Earl Swagger Series by Stephen Hunter, William Dufris

In the summer of 1946, the most wide-open town in America is Hot Springs, Arkansas, a city of legendary corruption. While the pilgrims take the cure in the mineral-rich water, the brothels and casinos are the true source of the town's prosperity. This is run by an English-born gangster named Owney Maddox, who represents the New York syndicate. But all this is challenged when a newly elected county prosecutor hires ex-Marine sergeant Earl Swagger to wage a war on the gambling... moreIn the summer of 1946, the most wide-open town in America is Hot Springs, Arkansas, a city of legendary corruption. While the pilgrims take the cure in the mineral-rich water, the brothels and casinos are the true source of the town's prosperity. This is run by an English-born gangster named Owney Maddox, who represents the New York syndicate. But all this is challenged when a newly elected county prosecutor hires ex-Marine sergeant Earl Swagger to wage a war on the gambling. Swagger knows how to fight with guns as well as any man in the world. But he is haunted by the savage memories of the fighting he just barely survived in Iwo Jima. It isn't that he is afraid of dying; it may be that he yearns for it.The gangsters set up a campaign of ambush and counterambush in the brothels and casinos. Raids erupt into full-out combat as the body count rises.Will Owney Maddox defeat the raiders but lose a secret battle with a young man from the West who foresees a Hot Springs in the Nevada desert? Will Earl Swagger survive another hard war, not merely with his body but also with his soul intact? less

The Year is 1951. A smooth-talking Chicago lawyer has come to chat with Sam Vincent, a former prosecutor, about a dangerous unknown - a prison for violent black convicts in Thebes, Mississippi, a place of many questions but no answers. Would Sam, a white man and a Southerner, be willing to investigate? When Sam vanishes in the mists and swamps, his old friend Earl Swagger packs his gun and heads to Thebes where he discovers sinister secrets that go far beyond the prison walls... moreThe Year is 1951. A smooth-talking Chicago lawyer has come to chat with Sam Vincent, a former prosecutor, about a dangerous unknown - a prison for violent black convicts in Thebes, Mississippi, a place of many questions but no answers. Would Sam, a white man and a Southerner, be willing to investigate? When Sam vanishes in the mists and swamps, his old friend Earl Swagger packs his gun and heads to Thebes where he discovers sinister secrets that go far beyond the prison walls. The whole town guards itself from nosy strangers with a private army of brutal, gun-toting, Klan-type thugs and rednecks. After barely escaping, Earl vows to right things and reclaim Thebes from the throes of a sinister conspiracy. But first, he enlists just a little help from his friends. Featuring the same fast-paced action and page-turning thrills that made Hot Springs a heart-stopping bestseller, Pale Horse Coming is a triumphant successor. less

High summer in Cuba, 1953, and Havana gleams with possibility. Flush with booming casinos, sex and drugs, Havana is a lucrative paradise for everyone from the Mafia, Domino Sugar, and United Fruit to pimps, porn-makers, and anyone looking to grab a piece of the action—including the Cuban government, which naturally honors the interests of its old ally, Uncle Sam.Of course, where there's paradise, trouble can't be far behind... moreHigh summer in Cuba, 1953, and Havana gleams with possibility. Flush with booming casinos, sex and drugs, Havana is a lucrative paradise for everyone from the Mafia, Domino Sugar, and United Fruit to pimps, porn-makers, and anyone looking to grab a piece of the action—including the Cuban government, which naturally honors the interests of its old ally, Uncle Sam.Of course, where there's paradise, trouble can't be far behind. Trouble, in this case, makes its entrance in the terrifically charismatic and silver-tongued form of a young revolutionary named Fidel Castro. The Caribbean is fast becoming a strategic Cold War hub, and Soviet intelligence has taken Castro under its wing. The CIA's response is to send the one man capable of eliminating Castro: the legendary gunfighter and ex-Marine hero Earl Swagger, who proved his lethal talent in the national bestsellers Hot Springs and Pale Horse Coming.In Cuba, Earl finds himself up to his neck in treacherous ambiguity where the old rules about honor and duty don't apply, and where Earl's target seems to have more guts and good luck than anyone else in Cuba. less

The long-anticipated origin story of legendary sniper, fan favorite, and father of literary icon Bob Lee takes us to the battlefields of World War II as Earl Swagger embarks on a top secret and deadly mission—from Pulitzer Prize­–winning and New York Times bestselling Stephen Hunter, “one of the best thriller novelists around” (The Washington Post).July, 1944: The lush, rolling hills of Normandy are dotted with a new feature—German snipers... moreThe long-anticipated origin story of legendary sniper, fan favorite, and father of literary icon Bob Lee takes us to the battlefields of World War II as Earl Swagger embarks on a top secret and deadly mission—from Pulitzer Prize­–winning and New York Times bestselling Stephen Hunter, “one of the best thriller novelists around” (The Washington Post).July, 1944: The lush, rolling hills of Normandy are dotted with a new feature—German snipers. From their vantage points, they pick off hundreds of Allied soldiers every day, bringing the D-Day invasion to its knees. It’s clear that someone is tipping off these snipers with the locations of American soldiers, but who? And how? General Eisenhower demands his intelligence service to find the best shot in the Allied military to counter this deadly SS operation. Enter Earl Swagger, an Army Major assigned this crucial and bloody mission. With crosshairs on his back, Swagger can’t trust anyone as he infiltrates the shadowy corners of London and France for answers. From “a true master at the pinnacle of his craft” (Jack Carr, author of the Terminal List series), The Bullet Garden is an electrifying historical thriller that is sure to become a classic. less