Book tip: "The Third Bullet"

Stephen Hunter

Simon & Schuster

Chalk it up to the 50th anniversary of the JFK assassination. Or perhaps it's just the fact that there have been about 3,000 books written on the subject and the only reason we'd need numbers 3,001 and 3,002 would be if two giants of fiction decided to add their own spins. Last year, in "11/22/63," Stephen King brought some new luster, and now Hunter, the brilliant author of the Bob Lee Swagger series, blows your mind with a fresh, compelling and surprisingly possible explanation. Swagger, a career sniper, is brought out of retirement to pursue the most gossamer of threads pertaining to the Kennedy killing. He pulls said strand gently, and then not-so-gently - particularly after he gets marked for assassination for his research. It's always a bad idea to go on the offensive when Swagger's involved. Stunningly researched and evocatively written, the tension is relentless and the plausability will make you wonder.

- RICK KOSTER