You know, I can't honestly say I remember exactly what made me pick this book up in the first place. I think it was a friend of mine said it was pretty good, but as it was written by Bertie Wooster/Lieutenant George, I was a little sceptical about whether he could pull off a spy novel without it ending up like 'Johnny English'. Still, I have always liked Hugh Laurie and he's a man of many talents, so I did give it a go and I am very glad I did. It's been a while now and I have recently picked up the kindle edition so I could reread it. His protagonist is not exactly a wholesome, loveable character. He's cynical, self-centred, flawed, sarcastic, and enjoys winding people up, which might sound a little like a certain MD he's played on tv, but he's not quite as misanthropic as that. He does have redeeming qualities, and the writing is witty and easy to follow for the most part. It is, however, a spy novel so there were times I did feel I was getting a little lost and had to reread a bit here and there, but overall the plot works well and I am quite surpised someone has never tried to make a movie out of it. Of course, don't be expecting a Tom Clancy kind of novel. It's a very different feel and perspective, but it does work very well. There were some pacing issues where it seemed a bit slow at times, then suddenly kicks off...then slows right down again, so not the smoothest of transitions. However, as his first, and to my knowledge, only foray into fiction writing, he sets the bar pretty high on a first attempt, and if I could produce something like that on a first (or any other) try, I would be very happy indeed. Well worth a read. Read more

Ich hatte mir eigentlich mehr versprochen von dem Buch, aber leider finde ich, dass Hugh Laurie lieber 100 Seiten hätte weglassen können, damit es wirklich ein gutes Buch geblieben wäre. So ist die Story ziemlich in die Länge gezogen, so daß man ruhig ein paar Seiten überblättern kann, ohne etwas zu verpassen. Da schaue ich lieber Dr. House, da weiß man was man hat, nämlich gute Unterhaltung. Read more

Hugh Laurie is a sort of Renaissance Man. An Excellent actor, he is also an accomplished musician and jazz historian, adding his writing chops to the mix with this exercise in streaming narrative. Humorous with no holds barred it's a quick reading lark--well written and crafty. The Gun Seller is a showcase of authorship (I am OK with comparing it to the wordsmith John Barth's amazing exercises; DO read him) Laurie here successfully stretches the normal boundaries and guidelines of accepted creative writing. Read more

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I was very optimistic coming into this one. Hugh Laurie, love him in House. Oxford education and all around jack of all trades. But for some reason it took me a while to start reading this one. Once I finally did I had wondered if I had made a mistake. Right away we are introduced to Thomas Lang and you immediately get the feeling that the character's name is not Thomas Lang but is instead Gregory House. The same wit, the same dry and sarcastic remarks. The same everything. I began to wonder if Laurie was simply trying to live off of the House name and character. But then I looked at the copyright and this was written in 1996! This changed the dynamics quite a bit and you suddenly look at Lang and Laurie's writing with a different eye. The story itself is a well written and well formulated storyline that doesn't have holes and seems plausible. The dialogue and character interaction are real and believable. And once you get past the continuous banter of useless wit you can get to the core of the story. Indeed, after a hundred or so pages Laurie seems to move on and begin advancing the plot more than he does trying to advance Lang's wit, which brings the story to the forefront. My only qualm is perhaps the heavy handedness of Laurie's attempt to make Lang witty. He would constantly throw in some comparison or allegory that you know is a comparison or allegory and he would stop, take a break to inform the reader that what was just said didn't actually happen. For example, when Lang observes that the receptionist was seemingly talking into thin air in order to announce his arrival to someone he would stop us and say, "well, obviously she wasn't talking into thin air, she was in fact talking into a headset that was in her big hair do" or some such thing. It works once or twice, but to constantly do this doesn't do anything, it does in fact detract some. That being said the book rounded out nicely and I was pleased to have read it. I would look forward to reading something else by him, hopefully one not so House-esque (or I should say Laurie-esque since he wrote this before House) if he ever wrote another, which doesn't seem too likely since it has been almost 12 years since this one and no follow up book. I would recommend. 4 stars. Read more