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isaac_salle's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
josisteacup's review against another edition
The book sounded interesting and I've already read "Our Man in Havana", so I thought this would be a good one too. I like political and espionage thrillers, but this clearly falls into the "battered, tortured and woman-hating protagonist has an incredibly difficult time" category and neither the subject matter nor the writing style compensates for it (like, for example, "The Spy Who Came from the Cold" by John Le Carré). Doesn't hallo that Raven as a name is overused in edgy late 00/early 10s fanfiction so i had a hard time taking him serious.
The book clearly a product of it's time and maybe I should pick up Greenes later books.
All in all, I didn't like the part I read and I doubt I'll try it again.
The book clearly a product of it's time and maybe I should pick up Greenes later books.
All in all, I didn't like the part I read and I doubt I'll try it again.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Misogyny, and Murder
sl0w_reader's review against another edition
3.0
It’s all about betrayal - betrayal of the innocent and the malevolent; betrayal of the individual and the country; betrayal of self and ideals. Crime fiction with a political and ethical undertow. Given Greene’s slightly stiff 1930s style, it mercifully delivers its punches quickly and unsentimentally. The distant lights of faith, hope and charity sputter thinly in the cold yellow fog of the nearly unredeemed nihilism curling through these pages.
zare_i's review against another edition
4.0
This one took me longer to finish than I anticipated.
Story begins when Raven, assassin for hire, book protagonist and all-around anti-hero gets double-crossed after a high profile assassination he executed on Europe mainland. Cold and ruthless Raven is not interested in his marks, he knows only he needs to go to specific location, kill the mark and return back safely.
So when he gets betrayed his rage grows, not because of betrayal itself (risk o business ... I guess?) but because he was betrayed by his own kind, criminal underworld. If there is no honor amongst thieves what can man do - right? So he decides to take revenge and goes to north of England chasing the man that is responsible for putting police on Raven's track. On his way to kill the people that betrayed him Raven will cross paths with Anne, friendly and justice driven member of acting and dancing troupe and Mather, policeman and Anne's fiancee who is not sure what is going on and why is Anne found working alongside Raven.
Unlike stoic gunmen like say Delon's Le Samourai or Leon Professional, Raven is very much self-aware and runs on pure emotions and rage. After very hard childhood and aware that his harelip was cause of so many difficulties Raven thinks everybody is after him because of his scarred face (which I guess was quite an issue when the novel was written). We follow him as he moves from the cold calculated killer to someone truly touched, like an animal that was constantly beaten and then shown true kindness, by friendship and support of Anne (no matter she might have few hidden motives of her own). Raven is a tragic figure, man who survived only by living in great fear, man to be brought down after he accepts other's friendship and kindness.
Besides Raven author gives very good description of society classes - those at the top looking forward to profiteering from war either directly (money) or indirectly (other material or social privileges) and those at the bottom either dumb and witless about the horror of wars and seeking glory in it, or terrified to the very bone [since terrors from the last one are still fresh in memory]. This entire reaction and justification of war have left bitter taste in my mouth because they show how propaganda can direct nations in a very, very, very wrong direction (like last year......brrrr).
Only issue I had with the book was level of details and descriptions author paints in his story. It could be that today we are more or less more visual creatures and do not have problems imagining things [when provided with less information] - authors very detailed descriptions and the ways he handles character discussions (ticks and face expressions included) tend to be verbose, and as a result my reading pace would suddenly drop to very low rate. Again this could be me [English is not my mother tongue] but was a cause for longer than expected time period to finish the book. On the good side when action picks up it truly picks up and pages just fly away.
Very interesting story, recommended to fans of slower burning thrillers.
Story begins when Raven, assassin for hire, book protagonist and all-around anti-hero gets double-crossed after a high profile assassination he executed on Europe mainland. Cold and ruthless Raven is not interested in his marks, he knows only he needs to go to specific location, kill the mark and return back safely.
So when he gets betrayed his rage grows, not because of betrayal itself (risk o business ... I guess?) but because he was betrayed by his own kind, criminal underworld. If there is no honor amongst thieves what can man do - right? So he decides to take revenge and goes to north of England chasing the man that is responsible for putting police on Raven's track. On his way to kill the people that betrayed him Raven will cross paths with Anne, friendly and justice driven member of acting and dancing troupe and Mather, policeman and Anne's fiancee who is not sure what is going on and why is Anne found working alongside Raven.
