January 28, 2013
In this audio edition of Laurie’s comic thriller, narrator Simon Prebble proves a natural at conveying the witty banter supplied by the book’s protagonist, soldier of fortune Thomas Lang. Tasked with killing an American industrialist, Lang instead warns the target—a decision that draws him into a convoluted web of international intrigue. As Lang finds himself in one unlikely tight spot after another, Prebble deftly portrays the character’s devilish charm. Prebble also shines as Sarah Woolf, the American femme fatale at the book’s center, his voice oozing with cool glamour. Some listeners may have difficulty keeping up with the twisting plot and shifting players. But like a Hollywood spy movie, this production delivers a rollicking ride, even if the audience may not register the details of every twist and turn. A Washington Square paperback.
April 28, 1997
In his debut as a thriller writer, the longstanding partner of British comedian Stephen Fry treats the genre of John Buchan, Eric Ambler and Frederick Forsythe with as much reverence as Douglas Adams's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy did science fiction. His blend of comedy and suspense has some truly hilarious moments. The hero, Thomas Lang, an ex-officer of the Scots Guards now aimlessly drifting between dead-end jobs, is such a decent bloke that he not only turns down a 50,000 hit job but also warns its intended victim, the CEO of an interior decorating firm, who turns out to be its originator. At the heart of a plot so twisted that it risks spraining itself is an arms-selling conspiracy beyond Ollie North's wildest schemes, involving renegade CIA agents and the U.S. military-industrial complex. Though this scenario flags once Lang has untangled it, culminating in a staged hostage crisis that shows off an anti-terrorist helicopter, Laurie's droll patter enlivens Lang's bemused narration throughout. Besides motorcycle chases, unarmed combat and sharpshooting, Lang wittily fetishizes weaponry and personal injury. As a good Brit, however, he is terribly, terribly reticent about sex ("When it comes to sex, it seems to me, men really are caught between a rock and a soft, limp, apologetic place."). Author tour; rights: Harold Ober; film rights to United Artists.