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The Second Saladin
In the windswept sands of the Middle East, Paul Chardy fought side by side with Ulu Beg: one, a charismatic, high-strung CIA covert warrior, the other a ferocious freedom fighter. Then Chardy fell into the hands of the enemy, and Beg was betrayed. Now the two men are about to meet again.
Beg has come over the Mexican border under a hail of bullets--determined to assassinate a leading American political figure and avenge his people's betrayal. The CIA wants Chardy to stop the hit. Chardy wants to save Beg's life.
Between the two men is a tragic past, a failed mission, and a woman who knew them in war--and who knows their secrets now. Around both men is a conspiracy of lies and violence that reaches back to the Cold War. But as Beg moves in for his kill and as Chardy breaks loose from his handlers, a terrible truth begins to emerge: somewhere, someone wants both men to die.
Beg has come over the Mexican border under a hail of bullets--determined to assassinate a leading American political figure and avenge his people's betrayal. The CIA wants Chardy to stop the hit. Chardy wants to save Beg's life.
Between the two men is a tragic past, a failed mission, and a woman who knew them in war--and who knows their secrets now. Around both men is a conspiracy of lies and violence that reaches back to the Cold War. But as Beg moves in for his kill and as Chardy breaks loose from his handlers, a terrible truth begins to emerge: somewhere, someone wants both men to die.
496 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1982
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564 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Hunter
110 books1,965 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Stephen Hunter is the author of fourteen novels, and a chief film critic at The Washington Post, where he won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland.
Stephen Hunter is the author of fourteen novels, and a chief film critic at The Washington Post, where he won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews
June 9, 2011
Ulu Beg, a Kurdish freedom fighter betrayed by the CIA, sneaks over the Mexico/U.S. border with a Russian-made Skorpion machine pistol. He intends to kill former Secretary of State Joseph Danzig, the most thinly veiled version of Henry Kissinger I've seen in a novel.
As soon as the CIA gets wind of Ulu Beg's presence in the U.S. they pull Paul Chardy out of retirement. Chardy is a cowboy from the bad old days of the Agency who fought alongside Ulu Beg against the Soviets, but betrayed him and his Kurdish freedom fighters after being captured and tortured for six days by the Soviets.
Stephen Hunter is one of my favorite thriller writers. He's probably best known for his novels about Bob Lee Swagger, a former Marine sniper and Vietnam vet. The Second Saladin (1982) is his second published novel, and I thought it was great. Very well-written, with excellent characters. Ulu Beg is not the villain of the novel, even though he is the antagonist, and he and Chardy are both tragic figures. I have enjoyed every one of Hunter's novels that I've read so far, but I think he sometimes fetishizes dumb hillbillies too much. Paul Chardy is a much more thoughtful and interesting character than Bob Lee Swagger or Lamar Pye (from Dirty White Boys), and it's clear that Hunter had lofty literary ambitions when he wrote this, which isn't always apparent in his later novels. (There are frequent references to Jorge Luis Borges and other high-minded authors in The Second Saladin.)
The Second Saladin isn't as action-packed as most of Hunter's later novels, but it's well-paced and suspenseful, and the characters are all believable.
As soon as the CIA gets wind of Ulu Beg's presence in the U.S. they pull Paul Chardy out of retirement. Chardy is a cowboy from the bad old days of the Agency who fought alongside Ulu Beg against the Soviets, but betrayed him and his Kurdish freedom fighters after being captured and tortured for six days by the Soviets.
Stephen Hunter is one of my favorite thriller writers. He's probably best known for his novels about Bob Lee Swagger, a former Marine sniper and Vietnam vet. The Second Saladin (1982) is his second published novel, and I thought it was great. Very well-written, with excellent characters. Ulu Beg is not the villain of the novel, even though he is the antagonist, and he and Chardy are both tragic figures. I have enjoyed every one of Hunter's novels that I've read so far, but I think he sometimes fetishizes dumb hillbillies too much. Paul Chardy is a much more thoughtful and interesting character than Bob Lee Swagger or Lamar Pye (from Dirty White Boys), and it's clear that Hunter had lofty literary ambitions when he wrote this, which isn't always apparent in his later novels. (There are frequent references to Jorge Luis Borges and other high-minded authors in The Second Saladin.)
