Hugh Laurie

Adventure-mystery by actor Hugh Laurie ("House"; "Jeeves and Wooster"; and many more). It follows Thomas Lang, a hired gunman with a soft heart who's hired to assassinate an American industrialist.

Instead he decides to warn the intended victim and finds himself butting heads with a Buddha statue, matching wits with evil billionaires, and putting his life (among other things) in the hands of a bevy of femmes fatales, while trying to save a beautiful woman, navigate plenty of unexpected plot twists, and prevent an international bloodbath.… (more)

I'm not even going to lie: I sought out this book solely because it was written by one of my favorite actors, the star of the "House" television series in the United States as well as some classic British television comedies such as "Blackadder," "Jeeves and Wooster," and "A Bit of Laurie and Fry."

In some ways this is a conventional spy thriller novel involving international arms dealers, terrorists, and government conspiracies. However, the novel has an unmistakable comic tone as you might expect from Laurie that keeps the suspense from getting too heavy. I enjoyed it, but readers who prefer their thrillers more straightforward may want to steer clear.… (more)

I stopped this 80 pages in when the real plot was revealed and I will likely will never continue. I'll leave my rating blank, but it probably deserves a solid 2.5/5 or 5/10. I couldn't help but read the whole thing in Hugh Laurie's voice as Wooster (yes, every knows House, but Jeeves & Wooster or Fry & Laurie are much better examples of his outstanding comedic chops). It's very British in the best sort of way, but Laurie added a little too much self-awareness to the already self-conscious British wit. It's one thing to break the fourth wall with superfluous silliness, it's another thing to add an extra line winking at the reader about the silliness. Seems like a very comic-actor-ey thing to do. The plot and characters are entirely forgettable. It deserves a higher rating if you're looking for a light beach read. I guess I didn't open it with the right frame of mind. If you don't have any Wodehouse to scratch your itch for English frivolity and you've already done plenty of Chandler, and for some reason you need to do both of them in one go, then maybe this is for you.… (more)