Soft Target - Stephen Hunter

Soft Target

By Stephen Hunter

  • Release Date: 2011-12-06
  • Genre: Mysteries & Thrillers
Score: 4
4
From 421 Ratings

Description

Another action-packed thriller from Stephen Hunter, this time starring Ray Cruz, the son of ex-Marine sniper Bob Lee Swagger, who was introduced in Hunter’s previous bestseller, Dead Zero.

Ten thousand people jam the aisles, the corridors, the elevators, and the escalators of America, the Mall—a giant Rubik’s Cube of a structure with its own amusement park located in the spacious center atrium. Of those people, 9,988 have come to shop. The other twelve have come to kill.

Ray Cruz, one of the heroes of Hunter’s last bestseller, Dead Zero, is in the mall with his fiancée and her family. The retired Marine sniper thought he was done with stalking and killing—but among the trapped thousands, he’s the only one with a plan and the guts to confront the self-proclaimed “Brigade Mumbai.” Now all he needs is a gun.

Reviews

  • Administrator unwarranted reward

    2
    By samthestringer
    Reward for being a bad administrator. Poor ending.
  • A lesser effort

    2
    By Someone who's been around
    This book's pleasures were overwhelmed by the author's disdain for namby-pamby liberals. He took a straightforward thriller plot and somehow turned it into an anti-Obama screed, if you can believe it. Is this what happens when we age: we dissolve into hackdom, surrendering to rage and frustration over life's fairness and end up as a grouchy crank? Because that's what this book suggests has happened to Stephen Hunter. You'd think he'd soon stop writing and sign up with Fox as a security analyst. But it looks like that hasnt happened just yet. I can only imagine how unpleasant his subsequent books have become. I won't be reading them.
  • It was Okay

    2
    By Mss review
    This work was recommended as a Jack Reacher alternative .... Not hardly. It started off slow and finally produced it's best action in the last 100 pages. To me the most disappointing thing was that the Obobo character (transparently crafted to resemble the community organizer currently playing at being the POTUS) never got his just reward for being totally incompetent. Over all I was disappointed and will not be reading any more of this author's works.
  • Soft Target

    3
    By Whughboy
    Very disappointing. I have read all of Hunter's works. They are spectacular. This one is ok, but pales in comparison to earlier books. Victim of pump um out for the bucks! Oh well, hunter is still one fine writer of thrillers. Bob Lee is my hero no matter what!
  • Disappointing

    1
    By JPerl52
    I've read 7or 8 of Hunter's books, and this is the first time that I have been disappointed. It felt like he tossed it off over a weekend - Little character development and a bare plot. Cruz is a potentially interesting character, but in this book he is little more than a gun-toter. The sub-plot about an ambitious, attention-seeking law enforcement administrator was initially interesting, but then was "wrapped up" in an obvious and simplistic way. This book pales in comparison to Hinter's best and the work of many other writers.
  • It's great!

    5
    By RiccoV
    Take it from a long time Bob Lee Swagger fan. This is a great ride. I only wish it were longer, but then I'd have been up all night reading.
  • Soft Target

    5
    By onegodboy
    Awesome!, page turning, suspenseful, intriguing, sweat producing
  • Garbled

    3
    By New Mexico Hokie
    This book had a great premise that the author did not fully develop. I found myself skipping chapters without losing any sense of the plot. The dialogue was predictable.
  • Worth it for Hunter junkies

    4
    By Leonardo DaVinci
    Not Hunter at his peak, but a peak at Hunter these days. If you, like me, just need a Hunter fix, this will suffice nicely. But it's no Havana or 47th Samurai.
  • Right on target.

    5
    By Stovepipe365
    I read the bad reviews and I think you guys missed the point. The parades are so right on. The story line is intricate. Good job Mr. Hunter.