Stephen Hunter was born in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1946, and graduated from Northwestern University in 1968. He worked for the Baltimore Sun starting in 1971 as a copy reader, feature writer, book review editor, and eventually, movie critic, a position he held until 1996, when he assumed the same role for the Washington Post. Hunter won the Pulitzer Prize for his work in film criticism in 2003, and was a finalist for the prize in 1995 and 1996. Two volumes of his criticism have been published: Violent Screen: A Critic's 13 Years on the Front Lines of Movie Mayhem (1995) and Now Playing at the Valencia: Pulitzer Prize-Winning Essays on Movies (2005).
Hunter's first novel The Master Sniper (1980) was followed by The Second Saladin (1982), The Spanish Gambit (1985), and The Day Before Midnight (1989). Point of Impact (1993) introduced Bob Lee Swagger, also known as "The Nailer." Bob Lee's father, Earl, starred in three novels: Hot Springs (2000), Pale Horse Coming (2001), and Havana (2003). In 2007, Hunter's book Point of Impact was made into the movie Shooter starring Mark Wahlberg as Bob Lee Swagger.
Hunter is married and lives in Baltimore.