Reviewer Cheat

According to the Book Reviewer's Code of Conduct, one is not supposed to review a book that nobody can get. Which is to say, that if the book's pub date is January and you get a review copy a couple months early, you aren't supposed to do the review and put it up because it will piss people off. 

Hey, here's this great book! You should read it!

And you go to find it and realize it hasn't been published yet? Makes you want to pound on the reviewer. Idiot! Why tell me about it if I can't get it?!

Given that set-up, I can't, therefore, tell you about Stephen Hunter's next Bob Lee Swagger novel, The Third Bullet. Because I have friends in high places, I managed to snag a copy–and thank you, Peter–seven weeks before it comes out. 

I can't tell you that it's the most intricate Bob the Nailer yet, that it runs about 475 pp, and gets deeply into the Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories, either. 

Can't say it's a bit wordy and convoluted, but like all of Hunter's work, it is stuffed to the brim with guns and ammo and all manner of twisty things that pay off in the end. Plus the odd bit of action here and there.

No, I'll have to wait until January to tell you these things. But if you are a Swagger fan, maybe it'll help to know that it's on its way, and if you get that gift certificate to iTunes or Powell's, you have something to spend it on ...