I apparently felt differently than most readers about this book.

As I mentioned in an earlier update, I had to go from CD to book because the story was dragging horribly, and that gave me the opportunity to scan the uninteresting parts. By that, I meant that I would scan or skip a paragraph on occasion. I started the hardback at the 35% percent point of the book. At the 60% mark, I started skipping chapters.

The story is -- Vietnam sniper Bob Lee Swagger, 68, was bored out of his mind (I can relate). A writer contacted him about a story of a female Russian sniper in WWII, and he went to Ukraine to help her suss out the story.

I read Swagger stories to read about Swagger. Every other chapter was about him. Most of the others were deep dives into WWII from both the Russian and German sides, with an Arab throw into the Third Reich for additional taste. IN ADDITION, there were about a half-dozen "Interludes" about present-time Israel and shipping Platinum from South Africa to Russia -- a country that mines the most Platinum of any other. I'm sure there was SOMETHING relative to the story regarding that, but I stopped reading the Interludes and do not believe I missed anything.

If this was a novel about WWII from both sides regarding a female sniper, it probably would have been a decent book.

But in the Swagger chapters, Swagger figures out in 2-3 pages what it took the author 10-20 to describe in the WWII chapters.

I just think it was a horrible presentation. I would give it one star, but the ending was solid, so I gave it a 1.75 rating.