Title: The Gun Seller
Author: Hugh Laurie
Length: 339 pages
Genre: comedy/thriller
Plot Basics: Thomas Lang is a gun-for-hire. His latest job is to kill an American industrialist, but Lang decides to warn the man instead of pulling the trigger. His refusal launches him into a James Bond-esque adventure spoof with spies, counter-spies, beautiful women, ski resorts and the dangerous world of terrorism and international arms dealing.
Banter Points: Word Nerd picked this book up solely because Hugh Laurie wrote it (and it looked interesting...) Lang finally became an interesting character about halfway through the book when the plot also twists.
Bummer Points: The first half of the book is slow and rather uninteresting. Word Nerd contemplated putting it down more than once in this period. The book is also very British and depsite what the reviewers said, it is not full of the sort of British colloquialisms that Americans love; it is full of colloquialisms this American was unfamiliar with.
Word Nerd Recommendation: Forget that Dr. House writes books. While his novel is better than a lot of celebrity writing, Laurie should stick to playing an acerbic American doctor and leave writing spoof British spy novels to somebody else.
2 comments:
I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought the beginning was boring; I did end up putting it down after about eighty pages. Disappointing, especially since it was recommended by a friend who otherwise has had excellent taste. It should be noted that I had no particular love for the protagonist.
I have to disagree with your review. I am currently reading the Gun Seller and found the first half of the book hilarious. I love the fact that it is so British
I hopefully will be able to comment on the second half of the book after I've finished it.
I really hope that Mr. Laurie will finish his second book sometime soon.
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