A Review of The Third Bullet

I liked this book. It was a real adventure to read and even though it plodded along at times (I wouldn’t call it a “thriller.”), I guess it was kind of a suspense novel. Bob Lee Swagger is a former Marine sniper who gained fame in Vietnam. Now, he’s approached by the widow of a writer who was murdered in DC, potentially because he was on to something new with JFK’s assassination. So Bob takes this on, goes to Dallas, and starts snooping around. And almost immediately is the target of an assassination attempt, which he thwarts through some good shooting. Ah, the author is a gun man. He’s knows his guns and even though at times it feels like he’s nearly arrogant about his knowledge, he does make things seem realistic. Since the dead assassin is Russian, Swagger goes to Russia to look into some things and is attacked there. He escapes through some good shooting and the help of a colleague, a fellow sniper. At this point in the book, the author does something odd. He starts narrating chapters through the “diary” of the mastermind behind JFK’s assassination and it adds and takes away from the story. It adds, because we find out how it was actually accomplished and it’s fascinating reading. It takes away because it’s not entirely believable. As we go through the course of the story and Swagger gets closer to the truth, the diarist starts writing in “real time,” which obviously can’t be happening in real time. It stretches the imagination. Oh, there was indeed a second shooter, in a neighboring building. And there was a support team. And Oswald was a puppet. And the author is good. This really reads like nonfiction. Every tiny little detail is laid out for inspection, and then related to the reader as plausible, and it really works. While Swagger is debunking conspiracy theories, the author essentially creates a new one which is the best one I’ve heard/read yet. It’s really possible, or so you’re led to think. Of course, our hero — Swagger — has to track down the culprit and the final pages are action packed, so perhaps it’s a bit of a thriller, but the book has a largely satisfying ending, so that’s good. I’ve read a lot of reviews that say this book doesn’t stack up to other books by Hunter and some that have problems with the mastermind’s diary, like me, but I’m able to overlook that and enjoy, for the most part. Still, I’ve got to knock it down from five to four stars for that. However, it was a very detailed, well thought out book and I heartily recommend it.

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