Rating: 
Summary: Early work shows potential of writer who created Bob Swagger
Review: The earliest works of Tom Clancy were criticized as "techno-thrillers" in which the author forgot to put the people inside the machines. The same criticism can be leveled at "The Master Sniper"--but there's an important difference.The antagonist in this novel is Krepp, the Meisterschutze, or Master Sniper, who is admittedly a soulless robot. It is not until Hunter's later works that we learn that this soullessness is an important component of the personality of a successful sniper. ..But his protagonists, both American and British, are an interesting mix of heroic impulses and all-too-human flaws. Thriller readers who know anything at all about firearms are accustomed to seeing novels which are rife with mistakes about the nature and effect of small arms. Don't expect to see any of these mistakes in Hunter's work. An avid shooter as well as an author, Hunter's love of guns and shooting shines through in all his books.
Rating: 
Summary: Ho hum.
Review: The Master Sniper is not the greatest claim to fame for Stephen Hunter. If you can only read one Hunter book ... don't make it be this one. If there's no Swagger in it, it's not your first choice. This is a 'hardware' book, and it's so wrapped up in the nightscope-and-subsonic-ammunition gimmick that it doesn't really have the ring of authenticity that you'll find in, say, "Point of Impact". The folks who enjoy WWII spy adventures will be enchanted with it. But the PEOPLE who populate this book just don't seem as real as those which Hunter creates for the Swagger books. Jerry the (Buy it after you've bought all the Bob the Nailer books, though) Geek
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting, yet confusing at times.
Review: The Master Sniper was good. It's down points are when he has a lot of run on sentences and carries on with stuff and begins to bore you. When he does get to the point, he does a great job at it and I recommend reading this book.
Rating:
Summary: Glad I gave Hunter another chance.
Review: This book has interesting points in the story, and the main character is definitely the most interesting. I found his lonely trek across war torn Europe to be the most captivating part of the book. However, the main fault that keeps this book from being very good is the object of the mission. For some reason, I just do not find it to be particularly believable. For those who read this and find it as unbelievable as I, read The Day Before Midnight. It is militarily fake, but the story is inifinitely better
Rating: 
Summary: A must read for action/thriller lovers.
Review: This is a fantastic book that was nearly impossible to put down. This was the first Hunter book I read and now I am addicted.
Rating:
Summary: The Master Sniper Sniped
Review: This is a pretty good book written about a sniper hand picked by the fuhrer himself to further the cause of the third reich. A new shooting aid called vampir is developed and herr Repp practices with it on 26 Jewish prisoners during a dark evening in the black forest. Unbelieveably one of the prisoners escapes and makes it to safety with U.S officers. This war zone escapee plays a big part in the "good guys" catching the "bad guy". The novel takes you on a trip with Herr Repp to a special kill zone. Read the book to find out who Repp plans on shooting with the aid of the newly developed vampir. Find out also what happens to Repp. Not as good as the "Swagger" stories, but well worth your time..
Rating:
Summary: The Master Sniper
Review: This is by far the best work that the author, Stephen Hunter, has ever done. His use if imagery to describe the lifestyles of the people in the mid 1940's was amazing. The overall sense and feel of the scene in which the Jewish prisoners are set free into a large open field just to be killed by a "Master Sniper" is awe inspiring and actually makes the reader feel like he/she is in the field with his/her dying comrades.
Stephen hunter also uses slang and vernacular very prominently in this novel. His use of the German language in some parts of the book makes the reader feel like he/she is listening to an official German conversation and listening in on history. In some parts of the book, the gem and language actually seems scary in the way they speak, or their slang/idioms.
One other literary device that Hunter significantly uses is personification. Hunter highly personifies bullets in this novel. Once, he calls a bullet sneaky, and muscular, thus, using personification to give human-like qualities to a little piece of metal. He also uses imagery to deeply set the mood of a bullet entering the body of a defenseless person that has no idea that they are even targeted. The imagery is very outstanding in this book, as well as all of the literary devices mentioned. I would recommend this book to anyone that is interested in historical fiction, Nazis, guns, or the holocaust time period. I give this book four stars.
Rating:
Summary: War in the Pacific is not the only theater he wrote about
Review: This is not another Bob Lee Swagger tale, although it is about a sniper. Not a Marine Corps sniper, but a Wermacht sniper, in the last days of World War II. Apparently, Stephen Hunter likes to "reach out and touch someone" in his stories. He does a lot of stories based on snipers.
Hunter, by the way, spent his military service in the Army, not the Marine Corps. His bio does not discuss his Army experience, but he has encyclopedic knowledge about firearms, and if he makes a statement about a given model of firearm, or its ballistics, you can bet that he's done his research. He's done a lot of reading on the subject, but how much experience he has, again, is a questionmark. Not, I think, a competitive shooter.
This tale looks at the Office of Strategic Services (reinvented as the CIA) of "Wild Bill" Donovan during WWII, (much like Claire Chennault's Civil Air Transpory was reborn as Air America, the CIA outfit) and the Brit intelligence apparatus, for part of its setting. I was interested to see, again, a reference to Ernest Hemingway--not too flattering. He was also in Hunter's novel, Havana--drunk there, too. I wonder what Hunter has against Papa? Apparently just doesn't like him. I always did.
Another theme in this book is a strong current of sympathy for the Jewish people--not that they didn't deserve it, but I have noticed in Hunter's other books an almost obsessiveness about showing how badly treated were the blacks in the old South. He does seem to get caught up in these matters, a champion of the "underdog", although he uses variations on the "n-word" freely throughout all of his books, and I've read several of them.
These are not just fault-finding comments. Stephen Hunter is currently my favorite author in his genre, as I've said before. He's a wonderful storyteller. But, I think I've accurately detected both his political bent and his agenda, if he has one besides simply writing great stories. He's that rarity, a liberal who knows something about firearms, and may even be infatuated with them. I wish him well, and hope he continues to write great novels to a ripe old age.
Joseph (Joe) Pierre, USN (Ret)
author of Handguns and Freedom...their care and maintenance
and other books
Rating:
Summary: A good WWII fiction read..
Review: This story was great in respect to its' plot and characters. Leets is a hero for all of us of a similar description. Repp appeared soulless, yet seemed to be trying to obtain one. Schumel had the soul, but seemed destined for the higher place for which he was prepared. The remaining characters blended well with the plot and the main characters. My only question is the time line. The whole scenario is completed in such a short period of time. From the smallest piece of evidence to the ending seems unrealistic for 1945. Other than that limitation, this is an excellent read for those who enjoy WWII mystery and intrigue.
Rating:
Summary: average
Review: This was a disappointment after having read some of Hunter's other work. Some improvements on technical points versus previous books. The story is best described as flat
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