The Third Bullet Audiobook By Stephen Hunter cover art

The Third Bullet

Bob Lee Swagger, Book 8

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The Third Bullet

By: Stephen Hunter
Narrated by: Buck Schirner
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About this listen

It’s not even a clue. It’s a whisper, a trace, a ghost echo, drifting down through the decades via chance connections so fragile that they would disintegrate in the puff of a breath. But it’s enough to get legendary former Marine sniper Bob Lee Swagger interested in the events of November 22, 1963, and the third bullet that so decisively ended the life of John F. Kennedy and set the stage for one of the most enduring controversies of our time.

Swagger begins his slow night stalk through a much-traveled landscape. But he’s asking questions that few have asked before: Why did the third bullet explode? Why did Lee Harvey Oswald, about to become the most hunted man on Earth, risk it all by returning to his rooming house to secure a pistol he easily could have brought with him? How could a conspiracy that went unpenetrated for 50 years have been thrown together in the two and a half days between the announcement of the president’s route and the assassination itself?

As Bob investigates, another voice enters the narrative: knowing, ironic, almost familiar, that of a gifted, Yale-educated veteran of the CIA Plans Division. Hugh Meachum has secrets and the means and the will to keep them buried. When weighed against his own legacy, Swagger’s life is an insignificant expense - but to blunt the threat, he’ll first have to ambush the sniper.

As each man hunts the other across today’s globe and through the thickets of history, The Third Bullet builds to an explosive climax that will finally prove what Bob Lee Swagger has always known: It’s never too late for justice.

©2013 Stephen Hunter (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, Inc.
Action & Adventure Historical Mystery Thriller & Suspense Espionage Suspense Witty Fiction Military

What listeners say about The Third Bullet

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EXCELLENT, excellent, excellent . . . . .

What made the experience of listening to The Third Bullet the most enjoyable?

I've always been horrified by the events of November 22, 1963 - I knew the Warren commission missed the mark on several points. No matter how many documentaries I watched on the assassination, there was always something about that final, fatal event that made me grind my teeth. Something very ugly was lurking beneath the surface, something much more ugly than Lee Harvey Oswald. Stephen Hunter does an excellent job of laying it out - fact or fiction, this story is gripping and stimulating in so many different categories describing events and possibilities that had not occurred to me. After doing my own research and pondering this tragic story for over twenty years, now I know how it COULD have been done. Extremely well written and Buck Schirner was just the right fit to tell the story. Probably the most intriguing and powerful book I have ever been treated to - had to be a massive amount of research that went into this masterpiece. Only one problem . . . . . . . now what? What can I find that can possibly come anywhere near this . . .

What did you like best about this story?

Answered a very big burning question that I have had my whole life. How could a conspiracy have been pulled off? Stephen Hunter tells us exactly how it could have been done.

Have you listened to any of Buck Schirner’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

This was my first Buck Shirner book - he is fantastic

Any additional comments?

Cudos to Stephen Hunter - what an amazing work he has done here

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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WOW

Any additional comments?

Perhaps the best of the Bob Swagger series. It takes a while to develop but then engulfs with a desperation to continue.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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this book kept exceeding expectations

What made the experience of listening to The Third Bullet the most enjoyable?

great blend of excellent story and wonderful reading

Who was your favorite character and why?

the villain, Hugh Meacham...although fictitious, he represents the perfect missing puzzle piece to a historical mystery.

Which scene was your favorite?

the final scene.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

many!

Any additional comments?

the writer and reader both surprised me with how they kept taking the story and performance to another level. Although a fiction, this may have been the most plausible explanation yet for the unanswered questions regarding the event.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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awesome

loved this book. kept me captivated the entire time. Well done. Look forward to the next book by Mr. Hunter.

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Another great Swagger story

the story has a lot of detail that appeals to gun people. The performance delivered the story much better than actually reading the book.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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One of my go to favorite reads

Absolutely fantastic book. Perfect narrator for the material, plausible historical fiction, and action packed. I’ve listened to this book 4-5 times and always find something new. I am a Stephen Hunter fan and in my mind, this is his best. Just enough fun stuff, just enough tough guy.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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I'm A Stephen Hunter Fan, But. . .

This one just didn't move very much. Too many long, boring recitations and story very slow to progress. The premise is well-thought out, but the story never engaged me and I'm old enough to remember the events of November 22, 1963.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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Very good.

I enjoyed it very much. So full of facts I did not know about the Kennedy assassination.

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  • Overall
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another good Bob Lee adventure

book starts out good as all the Bob Lee books do but gets very slow in the middle found it hard to stay engaged for a few chapters but came back at the end

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    4 out of 5 stars
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a snipers tale

Bob Lee rides again a little older and a little wiser...
another good read always a pleasure

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