Dead Zero

I walked out to the mailbox this morning, and it was just like Christmas. I found Stephen Hunter's new "Bob the Nailer" book Dead Zero in the familiar plain brown cardboard wrapper, and settled in with a cup of coffee to read it.

I have deliberately not read any pre-publishing notes, or the end-wrapper notes on the book jacket. So I don't have any idea what the book's about. And so, I have no preconceptions.

Kind of kewl, right? I've read all the other Hunter books after a humungous amount of press releases (except for the first one I read ... "Point of Impact" ... which was a serendipitous event and made me believe in tooth fairies and Leprecauns), so I've almost always started reading Hunter books with a certain amount of preconception.

Not this time.

I don't even know if "Bob the Nailer" is mentioned in the book, let alone know the general plot. Which in a way is a blessing, after the disappointments of some of Hunter's books such as "Havana" and "The 47'th Samurai".

So I just spent a few minutes on the couch with Stephen Hunter, and if you'll try to resist the temptation to read anything sexual into the statement, I'm really turned on.

No matter what the rest of the book looks like, just judging from the first ten pages, "Dead Zero" reads like the very best of the W.E.B. Griffin books .. on steroids.

Watch this space.

No blogging until I've finished the book. Then MAYBE I'll have the energy left to confirm or deny my original impression.

BTW .... Hobo Brasser, you one-book-out-of-the-series book lender; buy your own copy. You don't want to wait until the snow melts in Oregon before you borrow my copy.