Unlike stoic gunmen like say Delon's Le Samourai or Leon Professional, Raven is very much self-aware and runs on pure emotions and rage. After very hard childhood and aware that his harelip was cause of so many difficulties Raven thinks everybody is after him because of his scarred face (which I guess was quite an issue when the novel was written). We follow him as he moves from the cold calculated killer to someone truly touched, like an animal that was constantly beaten and then shown true kindness, by friendship and support of Anne (no matter she might have few hidden motives of her own). Raven is a tragic figure, man who survived only by living in great fear, man to be brought down after he accepts other's friendship and kindness.
Besides Raven author gives very good description of society classes - those at the top looking forward to profiteering from war either directly (money) or indirectly (other material or social privileges) and those at the bottom either dumb and witless about the horror of wars and seeking glory in it, or terrified to the very bone [since terrors from the last one are still fresh in memory]. This entire reaction and justification of war have left bitter taste in my mouth because they show how propaganda can direct nations in a very, very, very wrong direction (like last year......brrrr).
Only issue I had with the book was level of details and descriptions author paints in his story. It could be that today we are more or less more visual creatures and do not have problems imagining things [when provided with less information] - authors very detailed descriptions and the ways he handles character discussions (ticks and face expressions included) tend to be verbose, and as a result my reading pace would suddenly drop to very low rate. Again this could be me [English is not my mother tongue] but was a cause for longer than expected time period to finish the book. On the good side when action picks up it truly picks up and pages just fly away.
Very interesting story, recommended to fans of slower burning thrillers.
dantastic's review against another edition
2.0
When a hare-lipped assassin named Raven is paid for a job with stolen cash, he becomes wanted for robbery and goes on the run with a hostage named Anne.
I was not a tremendous fan of This Gun for Hire. The book read like it had an identity crisis of sorts, like it didn't know whether it wanted to be a straight up thriller or literary fiction. I don't feel like it did either particularly well.
The premise is great. I love the idea of a hitman double crossed by getting paid with stolen cash the police had serial numbers for and then looking for vengeance. Raven is very interesting protagonist, an ugly man in an ugly world. I liked the characters of Anne and Raven quite a bit and had high hopes at the start. The book just never really grabbed me. The explorations of the characters bogged down the thrilling bits to the point where I was doing housework instead of reading.
That's about all I have to say. I got a pretty meh feeling from this book and was glad when it was over. Two stars. It was not without its moments.
I was not a tremendous fan of This Gun for Hire. The book read like it had an identity crisis of sorts, like it didn't know whether it wanted to be a straight up thriller or literary fiction. I don't feel like it did either particularly well.
The premise is great. I love the idea of a hitman double crossed by getting paid with stolen cash the police had serial numbers for and then looking for vengeance. Raven is very interesting protagonist, an ugly man in an ugly world. I liked the characters of Anne and Raven quite a bit and had high hopes at the start. The book just never really grabbed me. The explorations of the characters bogged down the thrilling bits to the point where I was doing housework instead of reading.
That's about all I have to say. I got a pretty meh feeling from this book and was glad when it was over. Two stars. It was not without its moments.
sbelasco40's review against another edition
4.0
Graham Greene is, as far as I can tell, the king of mid-20th-century moral ambiguity. Yes, it's the Catholic thing, anyone who's read Greene knows he's bound to get kind of Catholic at some point, but it's more than that - it's the way in which he understands the complexity of the human psyche. In this book, which is more straight up hard-boiled than anything I've ever read by him, he pulls the reader into the mind of a killer. It's not a comfortable place to be, but he keeps the story moving, enough to push the reader along so you don't get too caught up in the mindfuck, and the mystery itself is more of an extended chase sequence than anything too intricate. A couple things I thought about while reading this: the ways in which Elmore Leonard is a lot like Graham Greene in terms of the tightness of narrative, the no-bullshit dialogue; and also the fact that Greene wrote so much about the exact time period he was in, giving his books an immediacy that's quite striking. How fascinating to read a book published in 1936 where every page is weighed down with the threat of imminent war.
locke_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
koxi's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.0
pineappleliquid's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
stephswift12's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.0