The Gun Seller

By: Hugh Laurie

Narrated by: Simon Prebble

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)

Excellent story, once you get past the start

I almost didn't continue listening to this book after the first 30 to 60 minutes. The lead character narrates and he's just wordy and flippant, to a fault. I found myself wishing he'd be serious for once, or just shut up. But slowly, i either got used to him, or the yammering slowed a bit (or maybe both), and i really kind of got sucked into this story. I was surprised how much i ended up enjoying the book and definitely recommend it. Just be prepared for a rough beginning.

A diverting listen

Any additional comments?

About what you might expect from this author and the title/genre: a witty thriller with a lot of violence but, happily, a low body count. Also happily, it doesn't suffer from overly low humor, and the hero is neither a bumbling fool nor an egomaniac. He is, however, male, and I think the book skews toward things that male readers like to spend time on: cars, motorcycles, weapons, etc. As a female, I think I would have preferred more character development. But I definitely enjoyed the book, and found it laugh-out-loud funny at times. And although I would love to hear it read sometime by its author, I truly enjoyed the very skilled character portrayals and narration by Simon Prebble.

Sad at the end

author was kind of all over the place but if I hear it for a 2nd time then probably would get it.

Best Book

Love this book. My favorite book hands down! Hugh Laurie is the best! Amazing. Histerical!

A twisty espionage novel with a great narrative style

This book has style. The cover art refers to it as a “spoof of the spy genre”, but I think that’s wrong. It starts as a detective story and adds spy elements as it goes on, but I also wouldn’t call it a “spoof.” It has substance, and it treats serious moments with grave importance.

I’m rating this 4/5 only because I think it’s very obvious Laurie wrote this so he could play the lead in a potential adaptation (the main character is tall and thin and great with accents), and falls in love with (or possibly just lusts after) a woman much younger than him. There’s also a few times where the main character ruminates on his philosophy on life and sexuality and gender, and they go a little longer than needed. Otherwise, it’s a very tight, fun thriller with a strong narrative voice.