Finished Night of Thunder by Stephen Hunter. This is the latest book in Hunter’s series about former sniper Bob Lee Swagger.

In this one, Bob Lee travels to Bristol, Tenn. when his daughter, newspaper reporter Nikki Swagger, is injured in a car crash. But Bob Lee quickly discovers that the crash was no accident and that someone wanted to silence Nikki before she could figure out a cunning plan set against the backdrop of one of the NASCAR races at Bristol Motor Speedway. And when Bob Lee starts poking around, he becomes a threat too …

Earlier this year, Stephen Hunter came to my neck of the woods to talk about Night of Thunder, and I got to hear him speak at one of my local libraries. I always enjoy hearing other authors talk about their books, and I picked up a copy of Night of Thunder after his program. I had also read and enjoyed several other books about the Swagger family so I was interested to read this one. And I also worked with Hunter’s daughter Amy for a while at my newspaper.

I really liked how Hunter used the speedway and surrounding area in the book. It’s always cool to read about places you’ve been, and Hunter has some nice descriptions of the colorful madness that surrounds a NASCAR race. (It truly is something to see). But this makes the book feel a little gimmicky too, and some of the characters were a little too stereotypical for my tastes, especially the slimy preacher and his dumb goons/sons.

A solid enough read, especially if you like NASCAR, but not one of the best Swagger books (Point of Impact is  my favorite). Still, thumbs up.

Up next: Someone Like You by Leigh Greenwood.

Books in my TBR pile: About 14.