Former Marine sniper Ray Cruz, the 42-year-old half-Asian son of Bob Lee Swagger, who was introduced in 2010's Dead Zero, plays a central role in Hunter's fast-paced thriller. The Friday after Thanksgiving, terrorists begin their attack on America, the Mall, a huge shopping complex outside Minneapolis, by shooting dead the man playing Santa Claus. The terrorists manage to lock down the mall using sophisticated technology and drive more than 1,000 frenzied shoppers into a central holding area. Among those trapped on upper levels are Cruz and Lavelva Oates, a child care worker. Douglas Obobo, the head of the Minnesota State Police, who was born the "son of a Kenyan graduate student at Harvard and a Radcliffe anthropology major," wants to avoid violence, while Mike Jefferson, the "rogue state police commander" who leads the SWAT team, pushes an aggressive assault plan. As this straightforward adventure tale builds to its fearsome climax, it's the actions of Cruz and Oates to thwart the terrorists that captivate. (Dec.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Dead Zero, 2010, etc.). Sweet-talked by his brand new fiance, Ray has ventured into mall world as tentatively as if it were an Afghan minefield. But now, circumstances having altered drastically, he's back in his element, undercover and looking for targets. Brigade Mumbai puts forward its demands. The situation intensifies, approaches the tipping point. By this time it's clearly understood by the authorities that they're dealing with a suicide mission and the potential for a horrific massacre. Snipers and SWAT teams gather, but only one man is in an advantageous tactical position, behind enemy lines, as it were. Only one man, but he's Bob Lee Swagger's son, and what a good thing it is that the apple hasn't fallen far from the tree. A too-abundant cast dilutes the protagonist's presence, but the action scenes are well done as usual and the premise chills.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

The torch has been passed. First introduced in Dead Zero, Ray Cruz is the previously unknown son of aging supersniper Bob Lee Swagger. He has all of his father's deadly skills, but he has retired from the Marine Corps and wants nothing more than a peaceful life. However, when terrorists take over a giant shopping and entertainment mall (the soft target of the title), Ray is forced to take action to save the lives of his fiancee, her family, and thousands of hostages. As brave men and women try to take down the terrorists, they are compromised by powerful incompetents with political agendas. Verdict Any thriller in which Middle Eastern terrorists whack Santa on the first page is bound to be exciting. As always, Hunter has crafted a fast-paced and all-too-plausible telling of our worst nightmares coming true. Ray Cruz is a worthy successor to Swagger. Hunter's fans, along with new readers, will enjoy the violent battle between Cruz and the bad guys. [See Prepub Alert, 6/13/11.]-Robert Conroy, Warren, MI (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

*Starred Review* In Dead Zero (2011), Bob Lee Swagger, legendary Vietnam sniper, learned he had a son. Ray Cruz, like his father, is also a marine sniper, also legendary (for his work in Afghanistan and Iraq), also a maverick ( Ideas, abstractions, conceits, causes all were more or less hazy to him ). But doing the job in front of him is anything but hazy to Ray, as it is to his father, and this time that job is a doozy. Out of the military and having hung up his sniper rifle, Ray is doing a little shopping on Black Friday with his fiancee at America the Mall in rural Minnesota when a gunman kills Santa Claus, and thousands of shoppers are taken hostage in the middle of the ultimate symbol of American consumerism. Terrorists, right? Well, not exactly. The leader of Brigade Mumbai is just a kid who has always liked to wreck things. It's up to Cruz, a human killing machine who finds himself in the wrong place at the right time (but without a gun), to neutralize the assailants before they begin to empty their automatic weapons and before the headline-hunting bureaucrats from the state police can bungle matters completely. Combining elements of the locked-room mystery, the disaster novel, and the lock-and-load thriller, Hunter produces a remarkably gripping tale, building character (the captives, the bureaucrats, and the terrorists all get compelling backstories) every bit as convincingly as he drives the narrative to its High Noon-style finale. Put this in the hands of readers who remember Thomas Harris' similar Black Sunday (1975). HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Hunter has long been a favorite of action fans who like some character-driven texture underpinning the gunplay; this time, the high-concept premise may well widen the appeal by several notches.--Ott, Bill Copyright 2010 Booklist