Diane P. (KentuckyReader) - reviewed The Fourth Book in the Bob Lee Swagger series on 5/28/2009 + 37 more book reviews

This is the book that Stephen Hunter brings together father-and-son: Earl Swagger, World War II hero and hard-nosed cop, and Bob Lee Swagger,ex-marine & Vietnam sniper. Until now, Earl and Bob have each starred in their own books. (Bob in the Bob Lee Swagger series & Earl in the Earl Swagger series: both by Stephen Hunter)

Yano's Japanese father was killed by Earl Swagger at Iwo Jima in 1945. 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, and Bob Lee, who pledges himself to Yano's quest.

Bob Lee finds the sword and then discovers it is not a standard WWII blade, but a legendary shin-shinto katana, an artifact of the nation. 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.

This is probably Hunters most violent noveland thats saying somethingbut 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.

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