The Gun Seller is dead

Tanya gave me a book by Hugh Laurie (aka Gregory House) for Christmas because I am a faithful viewer of House. Well, I finished it (it came to a close on page 339); I even read the interview with the author ... although I skipped most of the discussion questions suggested for book groups.

Laurie creates an interesting fictional plot involving an Englishman who gets swept into a continually expanding (to him and the reader) spiral of lies/deceit/betrayal/scheming/corruption/etc. Interestingly, the amount of peril he is in seems to oscillate throughout the story, while his confusion level is more like bell curve ... seemingly minor at the beginning, then building, then decreasing as he starts to put together myriad pieces from the enigmatically-wrapped, mysterious puzzle he's been dragged into. But, sometimes, even if you figure the whole thing out, there's not a thing you can do about it. For example, Wade Phillips may know what went wrong with the Cowboys today/this week/this season, but it's not going to get them into the playoffs. Their season is done. A parachuter who realizes he's made a packing mistake might figure out what went wrong, but that's not going to help him when he contacts a solid object. So ... does this Englishman figure it out? And, is he able to make an escape from the downward spiral that continues to increase in scope and intensity?

The book reads easily. I found Laurie's narrative style to be enjoyable because he interjects humor into the dialogue that I found well-timed, humorous, and a good, light-hearted, contrast to the serious events. For example:

"He pressed an intercom button and asked for Ginny, who duly trundled in bearing a folder. While Halkerston browsed through it, I had to wonder how Ginny could hold her head up under the weight of cosmetics smeared all over her face. Underneath it all, she may have been quite pretty. Or she may have been Dirk Bogarde. I will never know.

Although this is far from my favorite passage, this was the one I stumbled on while looking for one, so ... there you have it. It also helps give insight into the character of the character (the Englishman). And, while Laurie leaves you hanging, at times, he always does a good job of bringing you back up to speed quickly when it is necessary. Additionally, loose ends are tied up quite well throughout the story. I would recommend The Gun Seller ... although I'm not sure others would enjoy it as much as I did ... but you never know.