The Gunman

By: Jean-Patrick Manchette

Narrated by: Ralph Lister

A gripping noir masterpiece and New York Times Notable Book, The Gunman is now a major motion picture starring Sean Penn.

Martin Terrier is a hired killer who wants out of the game so he can settle down and marry his childhood sweetheart. But the organization won't let him go - they have other plans for him. In a violent tale that shatters as many illusions as bodies, Jean-Patrick Manchette subjects his characters and listeners alike to a fierce exercise in style. This tightly plotted, corrosive parody of "the success story" is widely considered to be Manchette's masterpiece - a classic of modern noir.

©2015 Blackstone Audio, Inc. (P)2015 Blackstone Audio

Tough hard ironic

The gunman seems like a work deeply inspired by the love of American violence and the hard-boiled detective story. At the center is a character who is tough and trained as a killer, and who speaks with the terse authority of a Hemingway character. The author is an aficionado of brutality and violence, but his hero somehow rises above it all and is true to his love – although he doesn’t get her to stay with him at least. When are you sure over does the accents and over does the violence and if I hear the word stupid or are you stupid? One more time I will feel very stupid for continuing to listen.