Slough House

This latest (and last?) novel of Slough House and the slow horses is arguably the best of the lot. By now you have a connection to the characters, almost as family members, that endures through one dark night after another. Though I haven’t been in London in many years, it felt like I was experiencing London daily. The evil characters, the conniving characters, the flawed characters in and out of Slough House come to a life of their own. And above it all, complete with hilarious malapropisms is the almost immortal Jackson Lamb, genius, slob and flawless analyst of the human condition. Spy/crime writing gets no better than this, with the biting asides thrown in to leaven the whole mix. On my second read and still learning about the nuances of the situations and characters. Oh yes, English really is the common language that separates two great peoples.

Mick Herron's story of British espionage and political intrigue kept me reading well past bedtime. His humor and wit crept into the dialogue at frequent and unexpected moments. The wickedly funny character of Jackson Lamb is destined to be an icon in spy literature. Lamb is an alternately hilarious and disgusting career veteran of the intelligence service who has pissed off enough of his superiors that he has been put in charge of Slough House, a disgraced section of MI5. To qualify for Slough House an agent has to commit a screwup of sufficient magnitude that they are deported from MI5 headquarters at Regency Park. It is a place of desperation and despair where all inhabitants strive to return to "The Park," but no one ever has.The plot is intricate and superbly designed, pitting Lamb and his band of shamed "Spooks" against the first desk (i.e., the director) of MI5, Diana Taverner, and various Russian GRU agents. When media-billionaire Damian Cantor starts buying political influence from Peter Judd and expects return favors, Taverner finds herself in the unfortunate position of dealing with him. Judd is "a politician whose greed for power was so naked it required a parental advisory sticker." After a Russian agent is assassinated as part of a revenge plot arranged by Taverner and MI5, several former Slough House agents turn up dead. Lamb begins investigating, circling the wagons, and calling on his "slow horses" to redeem themselves before they end up dead.An adaptation of the book titled "Slow Horse" is now an Apple television series starring Gary Oldman. I've been binge-watching—it's excellent too.

I have rated all of the novels in the "Slow Horses" series 5 stars, and all of the novellas 4 stars (not because I didn't enjoy them, but compared to the novels they seemed less weighty.) I find the series to be addictive. Each novel seems to be darker and funnier than its predecessor. I am down to my last novel and my last novella. I just hope Mick Herron is writing the next one with all deliberate speed.

Mick Herron is a master of our language. He can make English danceMultiple laugh out loud moments tooMy only gripe is none of the characters, apart from perhaps Louisa, is developing or growing. I get it that Slough House is supposed to do that to our protagonists but seven books and ten years in I feel they deserve itRecommend Slough House for anyone who has read the previous novels

This book was a much improved entry in this series. The pace was much better and the focus was mostly on the slow horses and not so much on Diana and the politics which is how I prefer it. There is an urgency to the plot as they find themselves with targets on their backs. Of course the author still has a bad case of TDS and continues to drop more attacks on Trump but at least this time the plot is moving forward so well his obsession with American politics over his own country is less as jarring. You will very much need to read this book to continue on with this series as the chairs in Slough House are once again being reshuffled.(Spoiler warning) I first found this series through the Apple adaptation and immediately had to read the book in hopes of finding answers to what happened to Sidonie. When this series lagged the author dropped that phone call which had me needing to keep going to get answers and finally they are here. But be warned I’m not sure the trade off was worth it as he may have taken out my favorite character in the exchange, or he will make that the new mystery where we wait to find out what happened.

I have waited patiently for this seventh book in the series to be released and, yes, I did zip right through it because I didn't dare put it down. I would pine for it. So I just read it all in one somewhat elongated gulp. My reason for four stars is the "blankety blank" cliffhanger ending. And not just one cliff either; each thread I wanted wrapped up just stops.This entry in the series is absolutely spot on from the standpoint of all that is happening from the political perspective in Britain and just as much in America if for slightly different reasons. And Diana Taverner, First Desk at Regent's Park has gotten herself involved in something political that's not going to be resolved easily. Slough house seems to have been placed in the cross hairs of unknown killers who are having an easy job of picking off slow horses and making each death seem like an accident.I really like the way Mick Herron writes his characters. As always I think Herron must absolutely love writing the Roderick Ho character and in this book Roddy-O is displayed in all his tough secret agent glory. If you know Roddy, you know exactly what I mean. I also enjoy getting to catch up with Molly Doran from her lair in the basement archives of the Park. The descriptions of the physical side of Jackson Lamb have always made me cringe, but now I've added him to my list of characters to worry about because of his medical side. This book even has a surprise character turn up and play a major part in the entire plot development. Now to get myself psyched up for waiting another year for a resolution of all the dangling threads from Slough House. It's not going to be a restful year, that's for sure.

This is one of my favourite series although I have never before managed to read spy thrillers. I found ( and I realise I am risking opprobrium upon my head) Le Carre somewhat pompous and boring - too much of the public schoolboy for me. Mick Herron could not be more different and all the better for it. Unfortunately, I read this book in just over day , one of the minor blessings of lockdown and a cold wet winter although I suspect it would have taken very little longer even without that. It is easy to devour with a fabulous mix of humour, action, relevance to current times and a wonderfully ghastly villain resembling a well-known politician. Unlike some, I enjoyed the political context, being no fan of said politician and his band of third rate sycophants. I think MH’s politics are clear enough, as with so many authors, and why not? Not admiring duplicity in all its shades is fine with me.I am sure it will have to come at some point, but I enjoyed this book for being Covid- free. It is bad enough being in it, without the pleasures of Slough House being constricted by the pandemic. I can only begin to imagine how the ineffable Jackson Lamb would respond to it all, but I read these skilfully written books for an escape, not more of the current reality.Although this is the seventh in the series and there is an element of similarity that increases with each one, they are still good enough for me and I enjoyed this as much as ever. I hope there is more in Slough House and its assorted inmates to keep MH writing for a few more books yet. Great stuff.

All the usual ingredients are here, but the sneering political tone makes this outing of the Slow Horses rather unlikeable.

This, the seventh book in the Jackson Lamb series, does not disappoint. I imagine most everyone who reads it has already devoured the previous six books. For us, the return of Lamb and his “slow horses” — spies cast aside by MI6 — is reason enough to spend a few hours in their company. But this book also shows a side of Lamb we don’t often get to see — a man who despite all his insults and abuse of his staff is the most loyal and protective boss anyone could want. You do not want to mess with him, as several characters in this book will discover. And yes, the book does end on a cliffhanger. So we wait, impatiently, for number 8 …

Perhaps Jackson Lamb has outstayed his welcome. A character I usually find hilarious is curiously irritating in this latest outing for the ever changing Slough House crew.The plot is ok and as usual circuitous and the cast plays its part but somehow the book feels formulaic and stale.A few niggles* as with other authors of “series” there is a presumption that all the events of the other books are remembered which is frustrating.* the author’s Remainer heart is worn on his sleeve and “ you know what” it’s boring and cliched.File under “could do better. Better luck next time.

I have really enjoyed Mick Herron's writing since discovering 'Slow Horses' back in August 2018. Jackson Lamb is a fabulously grotesque and also weirdly sympathetic creation, so I became addicted to the series.Until 'Slough House'. Having read the final page, I felt that part of this book was missing. The writing is still brilliant, funny and tragic, but I wanted more of a completed story. If I had bought this book thinking it would be a wild poetic take on spying, I would have been happy. However I didn't and was really disappointed by the ending. While appreciating the incredible way it is written. So it is a case of my (perhaps unreasonable!) expectations not being met.