Hired Gun [Paperback]

Matthew Branton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 8, 2002

In a world where you're only as good as your last job, John Decker is tired. He may be top of the tree, but it's groaning with the weight of younger blood climbing the branches below. Banker? Market-maker? No: Decker is a contract killer, the best in the business. But when a contender offs his handler, Decker's out on his own. Forced into an alliance with a younger hitman, he finds himself pushing for position as well as fighting for his life. And when a fine young woman enters the frame, Decker has to choose between the life of a loner and the things he left behind, further back than he can recall...

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In an era of post-Watergate paranoia, even the government's assassins can't be sure of the rules in this elaborate mind-game from British author Branton (The House of Whacks). Contract killer John Decker is aging, and his Postman's death has cut him off from the network and knowledge of what's happening. A younger hitman named Olsen who tracks him may be the Contender waiting to take his place. Or maybe not. Spinning words with grace and ease, the author has fun with this loose scenario in a Diary of a Hitman mold, but quickly gives the impression he's making it up page by page. "There could be four other Deckers wondering why their drops had gone cold of a sudden, or he could be the only one. It was a fact of the Life that you didn't know." But somehow in this world of secrecy the amusing story that Olsen has found a wino using his information drop-site as a toilet has gotten around to all the killers. Readers who crave intellectual romps could enjoy the ride, but fans of the hitman genre who prefer a growing body count may be distressed to find that Branton's killers seem intent on talking their victims to death.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

"...a chip off the Graham Greene block. Stylish young Branton's future lies brilliant before him." -- Kirkus Reviews, January 1, 2003 --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Bloomsbury (April 8, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0747557756
• ISBN-13: 978-0747557753
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,463,340 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Literary hitmen, March 21, 2003

By 

Anna Klein - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Hired Gun (Hardcover)

John Decker is a contract killer. The best, in fact. He's also getting older. And someone is out to take his place. He waits for this Contender to seek him out, but is instead confronted with Olsen, a fast-talking, brash hitman in his twenties who insists he's not the Contender and only wants to work for Decker. Decker is unsure, but both men have lost their Postmen and are now adrift without jobs or protection, so reluctantly he agrees to team up and teach Olsen some tricks in exchange for a second pair of eyes as they track down the force trying to destroy them.

The first third of THE HIRED GUN reads like a noir/action film, complete with the killers in their racy black cars and wraparound shades meeting out in the desert with their guns in hand and the blood red sun setting in the background. But as soon as Decker and Olsen get hooked up, the story shifts into an almost literary tale of crooked relationships. I grew so attached to both men that the ending left me feeling hollow inside. I wanted them, hitmen though they are, to succeed. Normally, I'd have a good laugh at scenes where two contract killers sit around in a car on a stakeout discussing the hardships of the Life, but THE HIRED GUN is so well written that instead I was touched and saddened. The plot seems haphazard (I did not even understand all of it), but the characters are convincing enough I hardly noticed. What THE HIRED GUN lacks, for its genre, is the usual flying blood and spilling guts. The one torture scene is hilarious, not painful. The author's attempt to turn a potboiler into a literary work may not satisfy the genre's fans, but as someone who usually winces her way through the violence of the typical noir tale, I enjoyed this variation of the same old theme.

If you're into hardcore noir, steer clear. But if you think you'd like a book about contract killers with hearts, I recommend giving THE HIRED GUN a try.

Anna Klein