The Gun Seller - Hugh Laurie

...I know it says on the cover that 'you won't be able to put it down' but it has taken me several months to get through this book. That's not to say that it isn't any good, quite the opposite, as I did really enjoy it. Life has had a myriad of stresses for me lately, but at the end of the day it was a rewarding joy to be able to sit down and read the odd chapter of Laurie's first novel. To be honest I'm always a little dubious about the 'can't put ...
...mind at a tangent to the norm. It makes you think, it makes you feel and above all it makes you laugh. On occasion the constant plays on words can get a bit tiring, but just as you begin to think, I'm getting bored of this trick, there is an excellent twist of words that makes you laugh out loud. The same stands for the plot of this novel.

Getting to know the protagonist Thomas Lang isn't easy, but there, we as the reader, are made ... more

Well I know it says on the cover that 'you won't be able to put it down' but it has taken me several months to get through this book. That's not to say that it isn't any good, quite the opposite, as I did really enjoy it. Life has had a myriad of stresses for me lately, but at the end of the day it was a rewarding joy to be able to sit down and read the odd chapter of Laurie's first novel. To be honest I'm always a little dubious about the 'can't put it down' sell, like it is pushing itself on you too much. Laurie's writing is anything but that.

As with his comedy, you are invited into a world of word play and a mind at a tangent to the norm. It makes you think, it makes you feel and above all it makes you laugh. On occasion the constant plays on words can get a bit tiring, but just as you begin to think, I'm getting bored of this trick, there is an excellent twist of words that makes you laugh out loud. The same stands for the plot of this novel.

Getting to know the protagonist Thomas Lang isn't easy, but there, we as the reader, are made to feel like the other characters in his story. No one quite knows where he is coming from, in both his actions, his motives and at a later point his nationality. Thomas' (or Laurie's own) outstanding ability to fool you into thinking he's an American - think of his hit show House, which continues to startle Americans when they hear him speak in his mother tongue - plays an enjoyable part in the later twists of this novel.

As a thriller it is as fun as a Bank Holiday Bond movie, an extension of the comedy we are used to seeing in Fry and Laurie's work in general and in places quite current and thought provoking. I don't want to elaborate too much on the plot lines here, as it twist and turns like a corkscrew in a fine Pouilly Fusee - I'd hate to ruin the flavour. Suffice to say that Lang finds himself the pawn in a very profitable and morally redundant game of the higher ups. Can his wit and charm save the day? Can he turn the tables on those that would try to control his fate? Read it and see for yourself.

Something I found to be a little more intimate about Laurie's first novel was the love affair that motivated much of Thomas' action and many of his somewhat dubious motives. It's not a side of him we see all that often in his other work, but given that he has been happilly married for, I think, eighteen years, it isn't really a surprise to me that he can touch upon themes of love with such elegant charm, comedic spin and naive wonderment.

Even though it did take me a while to plod through this novel I found it very enjoyable and would recommend it to anyone, either a fan of Laurie, or just a fan of crime capers and a good espionage thriller.

One other aspect worth a note, was the character of Solomon who echoed the famous PG Woodhouse character of Jeeves, also played by no other than Hugh Laurie's long time chum Stephen Fry. I find it a theme for both Laurie's début novel and many of Fry's novels, that a character based on the other of the comic duo, appears in their stories. I found it an added comfort to find this familiar paring in this tale and perhaps it made writing the novel a little easy for Laurie to have a familiar counterpart as a confidante. I don't think either of them could claim that they put nothing of themselves in their fictional writings, but what author really could?

After reading this I am very much looking forward to Laurie's long awaited second novel, The Paper Soldier, said to be released in a few months. Perhaps that one really will be un-put-down-able. 

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