A Gun for Sale

A Gun for Sale is a 1936 novel by Graham Greene.

This novel was made into a film in 1941 and renamed This Gun for Hire, which was also the title of the book's U.S. edition. Alan Ladd was cast as Raven in the film. Raven is a man dedicated to ugly deeds. When Raven is paid for killing the Minister of War with stolen notes, he becomes a man on the run. Tracking down the agent who double-crossed him, and eluding the police simultaneously, he becomes both the hunter and the hunted.

The novel ties into Greene's later, more famous work, Brighton Rock. Raven's assassination of Kite, the Colleoni's rival mob boss, sets the event of Brighton Rock in motion in much the same way that Raven's assassination of the Minister of War sows the seeds for global conflict in A Gun For Sale

Characters in "A Gun for Sale"

• Raven, the cold-hearted assassin for hire with hidden decency and a personal sense of justice. Extremely sensitive about his harelip - understandably so.

• Mather, stalwart police detective trailing Raven, with many of the same characteristics. Joined police for stability of the routine.

• Anne, a chorus girl who is engaged to Mather, is used by Raven as a shield. The two develop a fragile friendship that may or may not be real.

• Cholmondeley a.k.a. Davis, a grossly sensual man who acts as the agent of a masonic corrupt steel tycoon, Sir Marcus, and betrays Raven. Anne tries to help Raven get revenge upon him.

• Saunders, a decent police detective with a heavy stammer. He is Mather's loyal protege who plays a vital role in the novel climax.

Settings

• An unnamed Central European capital, probably Prague or Vienna^[1], where the old politician and his secretary are murdered by Raven.

• London, where Raven is paid off by Cholmondeley^[2], where Anne has lodgings but cannot find work, and where Mather is based at Scotland Yard.

• Nottwich, a fictional version of Nottingham^[3], site of the steel works where Sir Marcus lives in a penthouse, where Anne gets a job in the pantomime, and where Raven goes to find and kill Cholmondeley.