The Second Saladin isn't as action-packed as most of Hunter's later novels, but it's well-paced and suspenseful, and the characters are all believable.
June 8, 2017
Meh.... not his best , clearly his earlier stuff isn't as good as the later books.
This one was a little messy and didn't flow very well and times. 3 ish stars.
This one was a little messy and didn't flow very well and times. 3 ish stars.
March 8, 2021
Not bad, but not as good as others I've read.
April 21, 2025
eponymous sentence:
p48: But Saladin II and Danzig are linked, Trewitt realized, just as tightly in their way as Saladin II and Chardy.
ocr:
p60: "Did you know"--Miles spoke from the comer--"that in the years she's been back she's tried to kill herself three times?"
p62: "So we wonder, Paul," Yost continued It was a freak of optics that kept his eyes hidden behind the twin pools of light reflected in his lenses.
le mot juste:
p380: Shadows fell away from this streak of light across the cement and he knew that to step into it would be to die.
The last volume was more exciting, though more dated.
Firearm featured here is the Škorpion vz. 61, a Czech machine pistol. I think I first encountered this gun as a kid. I was out of town on vacation when I saw another kid toting a plastic toy replica. I could be wrong, though--t'was a very long time ago.
p48: But Saladin II and Danzig are linked, Trewitt realized, just as tightly in their way as Saladin II and Chardy.
ocr:
p60: "Did you know"--Miles spoke from the comer--"that in the years she's been back she's tried to kill herself three times?"
p62: "So we wonder, Paul," Yost continued It was a freak of optics that kept his eyes hidden behind the twin pools of light reflected in his lenses.
le mot juste:
p380: Shadows fell away from this streak of light across the cement and he knew that to step into it would be to die.
The last volume was more exciting, though more dated.
Firearm featured here is the Škorpion vz. 61, a Czech machine pistol. I think I first encountered this gun as a kid. I was out of town on vacation when I saw another kid toting a plastic toy replica. I could be wrong, though--t'was a very long time ago.
January 13, 2014
Stephen Hunter has had two writing lives. Before the early 1990s he wrote generic thrillers about espionage, terrorism, and other facets of the standard fare. In the 1990s he shifted to a style all his own: an extensive documentation of the lives and adventures of the Swagger Family: Earl Swagger, a Medal-of-Honor winning Marine and Arkansas state trooper; Bob Lee Swagger, Earl's son and an outstanding Marine sniper in Vietnam; and Ray Cruz, Bob Lee's son, a Marine sniper in Afghanistan. For reviews of the Swagger family, see my comments on "Point of Impact."
The Second Saladin is first generation Hunter. Its hero, Paul Chardy, has left the CIA after a misadventure in Iraq in 1975, during which he was involved in a Kurdish revolt. It is now 1982 and the CIA has drawn Chardy back in to capture or kill Ulu Beg, a Kurdish soldier bent on revenge for the U. S. failure to support the revolt. Things happen, people die, and the tale is pretty well worn.
I liked the book, but it is nowhere near the level achieved in Hunter's second life. Read "Point of Impact" and you might see what I mean. And I can't recommend second-generation Hunter books too highly--I read them all and enjoyed each.
Reviewed Books by Stephen Hunter
Earl Swagger Series
Hot Springs
Pale Horse Coming
Havana
Bob Lee Swagger Series
Point of Impact
Black Light
Time to Hunt
The 47th Samurai
Night of Thunder
I, Sniper
Dead Zero
The Third Bullet
Ray Cruz Series
Soft Target
The Second Saladin is first generation Hunter. Its hero, Paul Chardy, has left the CIA after a misadventure in Iraq in 1975, during which he was involved in a Kurdish revolt. It is now 1982 and the CIA has drawn Chardy back in to capture or kill Ulu Beg, a Kurdish soldier bent on revenge for the U. S. failure to support the revolt. Things happen, people die, and the tale is pretty well worn.
