From the jungles of Vietnam to the unforgiving deserts of Afghanistan and Iraq, one breed of soldier has achieved legendary status in the arena of combat—the sniper. From the authors of the classic sniper chronicle One Shot-One Kill comes a new generation of true tales from some of the most expert and deadly marksmen in the world. Meet Adelbert Waldron II, whose 109 confirmed kills in Vietnam made him the most successful sniper in American military history, and Tom "Moose" Ferran, who coined the term "Fetch!", whereupon the infantry would retrieve the sniper's dead quarry. Also included are stories from snipers in Beirut, the Bosnian conflict, and both wars with Iraq—including the feat of Sergeants Joshua Hamblin and Owen Mulder, who took down thirty-two enemy soldiers in a single day outside Baghdad in 2003. The military sniper has evolved into one of the most dangerous and highly-skilled warrior professions. They suffer through weather, terrain, and enemy action, lay unmoving for days on end, and take out their targets with unerring accuracy—proving that the deadliest weapon in any battle, anywhere in the world, is a single well-aimed shot.

"The American sniper could be regarded as the greatest all-around rifleman the world has ever known. . . ." At the start of the war in Vietnam, the United States had no snipers; by the end of the war, Marine and army precision marksmen had killed more than 10,000 NVA and VC soldiers--the equivalent of an entire division--at the cost of under 20,000 bullets, proving that long-range shooters still had a place in the battlefield. Now noted military historian Michael Lee Lanning shows how U.S. snipers in Vietnam--combining modern technology in weapons, ammunition, and telescopes--used the experience and traditions of centuries of expert shooters to perfect their craft. To provide insight into the use of American snipers in Vietnam, Lanning interviewed men with combat trigger time, as well as their instructors, the founders of the Marine and U.S. Army sniper programs, and the generals to whom they reported. Backed by hard information and firsthand accounts, the author demonstrates how the skills these one-shot killers honed in the jungles of Vietnam provided an indelible legacy that helped save American lives in Grenada, the Gulf War, and Somalia and continues to this day with American troops in Bosnia.

The Central Intelligence Agency is under attack, and so is its top field operative, Kyle Swanson. The highly decorated former Marine Corps gunnery sergeant is attending the funeral of a friend when a terrorist blows up the grave. A week later, he narrowly survives a grenade attack in Berlin. In Washington, Congress is being told that Swanson has been turned, his private employer is corrupt, and the Agency itself cannot be trusted. Swanson is assigned to find the root of the problem and is partnered up with Luke Gibson, a skilled operative rated as being almost as good as Swanson. They are looking for assassin Nicky Marks, who also was a CIA shooter but now works for a shadowy power broker known as The Prince. But before Kyle and Luke can eliminate the threat, they must identify and find the man who wants them dead. That takes them from the pink poppy fields of Afghanistan to the jungles of Southeast Asia and the streets of America as they learn that the Prince is the ruthless kingpin of a global drug empire that uses CIA planes to transport opium and heroin. Swanson also lines up a secret partner, the beautiful widow of his friend whose grave was desecrated in Mexico, the sharpshooting former commando Beth Ledford, who has her own agenda of pure retribution. Kyle Swanson, at the worst possible moment in a combat showdown, must decide: Do you trust your partner, and if so, which one?

From the authors of the "New York Times" bestseller "Shooter: The Autobiography of the Top Ranked Sniper" comes a story with all the same action and drama.

Experience a heart-pumping and thrilling tale of suspense! Originally published in THRILLER (2006), edited by #1 New York Times bestselling author James Patterson. In this redemptive Thriller Short, bestselling writer Robert Liparulo revisits a character who might first have appeared in Liparulo’s novel Comes a Horseman, if he hadn’t ended up on the editing room floor. Byron Stone is waiting. For three hours, he’s had his rifle trained on another human being, a violent offender with a woman and two children as hostages. Even though he’s already been given the green light for the kill, Stone takes his time. When the moment finally arrives, Stone will have to take the shot without flinching, without hesitation, because there may be only one split second that’s the right one for Stone’s strike. So thinking about the life he is about to end will have to wait. But it can’t. Don’t miss any of these exciting Thriller Shorts: James Penney’s New Identity by Lee Child Operation Northwoods by James Grippando Epitaph by J. A. Konrath The Face in the Window by Heather Graham Kowalski’s in Love by James Rollins The Hunt for Dmitri by Gayle Lynds Disfigured by Michael Palmer and Daniel Palmer The Abelard Sanction by David Morrell Falling by Chris Mooney Success of a Mission by Dennis Lynds The Portal by John Lescroart and M. J. Rose The Double Dealer by David Liss Dirty Weather by Gregg Hurwitz Spirit Walker by David Dun At the Drop of a Hat by Denise Hamilton The Other Side of the Mirror by Eric Van Lustbader Man Catch by Christopher Rice Goodnight, Sweet Mother by Alex Kava Sacrificial Lion by Grant Blackwood Interlude at Duane’s by F. Paul Wilson The Powder Monkey by Ted Bell Surviving Toronto by M. Diane Vogt Assassins by Christopher Reich The Athens Solution by Brad Thor Diplomatic Constraints by Raelynn Hillhouse Kill Zone by Robert Liparulo The Devils’ Due by Steve Berry The Tuesday Club by Katherine Neville Gone Fishing by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

They are the lone wolves of the battlefield. Tracking the enemy, lying in wait for the target to appear -- then they shoot to kill. Armed with an unerring eye, infinite patience and a mastery of camouflage, combat snipers stalk the enemy with only one goal... In World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and Beirut, American snipers honed the art of delivering a single deadly shot from nowhere -- and devastating enemy morale. They met the enemy on his own turf, picking off officers, unwary soldiers, and even other snipers from extraordinary distances of up to 1 ½ miles. Now, these uncommon men tell their stories: of the emotions felt when a man's face came into their crosshairs and they pulled the trigger, of the nerve-wracking hours and days of waiting, motionless, for the enemy, of the primal savagery of a sniper duel. Often trained haphazardly in wartime, and forgotten in times of peace, combat snipers were officially recognized after the Vietnam War, when the Marine Corps became the first military branch to start a full-time sniper school. One Shot-One Kill is their powerful record of desperate trials and proud victories. A MAIN SELECTION OF THE MILITARY BOOK CLUB