Moves quickly, action packed, and completely and utterly implausible. The other novels have some stretches, this one doesn't even try to stay inside realistic bounds.

But it is still entertaining. Just leave your reality checks at the door. ( )

This really should have been called Swagger puts down his Gun, and picks up the Sword. I really enjoyed the story. But considering that I'll take fantasy over military, anime over hollywood, that doesn't come as a big surprise.   The backstory, the blood, the plotting, the guts, the wicked intense fight/battle at the end, it was great. When Swagger took on the 4 or 6 yakuza to save the swordpoliser and to get the sword back, that was cool.   BUT. The whole time I read I was rolling my eyes. Swagger is an old man, lets face it. He might be a very fit old man, but he's an old man who is a sniper. He is NOT a samurai prodigy. So when he became Insta-swordsman in a week and took out yakuza left and right and THEN took out the main swordsman, who has been practicing since he was 14'ish, I just threw up my hands and said "Fine, make Swagger be a swordsman. I like the story, I just don't care.".   This was an awesome story. But it wasn't a Bob Lee Swagger story, even though Hunter named the main character that.   So if you've liked the previous 3 books, I think you'll like this one. If you realize the inherent, internal inconsistencies and aren't bothered by them. " ( )

I enjoy reading the adventures of the Swagger family. I do wish this was at least placed earlier in the life of Bob Lee though. It becomes intolerable near the end, when an aging Bob Lee takes on a master swordsman nearer to his prime.

I really wish that part of the plot ran a little differently. Look at it this way - Bob was a Marine sniper who did a lot of work in wartime. He must understand that the only engagement someone should make by choice is through surprise and overwhelming firepower. A fair fight is a bad idea, even with his 'hardscrabble Arkansas' ethics. You could see some of that in how he approached the sword polisher's shop full of Yaks.

Knowing this, it would have made infinitely more sense if Bob either pulled out a gun and shot the bad guy (reminds me of a line in the original Killer Elite movie) or, perhaps even better, if the bad guy ended up sniped by the nearby Japanese Defense Forces during the final sword fight. C'mon, how satisfying would either of those twists have been?! Okay, one more idea then, how about if the bad boy's dad showed up to stand in for Swagger (or save hime when he's down) and duel his own son? That would satisfy the samurai ethic!

Yeah, I get that Bob was immersed in Japanese samurai ethics. I watch a lot of samurai movies myself. But he also has a wife and child waiting for him back home. The man was so selfish it turns us off his character a little.

I also get that Bob is a fast dedicated learner with natural gifts (fast hand speed, good eyes, no fear, knows how to fight life-and-death). I still do not believe that, after a week or so of 24/7 training and a bunch of scything to clear land, he would last a single pass against someone who trained all his life with the sword. Unless of course that swordsman was really not so good. Mr. Hunter does not give us the slightest inkling that the bad guy here is anything but top-shelf talent and training. His own guys underestimated Swagger so why would he? The hip-thing was VERY cute but ultimately not satisfying.

Grrr! It just gets me riled up when plots do not resolve themselves in their natural courses. ( )

In The 47th Samurai, Bob Lee Swagger, the gritty hero of Stephen Hunter's bestselling novels Point of Impact and Time to Hunt, returns in Hunter's most intense and exotic thriller to date.
Bob Lee Swagger and Philip Yano are bound together by a single moment at Iwo Jima, 1945, when their fathers, two brave fighters on opposite sides, met in the bloody and chaotic battle for the island. Only Earl Swagger survived.
More than sixty years later, Yano comes to America to honor the legacy of his heroic father by recovering the sword he used in the battle. His search has led him to Crazy Horse, Idaho, where Bob Lee, ex-marine and Vietnam veteran, has settled into a restless retirement and immediately pledges himself to Yano's quest.
Bob Lee finds the sword and delivers it to Yano in Tokyo. On inspection, they discover that it is not a standard WWII blade, but a legendary shin-shinto katana, an artifact of the nation. It is priceless but worth killing for. Suddenly Bob is at the center of a series of terrible crimes he barely understands but vows to avenge. And to do so, he throws himself into the world of the samurai, Tokyo's dark, criminal yakuza underworld, and the unwritten rules of Japanese culture.
Swagger's allies, hard-as-nails, American-born Susan Okada and the brave, cocaine-dealing tabloid journalist Nick Yamamoto, help him move through this strange, glittering, and ominous world from the shady bosses of the seamy Kabukicho district to officials in the highest echelons of the Japanese government, but in the end, he is on his own and will succeed only if he can learn that to survive samurai, you must become samurai.
As the plot races and the violence escalates, it becomes clear that a ruthless conspiracy is in place, and the only thing that can be taken for granted is that money, power, and sex can drive men of all nationalities to gruesome extremes. If Swagger hopes to stop them, he must be willing not only to die but also to kill

In 1945, Bob Lee Swagger’s father and Philip Yano’s father met in a bunker on Iwo Jima. Only one walked out. Now, sixty years later, Philip Yano comes to America to recover the sword his father used in battle. Bob agrees to help locate the sword and return it to Philip in Japan. And thus is launched a riveting tale of betrayal, greed, and power. And behind it all is the power of an antique sword and the reverence of the samurai for swords in Japanese culture. There are many details regarding the creating of the ancient swords and the training of the samurai. While it appears that this book is one in the middle of a series of books involving Bob Lee Swagger, it did not detract from the enjoyment of this book as a standalone read. ( )