I liked the book, but it is nowhere near the level achieved in Hunter's second life. Read "Point of Impact" and you might see what I mean. And I can't recommend second-generation Hunter books too highly--I read them all and enjoyed each.
Reviewed Books by Stephen Hunter
Earl Swagger Series
Hot Springs
Pale Horse Coming
Havana
Bob Lee Swagger Series
Point of Impact
Black Light
Time to Hunt
The 47th Samurai
Night of Thunder
I, Sniper
Dead Zero
The Third Bullet
Ray Cruz Series
Soft Target
November 10, 2015
This Hunter book, written before he started the Swagger Family series is a real winner: suspenseful and action packed with a dynamite ending.
The story opens with Ulu Beg, a Kurdish freedom fighter making his way into the U.S. from Nogales, Mexico in pursuit of vengeance against ex-secretary of State, Joseph Danzig. As a result, Paul Chardy, ex-CIA "cowboy" from the Vietnam and early Cold War days is seduced out of retirement as he is the only person available who knows what Beg looks like.
The plot is then complicated by Chardy's previous relationships in and out of the CIA as well as past lovers and enemies. All the characters are well drawn and though they sometimes act in surprising ways always act consistent with what we know about them.
Though, this was only Hunter's second novel, it showed off Hunter's talents very well. The plot is extremely complicated but I never lost track of either the story line or the characters. The fact that it was written in 1982, in no way, distracts the reader from it's essential relevance.
I've read more than a few of Hunter's books and this one is up there with the best of them.
The story opens with Ulu Beg, a Kurdish freedom fighter making his way into the U.S. from Nogales, Mexico in pursuit of vengeance against ex-secretary of State, Joseph Danzig. As a result, Paul Chardy, ex-CIA "cowboy" from the Vietnam and early Cold War days is seduced out of retirement as he is the only person available who knows what Beg looks like.
The plot is then complicated by Chardy's previous relationships in and out of the CIA as well as past lovers and enemies. All the characters are well drawn and though they sometimes act in surprising ways always act consistent with what we know about them.
Though, this was only Hunter's second novel, it showed off Hunter's talents very well. The plot is extremely complicated but I never lost track of either the story line or the characters. The fact that it was written in 1982, in no way, distracts the reader from it's essential relevance.
I've read more than a few of Hunter's books and this one is up there with the best of them.
September 19, 2012
Not the typical Hunter book, but great nonetheless. Frenchy Short is the only recognizable name in this book to the normal Hunter reader, however the characters are developed fully and you get a sense of who they are and their roles. Some are difficult to tell which is the good guy and which is the bad guy and who is on whose side. The book is somewhat split between two factions and both of those are 'warring' in two parts of North America. Good rolling plot with a few twists towards the end. A little slow developing, but fully making up for it by the end.
Read
February 13, 2015I like Stephen Hunter a lot but this book is a little dated and it didn't travel well for me. Treating 70/80s as a current day story wasn't something I could get into.
June 8, 2021
This is quite a solid thriller, though not entirely unpredictable. That said, there are also some unexpected twists, including an extended sequence with a less-than-competent CIA agent getting into progressive trouble in Mexico and then not in fact getting saved at the last minute, as one would expect. Indeed, Hunter generally takes an interestingly skeptical look at intelligence services. The focus on stupidity, selfishness, political gamesmanship and outright fuckery among the American intelligence community is interesting. Reading this book one is hard-pressed to see the USA as the good guys (though of course that does not apply to the protagonist himself). The plot focuses on an assassination attempt directed against a Henry Kissinger analogue (who, yes, is depicted as a dick) to prevent the exposure of a significant act of agency malfeasance involving the sacrifice of Kurdish allies in Afghanistan. If you want a thriller that doesn't paint America as the nation of virtue and everyone else as villainous and corrupt, you could do worse than this book. Hunter is less strong on complexity of character, but then, it's a thriller, what do you expect?
