Front Sight by Stephen Hunter

Anyone who has paid attention to this blog knows that one of our favorite writers is Stephen Hunter who has entertained us repeatedly with stories about the Swagger men. He brought us Charles Swagger, an investigator for the Justice Department, who brought down John Dillinger. Charles' son Earl, after WW2 heroics on Iwo Jima became an Arkansas State Trooper without peer who and settled scores all across the south. Then there is Earl's boy Bob Lee (aka, Bob the Nailer), the #2 sniper of the Vietnam era whose sense of right and wrong can't be denied. 

And now, he gives us novellas about all three in Front Sight, brand spanking new for summer 2024.

City of Meat. Charles Swagger is working Chicago on the trail of Baby Face Nelson. A tip sends him to the city stockyards where he discovers a down on his luck hobo acting crazy, forces himself on Charles who defends himself the best way he knows . . . with his .44. The precinct crime scene team is set to just toss it off. Who's gonna miss another bum? But that won't sit with Charles. Then another out of control derelict. Then another. With the help of Washington, a beat cop, Charles works the cases nobody wants. The effects of a new street drug raises the stakes

Johnny Tuesday. A small town bank robbery in the eastern peninsula of Maryland leaves a couple citizens dead along with a few puzzling clues. Clues that implicate local political corruption, drug smuggling, and plans for what could turn small town Maryland into Las Vegas before Vegas became Vegas. How Earl gets involved in a case so distant from his Arkansas home is almost as big a part of the story as the bank robbery. 

Five Dolls for the Gut Hook. Bob Lee is back home from Vietnam carrying his demons around in a whiskey bottle. He's awakened from his latest hangover by some Hot Springs, Arkansas detectives. Seems a serial killer is targeting working girls in the Hot Springs area and the cops are stumped. Seeing as how Bob Lee is from the family tree of two legendary Arkansas' policemen, the cops think Bob Lee might be able to look at what's going on with a fresh set of eyes. So Bob Lee has to struggle with his own demons while he tracks down the killer before he can claim another victim. 

Three short tales. Three great stories. Three of the best to worship at the altar of The Gun. For Swagger fans, this is without a doubt, not to be missed. No question. Summer reading perfection.

East Coast Don