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A Gun for Sale

Graham Greene A Gun for Sale Reading Order

Graham Greene's A Gun for Sale (1936) — published in the US as This Gun for Hire — is his most hard-boiled entertainment: the story of Raven, a harelipped professional killer who assassinates a European minister to start a war and then discovers he has been paid in stolen banknotes, making him simultaneously a wanted murderer and the only person who can prevent the war. The novel is organized around a series of parallel hunts: the police hunting Raven, Raven hunting his paymasters, and Anne Crowder (a showgirl engaged to the police detective) who finds herself caught between them.

Where to start

Brighton Rock

Complete A Gun for Sale Book List

  1. 1

    Brighton Rock

    Graham Greene·1938·The essential companion in Greene's serious work — Pinkie's terrifying Catholicism; the novel that most directly continues A Gun for Sale's interest in the criminal's inner life, but with full theological weight added; published two years after A Gun for Sale and the natural next step.
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  2. 2

    A Gun for Sale

    Graham Greene·1936·The novel itself — Raven, Anne Crowder, the harelip, the war, and the stolen banknotes.
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  3. 3

    The Ministry of Fear

    Graham Greene·1943·The companion entertainment — the wartime London thriller that most directly develops A Gun for Sale's interest in the naive protagonist caught in a conspiracy far larger than they can see; both are organized around a person who discovers too late that they are a pawn in someone else's political game.
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  4. 4

    This Gun for Hire

    Graham Greene·1936·The American title for A Gun for Sale — they are the same novel; note that the Alan Ladd / Veronica Lake 1942 film adaptation updated the political setting from a European war to wartime America.
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  5. 5

    The Big Sleep

    Raymond Chandler·1939·Chandler's hardboiled thriller — the American parallel to A Gun for Sale in its portrait of a morally ambiguous professional navigating a world of corruption; the comparison between Raven (the hired killer) and Philip Marlowe (the private detective) shows the difference between the British and American approaches to the same genre.
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  6. 6

    The Day of the Jackal

    Frederick Forsyth·1971·Forsyth's thriller about a hired assassin contracted to kill de Gaulle — the most celebrated political assassination thriller in the British tradition and the direct heir to the territory A Gun for Sale establishes; the comparison shows how the professional killer evolved as a literary figure from Greene to Forsyth.
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  7. 7

    Stamboul Train

    Graham Greene·1932·The predecessor in Greene's entertainments — the Orient Express thriller that established the formula A Gun for Sale develops; the comparison shows the evolution of Greene's entertainments from the train-journey structure to the political-conspiracy structure.
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A Gun for Sale — Frequently Asked Questions

What is A Gun for Sale about?

A Gun for Sale (1936) follows Raven, a harelipped professional killer who is hired to assassinate a European minister and finds himself paid in stolen banknotes. Simultaneously a wanted murderer and the only person who knows who is trying to start a war, he is hunted by the police while hunting his paymasters, with Anne Crowder — a showgirl engaged to the detective chasing Raven — caught between them.

Is A Gun for Sale the same as This Gun for Hire?

Yes — A Gun for Sale is the British title; This Gun for Hire is the American title. They are the same novel, published in 1936. The 1942 Hollywood film This Gun for Hire starring Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake is loosely based on the novel but updated the political setting and significantly changed the plot.

Is A Gun for Sale a good introduction to Graham Greene?

A Gun for Sale is more accessible than Greene's serious novels but perhaps not the best introduction. Brighton Rock (1938) is the recommended first Greene — it has the same hardboiled energy as A Gun for Sale but with the full Catholic theological weight that makes Greene's moral vision distinctive. A Gun for Sale is better approached after Brighton Rock, when you have a sense of what Greene does with the crime-fiction genre.

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