Warren Ellis trails 'Gun Machine' through NYC's mean streets

Warren Ellis has a few ideas about why Americans are so obsessed with guns — the theme of his new novel "Gun Machine" (Mulholland Books: 320 pp., $25.99). "I'm presuming it's still this deep-seated neurosis that the British are going to come back," he drawls in his precise baritone, speaking by phone from his home in Southend-on-Sea, England. "I get that you have bears and things, but I don't think you need assault rifles or rocket launchers to scare them off."

By Douglas Wolk

January 10, 2013