Review of "The Gun Seller"

It’s not every day that a guy tries to hire you to kill him. On the one hand, it’s flattering that he comes to you for this, since it means that your professionalism in these matters precedes you. Conversely, it also means that you’re thought of as the kind of guy who does that sort of nasty business… which you are, but only when a target truly deserves it.

Against this comical scenario unfolds the story of The Gun Seller (1996), a novel written by Hugh Laurie. Yes, that Hugh Laurie, whom American audiences will know from the titular role of the acclaimed television tragicomedy “House,” and whom British audiences will remember from “Blackadder” and “Jeeves & Wooster.” More recently, Mr. Laurie has ventured into music, recording the blues album Didn’t It Rain (2013), but early in his career, our renaissance man authored this novel, and it is quite good. More so, it has a distinct Libertarian bent.

Thomas Lang had been a British Army officer deployed to Northern Ireland during the Troubles in the 1980s. He had seen and done his share of rough stuff, but quickly he learnt the systems – routines, patterns, signposts – by which insurgency and counterinsurgency operate. Years later, he would rely on this skill set as a semi-freelancer looking for work, only to find that a certain type of work was very doggedly looking for him.

Through a chance meeting with Sarah Woolf, a gorgeous American heiress in London with her father, Lang gets drawn into geopolitical intrigue of the worst kind. He uncovers a cabal by multinational players in what would be called the military-industrial complex, chafing at the sidelines in their wait for the next lucrative war. Instead, they are changing to a more proactive approach; to fabricate a way into global war!

The novel features a memorable beginning and proceeds at a brisk pace. There is action, espionage, romance, and most importantly, lots of humor! Hugh Laurie’s comedic talent from acting translates very poignantly through the written word, much more so than expected. You will find yourself thoroughly enjoying some cloak and dagger through peals of laughter.

And maybe – just maybe – through the medium of laughter, The Gun Seller can get us thinking about events currently unfolding, like the latest flare up of conflict in the Middle East. Perhaps then we’ll realize that for the defense industry, behind every bomb blast wait a paycheck and a punchline.