 | |
List Price: $15.00 | | Publisher: Washington Square Press
Salesrank: 4515
|
| Our Price: $8.64 |
| Used Price: $1.92 |
|
| Media: Paperback |
|
Editorial Review:
Hugh Laurie concocts an uproarious cocktail of comic zingers and over-the-top action in this "ripping spoof of the spy genre" (Vanity Fair) -- the irresistible tale of a former Scots Guard-turned-hired gun, a freelance soldier of fortune who also happens to be one heck of a nice guy.
Cold-blooded murder just isn't Thomas Lang's cup of tea. Offered a bundle to assassinate an American industrialist, he opts to warn the intended victim instead -- a good deed that soon takes a bad turn. Quicker than he can down a shot of his favorite whiskey, Lang is bashing heads with a Buddha statue, matching wits with evil billionaires, and putting his life (among other things) in the hands of a bevy of femmes fatales. Up against rogue CIA agents, wannabe terrorists, and an arms dealer looking to make a high-tech killing, Lang's out to save the leggy lady he has come to love...and prevent an international bloodbath to boot.
Description of The Gun Seller:
British actor and comedian Hugh Laurie's first book is a spot-on spy spoof about hapless ex-soldier Thomas Lang, who is drawn unwittingly and unwillingly into the center of a dangerous James Bond-like plot of international terrorists, arms dealing, high-tech weapons, and CIA spooks. You may recall having seen Laurie in the English television series Jeeves and Wooster; Laurie played Bertie Wooster, the clutzy hero of the P.G. Wodehouse comic novels that originated those characters. The lineage from Wodehouse's Wooster to Laurie's Lang is clear, and, if you like Wodehouse, you'll probably love The Gun Seller.
The Gun Seller Reviews:
A flawed thriller, but readable and funny 
2009-11-23 - This is a first novel from 1996 by Hugh Laurie, currently best known as TV's Dr House, and narrated by a character who sounds exactly like House, except he is ex-British military. In a thriller involving rogue CIA officers, murderous gun merchants, and MI-6, this style is a refreshing change from better known authors in the field, and carries you through a good quarter of the book.
Beyond that, however, in spite of action on an increasingly larger scale, there is no suspense or increasing tension. Thomas Lang, the action hero with the Dr. House voice, is not real enough for the reader to care what happens to him, and his love interest in not compelling either. When Lang takes action to protect her, you don't quite understand why.
Not only does the style make the plot unclear at several points, but Lang's almost instant recovery from injury on at least two occasions including a gunshot wound is not credible, especially in a novel that strives for realism everywhere else.
The last sentence, however, is a wonderful punch line that makes up for many of the flaws of this novel.
Ian Fleming + P.G. Wodehouse = Hugh Laurie 
2009-11-22 - Americans reading The Gun Seller will likely be tempted to think of it as an indictment of the post-9/11 Bush administration's rhetoric and doctrine, but it is important to remember that this was first published in 1996. This 2008 edition includes a brief interview with author Laurie and a few prompts for book club discussion. Thomas Lang is an ex-military Brit who is approached out of the blue with the offer of a hit contract. Lang declines, and decides to warn the target instead. The target, Alexander Woolf, is a wealthy and powerful man. Who is Woolf, though, and who wants him dead? Trying to answer these questions drives much of The Gun Seller, eventually working its way to a point where Lang has uncovered a plot to engineer an act of terrorism as part of a marketing strategy for a new attack helicopter.
Laurie is best known these days as "star of the FOX-TV series House," to borrow from the cover blurb, but once upon a time he played the role of P.G. Wodehouse's Bertie Wooster in Jeeves & Wooster. Fans of Wodehouse will immediately recognize Laurie's affinity for the esteemed author in the relationship between Lang and fellow agent David Solomon (who even addresses Lang as "master" and "sir"). Similarly, fans of the TV series adaptation featuring Laurie will likely picture him in the role of Lang, and Stephen Fry as the dry, scheming Solomon. According to the interview, Laurie himself has completed a screenplay adaptation for United Artists, and one imagines the story crossing media rather easily.
The predominant weakness is that Laurie's sense of humor starts on page 1 and ends on page 340. There are spatterings of taking things seriously, but the wall-to-wall comedy sometimes gets in the way of a genuine action-thriller. I read this over a few nights, and another problem I ran into was that, for some reason or another, each successive night required me to go back mentally to what had last happened so that I knew what was going on now. Typically, this is only something I run into with particularly dense material, but (no offense, Mr. Laurie) The Gun Seller isn't quite on par with Plato's The Republic. I attribute this lack of staying power to the saturation of humor.
Of course, if you want a genuine action-thriller, there are plenty of other books by plenty of other authors that will fulfill this demand. Still, with the third act of any story relying on rising tension and action, the humor tends to deflate these crucial story elements. Ian Fleming declared that he was a writer, not an author, and that his novels were intended strictly to entertain and not necessarily make the reader a better person. Laurie is an heir to this approach and The Gun Seller is a worthy debut.
Loves it. 
2009-09-18 - I can't remember the last time I've bought a book this entertaining... I giggled a lot and I fell head over heels in love with Thomas Lang. Hope Laurie's second book comes out soon...
Just the right amount of everything
2009-09-13 - I got drawn to this book because I loved Hugh Laurie on house. I think he is one of the most talented actors I have ever seen. I wanted to see if someone with so much talent in one area could also excel in another. Laurie delivered, It's not really a spy book more of a funnier version, which kept my interest peeked through out.
The story revolves around Thomas Lang who is a former Scots guard and at the beginning of the book is a man for hire (Such jobs as body guard). Then his life is turned upside down and he is thrown in the middle of danger when he is offered a job of assassinating someone. He refuses and the story takes off throwing a dash of conspiracy theories, a ton of action, a small spoon of romance, and a lot of government operations.
Hugh Laurie's sense of humor shows greatly in this book. I expected the character to be very serious, which he mostly was but there was a sense of humor in him. It felt sometimes that Laurie was making fun of other authors and the way descriptions are done in most books. I found that refreshing because for someone like me it's true. I loved it when he described the narrowing of the eye by saying "horizontally not vertically".
It was very easy to read and follow and the most impressive part is it was very hard for me to predict. With most books you can sometimes tell what will happen next but I couldn't in this case. I believe this was because there was some luck involved with this character, which made it seem more realistic. Some of it however didn't make sense but it managed to hold my interest with stating things that were obvious and doing it with a humorous tone.
I also really enjoyed that the book even though it is funny actually tried to make a bigger point. I will leave it up to people to figure it out but Laurie basically spells it out.
Overall it's a good read and an easy one. I am one who usually doesn't get British humor but I found this book funny and entertaining.
James Bond meets Dr House.
2009-09-02 - I thoroughly enjoyed the book. Every bit as funny as Laurie's comedy. His writing voice is unique and amusing. I smiled through the entire book, even in the tense moments.
