In the crosshairs of fear
In the crosshairs of fear (original title: Point of Impact ) is a novel by Stephen Hunter from 1993. The German translation is by Bernhard Josef and was first published in 1994 by Paul List Verlag . A paperback edition was published in 1996 by Goldmann Verlag .
idea
The story is about a former Vietnam veteran. This figure loosely refers to an actual sniper in the Marine Corps named Carlos Hathcock . There is a direct reference in the book under a slightly changed pseudonym as Carl Hitchcock .
action
Bob Lee Swagger, known as Bob the Clipper , is drawn into an intrigue by obscure intelligence officials who want to use him for their dubious purposes.
Swagger is a born sniper. In the Vietnam War he recorded 87 kills before he was the victim of an enemy sniper himself. He retires from the Marine Corps and returns to his home village of Blue Eye in rural western Arkansas. The war left deep marks on him. He lives withdrawn on the edge of society and devotes himself to his only passion, shooting.
Here he is contacted by a representative from RamDyne, an opaque government or secret service organization. With a few psychological tricks you arouse his interest and can win him over to an assignment. His mission is to prevent an assassination attempt on the President of the United States by exploring possible sites for an assassination attempt.
The assassination happens anyway, whereby not the president but an archbishop from San Salvador is killed. Swagger is near the crime scene and is shot by his clients in order to deliver him to the police as an alleged assassin.
He escapes and is now being followed by the entire police apparatus and the killers from RamDyne. He can contact an FBI officer and convince him of his innocence. Together they manage to neutralize the increasingly numerous persecutors and to locate the real assassin. This also reveals the real background of RamDyne and their motives.
Swagger eventually proves his innocence and wins the love of a long-revered woman.
filming
In 2006, the novel by director Antoine Fuqua with Mark Wahlberg as Bob Lee Swagger was filmed under the title Shooter . The plot was slightly modified in the film. The premiere was on March 23, 2007.
The film in the crosshairs of fear (original title Striking Poses , 1999) with Shannen Doherty , Joseph Griffin and Tamara Gorski has nothing to do with this book.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Stephen Hunter : Dead Zero: A Bob Lee Swagger Novel . Simon and Schuster, 2010, ISBN 978-1-4391-3865-6 , pp. 404 .
- ^ Otto Penzler: The Lineup: The World's Greatest Crime Writers Tell the Inside Story of Their Greatest Detectives . Hachette Digital, 2009, ISBN 978-0-316-03193-6 , pp. 161-167 .