The Gun Seller

By: Hugh Laurie

Narrated by: Simon Prebble

Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

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 femme 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.

©1996 Hugh Laurie. Recorded by arrangement with Harold Ober Associates. (P)2012 HighBridge Company

Critic reviews

"Fast, topical, wry, suspenseful, hilarious, witty, surprising, ridiculous and pretty wonderful. And you don't need a permit to buy it." ( The Washington Post Book World)

"A first-rate thriller...an awesome entertainment machine." ( Cleveland Plain Dealer)

"[A] ripping spoof of the spy genre." ( Vanity Fair)

OKAY, but ......

a little disappointing. The narrator was trying to be cute but came of too cutesy with all the aside and snarky comments. At times I found the story hard to follow and finally gave up trying to follow along. I just accepted what was going on and rode the story to the end. Don't think I'll try his next book, if it ever gets published. Maybe Hugh should spend his time pursuing his other activities, for which he is more talented??

So funny!

What did you love best about The Gun Seller?

This book is written with a British sense of humor, which I love (since Hugh Laurie is British that makes sense.) I laughed out loud in places. The story had twists and turns and intertwined the characters lives very well. Definitely worth the listen.

Not Terrible, Not Great

The attempt at Douglas Adams word play very early in the book is not sustained for long, and an adequately written, mostly uneventful novel ensues. The narrator carries the load well but the book has s forgettable.

if you love laughter with your intrigue...

This book is for you! Brilliantly witty from start to finish. Amazing espionage and femme fatale. The narration was impeccable, perfect comedic and dramatic timing. I loved, Loved this book, wish Laurie would write a dozen more 💖💯

May he write on!

I love Laurie's audiobook narration, i love House and Bertie and Jeeves, etc. but can Laurie write on top of all that? Yes! This is silly in a few places, but laugh out loud funny in many others - and unlike me, Lauire doesn't need to fall back on cliches. This is cleverly plotted and well-wriiten, and is great comic relief if, like me, you read too many espionage or police procedurals.

Written and set pre 9/11 but after the first Gulf war, it's in the style of a "Wag the Dog" but original. More than make laughs, this novel makes a statement.

The listen was a little violent for my cozy tastes, with action and death and detail about the guns used, but it wasn't over the top. I suppose this would give the novel a wider appeal.

Prebble delivers his usual excellent narration. The only thing that could have made this a better listen would be narration by Laurie himself. Now that he's hung up the stethoscope, I hope he picks up a pen AND audiobook microphone again.

. . . and he can write, too!

The Gun Seller is a wonderful spy spoof, very well written by Hugh Laurie of House and Jeeves and Bertie, but most important for this review, of A Bit of Fry and Laurie. As I listened to Simon Prebble's excellent narration, I could almost hear Laurie saying the words himself. He wrote this book with a bit of the same cadence and the same prefaces, asides, dependent and independent clauses, and disclaimers as he and Stephen Fry tend to attach to their sentences in their comedy act.

Laurie throws the reader right into the middle of the plot with the first sentence, and the story goes along at speed. The best this reader could do was simply hold on, enjoy the ride and the send-up of the spy thriller genre, and trust that all would be revealed in time. And most of it was. In the meantime, I thoroughly enjoyed the characters, the ironic dialog, and the plot, which included many changes in direction and plenty of red herrings. Only at the end do you find out which guys are bad guys and which are (comparatively) good guys.

I highly recommend this book. The only thing that might make it better would be to have Laurie himself do the narration.

Good - not great, but not a credit waste!

This book I had to listen to, because I love Hugh Laurie and Simon Prebble. It wasn't as great as I was hoping, but it did have numerous funny parts. Simon Prebble was awesome as usual and the story did have me giggling in parts. Thomas seems like a "Dennis-the-menace" and the inspector from the Pink Panther rolled into one. Sometimes he's a little clueless, and sometimes he just gets in trouble just because he's there. The plot was OK, and kept me entertained enough to keep me listening through the entire book. I did get distracted a couple of times, and that doesn't happen if a book is on the excellent end of the scale, but it was good enough that after a few months I will listen again just for fun.

Who knew?

Hugh Laurie was average funny on House but his book is above average funny. He also manages to tie together a pretty good yarn. I recommend.

Laurie plus Prebble equals Magic!

I have always been a big fan of Hugh Laurie, I did not know he was an author. Simon Preble is the gold standard of audiobook readers. They don’t come any better. This novel builds to an amazing climax and Prebble has you on the edge of your seat. There are lots of twists and turns lots of wit and wordplay, I laughed out loud and smiled considerably. For fans of comedy, fans of mystery, fans of action and suspense, this story has it all.
If you have not ever seen “A bit of Fry and Laurie”, Featuring Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, look it up on YouTube. Find it wherever you can - it’s amazing comedy. Also look for Hugh Laurie and his performances in the Black Adder series. The most poignant and hilarious are the episodes having to do with World War I. Rowan Atkinson in Hugh Laurie are superb.

Totally Laurie

So witty and clever, charming and alarming. Words of warning delivered with a soft glove.