‘Slow Horses’ by Mick Herron

My Review (5 stars out of 5)

Jackson Lamb rules the roost at Slough House – a dumping ground for spies who messed up. Nicknamed the slow horses, his team deal with the mundane and the boring instead of being out in the field like proper spies. But with the kidnapping of a young Asian man and the promise of a beheading broadcast on the Internet, the slow horses decide to intervene. Meanwhile, newbie River Cartwright is tasked with a minor delivery job, but he sees a way to get his own back on a former colleague…

This is the first book I’ve read by this author, but it certainly won’t be the last. I could never get into any of those classic spy stories by the likes of Ian Fleming, Le Carre or Len Deighton, but this one grabbed me at the first page.  Herron’s characters are sharply drawn, their apparent inadequacies in opposition to the fascinating minutiae of their working lives. Jackson Lamb in particular is a wonderfully slobbish boss, though his abilities soon come to the fore as the team are thrown into a dangerous situation.

The author’s prose is delightfully witty and clever, while the plot sizzles away, turning up the heat as the tension builds to an ingenious denouement.

A sharp and witty read that demonstrates Mick Herron’s talent as a highly skilled and original novelist.

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