December 18, 2023
This novel had the annoying pet-peeve of mine which has characters repeatedly using each other's names during conversations. A fabricated example:
"Pass the mayonnaise, Paul."
"Here is the mayonnaise, Joanna."
"Paul, you cannot go on this mission, Paul. It would be a bad thing."
"But Joanna, I love you."
"Paul, pass the ketchup, Paul. And do not go on this mission, Paul... Paul... Paul..."
Nobody fucking talks like that. It always drives me a bit insane, and this book, especially with the MC Paul, was particularly bad about it. Otherwise, there were some very good action sequences, which is one of the things I like most about Stephen Hunter.
Overall, far from the worst work I've read from this author, but also far from the best.
"Pass the mayonnaise, Paul."
"Here is the mayonnaise, Joanna."
"Paul, you cannot go on this mission, Paul. It would be a bad thing."
"But Joanna, I love you."
"Paul, pass the ketchup, Paul. And do not go on this mission, Paul... Paul... Paul..."
Nobody fucking talks like that. It always drives me a bit insane, and this book, especially with the MC Paul, was particularly bad about it. Otherwise, there were some very good action sequences, which is one of the things I like most about Stephen Hunter.
Overall, far from the worst work I've read from this author, but also far from the best.
April 19, 2024
good read with good characters but, as with so many spy thrillers, a bit convoluted and disjointed. the ambitious CIA operatives resent the "cowboys" in the field, chief of which is currently Paul Chardy, who was key to a brief alliance with a Kurdish militia and befriended their chief, Ulu Bet.
scenes of love and torture for all with the underlying threat of upcoming violence lastly mixed with a Kissinger-like figure who has retired in wealth and debauchery. Too many characters? maybe.
hard to believe this from the author of the great Swagger novels. but I still enjoyed it somewhat.
scenes of love and torture for all with the underlying threat of upcoming violence lastly mixed with a Kissinger-like figure who has retired in wealth and debauchery. Too many characters? maybe.
hard to believe this from the author of the great Swagger novels. but I still enjoyed it somewhat.
July 7, 2025
Paul Chardy (protagonist) fought side by side with freedom fighter Ulu Beg. Then Chardy fell into the hands of the enemy, the Russians, and Beg was betrayed.
Years later, Beg sneaks over the Mexican border to assassinate a leading American political figure, Joseph Danzig, the former Secretary of State. The CIA pulls Chardy back in to stop Ula Beg because he is one of the only people who could recognize him. Also, Chardy is an old-school “Cowboy” who gets things done. The story is one big conspiracy, and many characters are not alive to be written about on the last page. Excellent story! I highly recommend.
Years later, Beg sneaks over the Mexican border to assassinate a leading American political figure, Joseph Danzig, the former Secretary of State. The CIA pulls Chardy back in to stop Ula Beg because he is one of the only people who could recognize him. Also, Chardy is an old-school “Cowboy” who gets things done. The story is one big conspiracy, and many characters are not alive to be written about on the last page. Excellent story! I highly recommend.
November 13, 2023
finished 13th november 2023 good read three stars i liked it kindle library loaner and only 38 reviews for this one a good story for so few reviews but then i only came across hunter and recently though i've not read maybe eleven twelve from hunter all entertaining stories this one no different a bit of a spy thriller, russians, americans, americans willing to betray the country and duped into betrayal. anymore and it's the fashion. slap your new buddy on the back and two seconds later he beheads you. too late for enlightenment. most scientific. most darwinian. onward and upward.
April 20, 2024
My first venture into new Hunter characters….
This was my first non-Swagger book and was veritably self engorged in this read from the start. My only complaint is finding these treasures and the technology be so antiquated, but I guess a small price to pay for high speed entertainment!
This was my first non-Swagger book and was veritably self engorged in this read from the start. My only complaint is finding these treasures and the technology be so antiquated, but I guess a small price to pay for high speed entertainment!
