The Bullet Garden by Stephen Hunter

In the days before D-Day, groups of soldiers were parachuted behind German lines to destroy bridges to make reinforcements to Normandy difficult. Lt. Leets is dropped into eastern France. The bridge is in sight. The team has their mission and need help of the local resistance. When the assault on the bridge is made, the resistance force is withdrawn, the team is mostly destroyed, but Lt. Leets does manage to partially cripple their target and escape with a minor wound. He knows the truth, but not the details. Someone leaked information to the Germans. They were waiting. 

In the weeks after D-Day, the Allies push inland on a merciless assault on the Nazis. Once a foothold in Europe has been secured, multiple fronts are lined up to push east. One front goes more northerly while another heads towards the south. The main force is to lead the way heading for Paris and then Germany. If they can just get out of those damnable hedgerows and plow fields.

One the western side, you have the Allies. Massive infantry. Sherman tanks. Artillery. None of which were prepared for the terrain. On the eastern side, the Germans wait. They too have amassed infantry and artillery. And the dreaded Tiger and Panzer tanks whose designs are years in advance of the Allies.

In between lay those farm fields bordered by centuries-old hedgerows. Little is happening on this front. Allied night patrols head out to gather information about enemy strengths. Problem in that when a squad commander peaks up over the mounds surrounding the fields, they get picked off. Single shot. Head shot. Cut down in the dark or in that tweener hour between night and day. For weeks, the Allies lose hundreds of command level soldiers. To say that these nearly silent gunners have also shot down Allied morale is an understatement. Squad and group commanders are scared shitless to head out on patrol in fear of getting picked off one by one. The expanse dividing the two armies has been named by the in-the-dirt allied soldiers:

The Bullet Garden

That a bunch of German snipers have effectively stalled the advance of the main allied force has Eisenhower infuriated. The snipers must be beaten to keep the balance of the war in favor of the Allies. Ike entrusts the mission to the newly hatched OSS. Find the best shooters in the US military. Give them anything and everything they need to break this stalemate.

The buck eventually makes its way to a Marine Gunnery Sergeant at Parris Island teaching recruits how to shoot while recovering from wounds suffered in the Pacific theater: Gunnery Sergeant Earl Swagger. He’s not too thrilled at sitting out the war in South Carolina so when the call comes from the Supreme Commander (even though he is Army and not Marine), Earl says, ‘let’s go’ (as if he had a choice). Upon arrival and after only a few days, Earl has earned the reputation of being a War God. One of those types for whom war and the razor’s edge the warrior treads is the only place where they are truly alive.

Earl is teamed up with Lt. Leets and a small cadre of go-fers to help Swagger’s investigation. Earl knows how to shoot, of course. More importantly, he knows how to hunt. Given the number of GIs killed by a single bullet, Earl knows he is hunting a team of snipers. And the successful hunter gathers as much intel as possible before making his strike. He must learn about the primary shooter, the sniper’s team, how and where the lead shooter learned his craft, the weapons being used, the ammunition, the camouflage, the terrain, the day-to-day weather, where the shooters are positioned, how the dead where killed, what was happening at the time of the kill. Details mere mortals like us can never fathom. All the while dealing with officer squabbling and jealousy, petty political infighting, trips back and forth from London to the front, a seriously hot assistant to Swagger’s immediate superior, the nighttime London parties where the real deals get planned . . . and whomever is leaking information about Allied plans.

Once Earl gets the profile of his opponent defined (and to use a phrase used in other Hunter books): It’s time to hunt.

If you’ve landed here on the Men Reading Books site, we are betting you already know that the boys at MRB believe in all things Swagger. In Earl (and Bob Lee) we trust. We’ve read all of Hunter’s novels over the years and trust me when I say this: Hunter ALWAYS delivers. This may be one of his longer novels, but I’m guessing it was one of the fastest reads.

Is Hunter the best thriller writer out there? I don’t know. That’s a subjective question. To borrow (and rephrase) a quote from the former Houston Oilers’ coach Bum Phillips (when discussing Earl Campbell): Hunter may not be in a class by himself . . . but it doesn’t take long to call the roll. Love the backstories of the Swagger men. This is the fourth Earl Swagger book. More have to be coming.  We now wait impatiently for the next chapter of the Swagger family saga.

In the meantime, if we awarded 1-5 stars for the books we review, this would get a 10. Thanks to the good folks at Atria Books and Emily Bestler Books for sending us both an advance reader copy. You all are the best.

 

East Coast Don & West Coast Don

 

p.s. I (ECD) keep telling you to pay attention to the publishers. I don’t know if Hunter went looking for a new publisher or this publisher went out and snatched him up. What I do know is that Emily Bestler Books now has Hunter is her stable of outstanding thriller writers and is well on the way to cornering the thriller market. I have yet to read a Emily Bestler Books thriller that wasn’t a top shelf adventure.

P.P.S. the bad news is that The Bullet Garden isn’t slated for publication until Jan 24, 2023. Put a note on your calendar . . . NOW, before you forget.