, ex-marine and Vietnam veteran, has settled into a restless retirement and immediately pledges himself to Yano's quest.

Bob Lee finds the sword and delivers it to Yano in Tokyo. On inspection, they discover that it is not a standard WWII blade, but a legendary shin-shinto katana, an artifact of the nation. It is priceless but worth killing for. Suddenly Bob is at the center of a series of terrible crimes he barely understands but vows to avenge. And to do so, he throws himself into the world of the samurai, Tokyo's dark, criminal yakuza underworld, and the unwritten rules of Japanese culture.

Swagger's allies, hard-as-nails, American-born Susan Okada and the brave, cocaine-dealing tabloid journalist Nick Yamamoto, help him move through this strange, glittering, and ominous world from the shady bosses of the seamy Kabukicho district to officials in the highest echelons of the Japanese government, but in the end, he is on his own and will succeed only if he can learn that to survive samurai, you must become samurai.

As the plot races and the violence escalates, it becomes clear that a ruthless conspiracy is in place, and the only thing that can be taken for granted is that money, power, and sex can drive men of all nationalities to gruesome extremes. If Swagger hopes to stop them, he must be willing not only to die but also to kill.

Print length

423 pages
Language

English
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On Kindle Scribe
Publisher

Simon & Schuster
Publication date

September 11, 2007
File size

4610 KB
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Hunter is a great entertainer, one of our finest practitioners of the classic blood-soaked and propulsive American thriller. With fluid, confident prose he writes big stories of a man, mostly alone, who must go forth for us all and slay the dragon." —The Washington Post

About the Author

Stephen Hunter has written over twenty novels. The retired chief film critic for The Washington Post, where he won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Distinguished Criticism, he has also published two collections of film criticism and a nonfiction work, American Gunfight. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland.

From Publishers Weekly

Bob Lee Swagger, retired marine master sniper and hero of bestseller Hunter's 1993 thriller, Point of Impact (forthcoming as the film Shooter), returns in this riveting homage to the myth of the samurai. Philip Yano, the son of the Japanese officer who commanded the bunker on Iwo Jima where Swagger's marine father won the Medal of Honor in 1945, approaches Swagger about a missing sword wielded by his father, Hideki, during the battle for the island. The sword turns out to be not just a family heirloom but a national treasure that evokes echoes from the most sacrosanct corners of Japanese history. Yano's search reveals there are those who will gladly kill for the honor it bestows upon the possessor. Plunged into a Japan where honor and loyalty outweigh even one's own life, Swagger finds that an old warrior like himself still has much to understand. While the action builds to the inevitable climax, the joy of the journey will keep readers turning the pages. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* This is the novel Hunter's fans have been waiting for, the book that brings together his father-and-son protagonists: Earl Swagger, World War II hero and hard-nosed cop, and Bob Lee Swagger, Vietnam sniper and, like his father, the kind of guy who can't say no to righteous violence. Until now, Earl and Bob have each starred in their own books, but this time, ingeniously, Hunter brings them together when Bob is contacted by a retired Japanese soldier, Philip Yano, who believes that his father's samurai sword may have wound up in Earl's hands after the war. Bob tracks down the sword, travels to Japan, and presents it to Yano—after which the Yano family is slaughtered. Bob could walk away, but, of course, he doesn't. Throwing himself into samurai culture, he learns swordsmanship from a master and sets off to avenge the Yanos—and, in a sense, his father. Sure, this sounds clichéd, but much of Hunter's genius comes from his ability to manipulate archetypes—especially the classic western scenario of the lone avenger—drawing on the almost subconscious pull these themes exert on the reader but always infusing them with multiple layers of complexity. As Bob is drawn into the samurai world, and tension builds to the inevitable confrontation with his adversary—a modern samurai seduced by the dark side—Hunter simultaneously fuels our need for bloody resolution and reveals the horrors wrought by devotion to honor and duty. But this time he does it with parallel narratives—juxtaposing the story of Earl Swagger and Philip Yano's father against the contemporary drama and playing off the same themes across generations. This is probably Hunter's most violent novel—and that's saying something—but violence may have never been more integral to story than it is here. Hunter celebrates the samurai soldier while showing the appalling underside of the samurai way of life and the ideals that drive it. Ott, Bill --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From AudioFile

Buck Schirners deep drawl recounts 60-year-old Bob Lee Swaggers decision to come out of retirement to find a samurai sword. When he is visited by Philip Yano, Swagger is reminded of his own experiences in war, as well as his fathers heroism in WWII. Yano seeks his fathers sword, and Bob Lee is persuaded to help him. When he succeeds, he brings it to Japan, where its arrival causes the murder of Yano and his family. Turning into a sort of cowboy samurai, Bob Lee is determined to avenge their deaths. Schirner makes easy transitions from American to Japanese characters as Swagger strides through Japan. And in Hunters scenes from WWII, Schirner just as easily portrays the world of Iwo Jima. S.W. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B000SEKGSO
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Simon & Schuster; Reprint edition (September 11, 2007)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 11, 2007
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 4610 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 423 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #40,083 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #244 in Suspense Action Fiction
- #286 in Mystery Action Fiction (Kindle Store)
- #434 in Mystery Action & Adventure

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Stephen Hunter

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Stephen Hunter won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Criticism as well as the 1998 American Society of Newspaper Editors Award for Distinguished Writing in Criticism for his work as film critic at The Washington Post. He is the author of several bestselling novels, including Time to Hunt, Black Light, Point of Impact, and the New York Times bestsellers Havana, Pale Horse Coming, and Hot Springs. He lives in Baltimore.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5

1,049 global ratings

5 star		67%
4 star		20%
3 star		8%
2 star		2%
1 star		3%

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Larry Mazella

Another great swagger book

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 14, 2022

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Great story. Different than the previous ones, but extremely enjoyable. I definitely recommend this series to anybody that enjoys military type stories.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 2, 2022

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This is one of the most exciting yet informative books I have read. I learned so much about Japanese culture and Samauri history. Constant movement in the story and dead spots. All very exciting. Cant wait to read the next B.L. Swagger book!!