March 5, 2022
a remarkably complex and unpredictable story
Stephen hunter develops a fascinatingly complex personal and geopolitical story and captures the intense competition of the cold war and the tragedy of the kurds
Stephen hunter develops a fascinatingly complex personal and geopolitical story and captures the intense competition of the cold war and the tragedy of the kurds
August 27, 2023
This book was pretty decent. However, after reading a number of Hunter’s Bob Lee Swagger novels it just didn’t meet expectations. Will need to read some other “stand alone” novels of his to better compare.
July 17, 2019
Stephen Hunter proves his style in many ways in this fine piece of work. His writing style is impeccable, direct, informative and thrilling. No body does it better.
August 27, 2019
Slow to Start
But quick to finish. Not Hunter’s best work but enjoyable. The hero seems similar to one of Hunter’s Swaggers but ok.
But quick to finish. Not Hunter’s best work but enjoyable. The hero seems similar to one of Hunter’s Swaggers but ok.
May 1, 2020
A little dated but still a good story -
August 30, 2021
Boring
I like the author and have read most of his books. This one was so boring and drawn out I finally gave up on it which I never do. Do not waste your time on this one.
I like the author and have read most of his books. This one was so boring and drawn out I finally gave up on it which I never do. Do not waste your time on this one.
November 10, 2022
Not his best work.
November 2, 2024
Book did not grab me
February 21, 2008
I am a fan of Stephen Hunter and usually get completely engrossed in his books. This one didn't quite do it for me. I think this is one of his first and it shows in the writing. If you've never read any of hunter I think his best is Point of Impact. This introduces you to Bob Lee Swagger (a retired world class marine sniper battling alcoholism and depression)and is the first of about 4 Swagger books. Then there are some based on Bob Lee's father. These are much better reads
The day before midnight is an excellent read as well.
The movie "Shooter" with Mark Walberg that came out a year or 2 ago was based on Point of Impact and pretty true to it.
The day before midnight is an excellent read as well.
The movie "Shooter" with Mark Walberg that came out a year or 2 ago was based on Point of Impact and pretty true to it.
March 23, 2016
A recommendation from my dad (surprise!), this is probably not a book I would have chosen for myself. It was interesting, kinda historical as it was set in the 80s, and had believable characters. I enjoyed Paul Chardy's character (protagonist), sympathized with Ulu Beg's character (antagonist), abhorred Joseph Danzig's character, and was confused by Ramierez's character. I thought the beginning was strong, but the tie-in to the beginning's setting and characters throughout the remainder of the story was fairly weak and confusing. Good book, not a great book.
September 24, 2013
Love the author, he can write up a storm. This one takes a little more time. There are some interesting passages where we move inside the head of some of the characters, and its not always an easy read; a little fragmented. The plot is solid, the hero an amazing good guy. There are some very good subplots, particularly with a sojourn into Mexico.
On balance, a good read. Hunter just tries to do a lot in one book, and it doesn't always mesh perfectly.
On balance, a good read. Hunter just tries to do a lot in one book, and it doesn't always mesh perfectly.
January 19, 2013
Hunter moves away from his Swagger stories with this standalone thriller. Several alphabetized US agencies get involved with protecting a former Secretary of State from a Kurd assassin. Yet who is running who and is Chardy who he seems to be? Not a bad book but like the Swagger series more.
Not a single Canadian reference, even obscure ones.
Not a single Canadian reference, even obscure ones.
April 11, 2021
Espionage thriller feature an assassination lot against a Kissinger analogue. Started off interesting, but the author waited halfway through to begin illuminating the characters' inner lives, and by that point I simply wasn't invested in them (in that way). I was skimming the book by the end of it.
May 17, 2011
This one was ok, I wasn't overly thrilled with it. But then again, it is an older book and some of the spy adventure stuff was pretty outdated for me. I still give it three stars though, cuz Stephen Hunter is awesome.
November 7, 2012
This is a spy story that covers several decades and half the world. Action and intrigue Hunter is an excellent story teller. One of the charcters appears again in a much later book. I will be reading everything he writes.
June 28, 2008
Definitely not up to the quality of his other books. Hunter has managed to write the most irritating female character EVER in Johanna - I lost count of the number of times she says "Oh Paul."
Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews