Customer Reviews

Shoot

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

this was one of the many novels that appeared in the early 70s to cash in on the success of the book and movie ''deliverance''.......but its two fisted brutality and lack of sympathetic characters make this a unsettling look at honor and macho.....nevertheless, this is compelling throughout,and stands out among the glut of these released in that era......''shoot ''was made into a unsuccessful movie and the books first sentence was ''borrowed'' by stephen king for his novella ''the mist''............it also has similarities to the movie ''southern comfort''..........if you pick up ''shoot'', you probably will finish it in one shot.........to my knowledge fairbairn only wrote one other novel after this,which im sure disappointed many.........what happens when jenrette and his buddies return to the place of their first skirmish will probably not surprise many,but the aftermath willstay with you..........

This novel was quite bizarre. It was quite unbelieveable, but was nonetheless riveting right to the last page. In fact I could not put it down for the last quarter. In this age of political correctness, I don't think this type of novel would be written now, but as a snapshot of the time it was written (the early '70's) it encapsulates the era very well. In essence it is about the frustrations of a small US town full of World
War II and Vietnam veterans. After facing hell on earth, these men find it extremely difficult to settle back into their mundane 9 to 5 lives that existed prior to conflict. They live for the weekends where they can take up arms and go hunting. Imagine the surprise of five ex World War II buddies who are winding up after a weekend of bonding and hunting to find themselves under fire from a similar hunting party across a river. This isn't countries at war, but neighbouring towns... From the first person view of Rex Jeannette, the encounter is clinically analysed, investigated and acted upon. While Rex is totally believeable as a man with a large ego who appears extremely intelligent, the paranoia he exhibits in reflecting on the incident leaves the reader in disbelief. However perhaps Rex was more insightful than we give him credit for... A very quick read, but one you won't forget.

What the book did right, the movie missed completely. The book got right into the action while the movie took forever to get started. Very fast moving novel (the lengthy descriptions of gun collections is understandable, since the story is told in the first person, by a gun nut). You'll find yourself believing that people like this exist (and they probably do).

I read the first chapter online somewhere and thought it was fantastic. I couldn't wait to get my hands on the book. Unfortunately, the novel did not live up to its promise, mainly because the protagonist is such an unsympathetic jerk--a caricature of a Clint Eastwood-style hero. I guess some people might be impressed by a sociopath who forces guns down women's throats, but I found him repulsive. By about page 100 I was starting to wish that Rex had been shot in the face rather than the guy on the other side of the river. Do yourself a favor and give this one a miss.