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Craig Harris

Bob Lee ADAPTS, of course - he's a Marine!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 2, 2007

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I've read most of the previous reviews and while I understand and respect those opinions, my own take on "The 47th Samurai" is different enough to take the time to share it.

First, I've enjoyed the heck out of everything Stephen Hunter has written though some have been near-perfect and some less satisfying. I read this kind of book for enjoyment - heart-pounding page-turning fun. I don't expect the same degree of accuracy and objectivity as a history. There's a suspension of disbelief to all literature, and I'm willing to play along as a reader to get the kick the author is trying to deliver as long as the author is practicing his craft with some skill and integrity.

Second, I come to this book as a life-long Japanophile, a student of Japanese history and culture, a collector of Japanese swords and other "things Samurai," a student of Iaido, and as a bookseller specializing in out of print books related to Asia, especially Japan. I could have gotten hung up on minor errors but I chose to let them pass by and not ruin my fun. Many of the reviews focus on how unbelievable it is that Bob Lee could have learned what he did about the sword in a week. That was some intense week though 24 x 7 works out to about 2 years of an hour and half or so in dojo which is the most training the average martial arts student in the West gets. Japan is different, and if you want to learn how it's possible to get a black belt in Aikido in a year (with nights and weekends off to heal) hunt down a book called "Angry White Pyjamas." ASIN 0688175376 Angry White Pyjamas: A Scrawny Oxford Poet Takes Lessons From The Tokyo Riot Police

What I see is Bob Lee Swagger - archetypical Marine - being adaptable - which might be the best one-word definition of "Marine." Sure "47th Samurai" is not perfect - what is? - and it's not "Point of Impact" - what could be? - but for my money it was a great ride and I'll be recommending it to hundreds on the Japanese sword collector, Samurai history, and Iaido email lists. I hope lots of them pick it up, and I bet most of them enjoy meeting Bob Lee Swagger and find the other books enjoyable as well.

(I'm giving it 5 stars since 4 1/2 was not an option.)

3 people found this helpful

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Norman

Swagger as Samurai

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 3, 2009

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I just do not understand these silly critics. Honestly, I immensely like everything that Stephen Hunter has written, except the very early pre-Swagger stories. He is currently the living treasure of the thriller.

Apparently there is no one as pedantic as a fiction critic. Personally, I'd say Hunter just gets better and better, but for the fact that his mid-career Point of Impact and Time To Hunt were his utter zenith, on the order of Hamlet and King Lear. And yes, the analogy to him as the Shakespeare of our generation is deliberate. Remember, in Elizabethan times, entertainment was for non-readers. He has the same atavistic instincts and gift for phrasing.

My gosh. Here is a guy who writes tough, writes literately and even understands guns (to a level I appreciate) and real gunmen, the US military, politics, American culture and the weaknesses thereof, and how to create and nurture the story of an iconic hero. How could you do better in today's writing culture? I personally know about many of the topics about which he writes. Criticizing his facts about, say, Japanese swordsmanship is immature. He's creating a story, and a good one. It is fiction, folks.

Every 20 years or so a master of thrillers comes along, say the sublime Geoffrey Household, Alistair Maclean, Dick Francis, and currently Stephen Hunter, and all too ready are those who chirp up complain about petty details. Let's acknowledge our world treasures.

It is like chomping on Shakespeare because he wrote a few plays that were not up to Hamlet. Ridiculous. Let the guy write and enjoy our blessings.

Personally, I thought a few of his references to Japan were somewhat puerile. And that I, having lived here for close to 20 years, if he had only known, could have done better in advising him here in Osaka than some of the journalists in Tokyo. However, overall he did a great job. As for the sword and samurai data, let's indulge a fiction writer. It was NOT bad.

Hunter would be a good man to ride the river with.

One person found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on November 9, 2015

Verified Purchase

ordered on Friday, delivered on Saturday, book as described, what more could I ask for.....

Dean

Swagger at his best.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 26, 2017

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Great action, thoughtfully delivered. Swagger is unbeatable. Highly recommended.

Galland5

The 47th samurai

Reviewed in Italy 🇮🇹 on March 19, 2019

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C' è poco da dire oltwre a quello che ho già qespresso in merito ai precedenti libri. Quwesto libro ha però dalla sua parte questa avventura in un Giappone "underground" cioè non visibile ne identificabile da chiunque, ma solo da persone come Bob Lee e queei pochi altri come lui.
Bel lavoro Stephen!!!!:-):-)
Galland5:-P:-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-)

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Tricia O

Tricia

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on February 22, 2019

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This is why I don’t try to write a book. Stephan hunter writes like no one else. Make sure you have nothing to do for a day!!!!

Joseph J. Hofer

Finally it arrived

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on June 29, 2020

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It was a used book, a bit worn, but I just finished reading it. it is quite a tale worth reading.

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