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The Gun Seller

The Gun Seller

List Price: $14.00
Your Price: $14.00
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Unmemorable
Review: Not really the up-to-snuff, top drawer Brit humour we expect from Hugh Laurie. I'm writing this 6 months after reading the book, and really I remember very little of the book. "Unmemorable" must be my final thought.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Allow me one little gripe...
Review: As GWB would say, make no mistake: this is a very enjoyable read. The plot is suspenseful, the characters interesting, and the humorous asides are just that. Unlike other reviewers, I was not struck with the image of Bertie Wooster afoot in the world of international arms-dealing and espionage, but that's neither here nor there. I do feel compelled to speak out about one detail that appears to be central to the plot. The presence of coaxial, counter-rotating rotors will never render an aircraft immune to the laws of Newtonian physics, specifically momentum. That is, the time required for a body to reverse direction is dependent on the body's momentum and the magnitude of the accelerating force applied in the opposite direction.

All that aside, this book makes an ideal low-stress, high-enjoyment read for vacation, etc.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Why has this not been made into a film
Review: Just once in a while you amble around a bookshop,quite possibly because you are bored or just to get out of the rain even.You pick books up then put them down because something puts you off about them.And then a book catches your eye.You check out the author "I know this guy,he`s the silly one from Blackadder and Jeeves and Wooster!" . You pay your money and take the book home. BANG! this book hit me right between the eyes and kept me reading right thru till the early hours of the next day (well 5 a.m. to be precise).Mr Laurie has a knack of making you actually visualise this in a film like capacity and i could almost feel the sensation of sitting down to watch this as a movie.And being a motorcyclist myself his facts in the book concerning the aforementioned transport are spot on , BUY THIS BOOK YOU WONT REGRET IT. Another book as soon as you are ready Mr Laurie :)

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Real Treat for Hugh Laurie Fans!
Review: If you were a fan of the BBC's 'A Bit of Fry and Laurie,' with it's madcap Monty Python-esque humor, then Laurie's first novel will keep you howling with laughter. Laurie's dry British wit is to be found in abundance in this slightly off center thriller. Thomas Lang, a cynical ex-soldier, is approached by a man who wants to know if he would consider comitting a murder- the man's own. What follows is Lang's frantic, (and hilarious,) search to find out just who can be trusted. From dim-witted hit men to crabby police officers, to world arms dealers, 'Gun Seller' runs the gambit from heart stopping tension to laugh-out-loud humor. As the story progresses the humor does tend to take a backseat which is unfortunate. The plot is good but the book's strength relies on Laurie's irony, sarcasim, and ability to use the English language in print as well as he does in performance. More than worth a look if you're a fan of Laurie or if you enjoy well written comedy.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Something to savour.
Review: Chocolate for the mind , something to take little bits of and to put away for later , to be devoured a little at a time .

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Wonderful, if sometimes cute, first novel from Laurie!
Review: Hugh Laurie's engaging meta-spy novel THE GUN SELLER is a great piece of fast, incredibly readable fun. I read the book in two days. The book stands in between the hyphens of many different genres and, oddly enough, it is probably its place as a humor novel that is most frustrating. While the cynical, witty spy novel aspect of this book is compelling, as is its political tretises, I found myself wishing that Laurie could, every now and then, set his comedy aside. While, for the most part, the comedy of the book is incredibly well crafted, it occasionally borders on the cute. One passage in which he writes, for example "Outside, it was snowing; well, of course it was snowing outside," comes to mind as an example. Despite this, Hugh Laurie's "The Gun Seller" is a great achievement and an excellent first novel, if not quite so great as his comedy partner, Stephen Fry's THE LIAR. Pick them both up, and enjoy them both as separate meta-novels bent on turning thrillers upside down.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great Spy Spoof in the tradition of Wodehouse
Review: A grand spoof on the spy novel written by a well-known British actor (Jeeves and Wooster, Black Adder) which follows and skewers the classic conventions of the genre: ex-Army hero drifts in and out of work and falls into the middle of an international conspiracy involving CIA, et al, beautiful love interests, exotic locales, motorcycles, etc... The first half of the book (the setup) is consistently funny in typical British satiric fashion, almost every paragraph has a lovely turn of phrase or nasty aside. The second half of the book (the deed) is less so, concentrating more on action. I'm not surprised the pace couldn't be held all the way through, given the high wit of the first half. This is not to say the book isn't excellent and fun reading.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Hmmmmm
Review: Well, I read the book. I loved the way it was written, very funny. But the mainstory was hard for me to find. Perhaps because I am not native english, perhaps because I didnt read the book in one time. But it really was a pitty that I lost it many times. I think it is easier when you read it at once (dont stop) and maybe being native english is a very big plus too. I liked it though. It appeared to me as being a little cheap, but that guy is a great fantasy-man. I dont think it is worth reading if you only read serious literature. If you want to read something funny on a vacation, you might find this book as a very good pleasing solution...

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Very well told serious story by a comedy actor
Review: Hugh Laurie is a comedy actor of a very high standard and his writing comes up to the same standard.

The style of the books starts by mimicking his TV comedy style: especially his Blackadder type characters. Initially this put me off since it made the prose very fussy and it got in the way of the story. Eventually this style drifted and it moved more towards the Raymond Chandler narrative style.

All in all, I read this book at about three sittings and was suitably impressed. I'd definitely buy another one of Hugh's efforts. Excellent story, unfolds well, good characters, well researched locations ...

Buy it and read it and enjoy it!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Laughing Aloud
Review: I have never spent so much time laughing aloud as I have reading this novel. I don't like spy novels and I don't like thrillers, but I LOVED The Gun Seller. Thomas Lang is a wonderful character, a real anti-hero hero. The plot and the characters are well delineated and well thought out. But most of all, Laurie's sarcastic, biting, and extraordinarily playful sense of humor fill the story with humanity and great fun. A reader couldn't ask for more! But I will...more Hugh Laurie, please write more!


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