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Description
THE FIFTH BOOK IN THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING SERIES BEHIND SLOW HORSES, AN APPLE ORIGINAL SERIES NOW STREAMING ON APPLE TV Ian Fleming. John le Carré. Len Deighton. Mick Herron. The brilliant plotting of Herron’s twice CWA Dagger Award-winning Slough House series of spy novels is matched only by his storytelling gift and an ear for viciously funny political satire. “Mick Herron is the John le Carré of our generation.”—Val McDermid At MI5 headquarters Regent’s Park, First Desk Claude Whelan is learning the ropes the hard way. Tasked with protecting a beleaguered prime minister, he’s facing attack from all directions: from the showboating MP who orchestrated the Brexit vote, and now has his sights set on Number Ten; from the showboat’s wife, a tabloid columnist, who’s crucifying Whelan in print; from the PM’s favorite Muslim, who’s about to be elected mayor of the West Midlands, despite the dark secret he’s hiding; and especially from his own deputy, Lady Di Taverner, who’s alert for Claude’s every stumble. Meanwhile, the country’s being rocked by an apparently random string of terror attacks. Over at Slough House, the MI5 satellite office for outcast and demoted spies, the agents are struggling with personal problems: repressed grief, various addictions, retail paralysis, and the nagging suspicion that their newest colleague is a psychopath. Plus someone is trying to kill Roddy Ho. But collectively, they’re about to rediscover their greatest strength—that of making a bad situation much, much worse. It’s a good thing Jackson Lamb knows the rules. Because those things aren’t going to break themselves. Read more
Publisher : Soho Crime
Publication date : May 28, 2019
Edition : Reprint
Language : English
Print length : 368 pages
ISBN-10 : 1641290242
ISBN-13 : 41
Item Weight : 2.31 pounds
Dimensions : 5.48 x 0.97 x 8.26 inches
Book 5 of 9 : Slough House
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Top Amazon Reviews
Format: Paperback
This fifth installment in the Slow Horse/Slough House spy novel series provides the same thrills and sarcastic humor I’ve come to expect from Mick Herron. The story starts with a terrorist attack on villagers in Derbyshire. A jeep bearing all black-clad men with machine guns comes careening through a small village. The men open fire, gunning down innocent people going about their daily business, men, women, and children. Outrage resonates throughout England, sending shock waves through the intelligence community. Claude Whelen, the current head of Regent’s Park (MI5), is in trouble. Not only did his agents fail to anticipate the attack, but he is also caught in a compromising situation when a current Member of Parliament antagonistic to Regent’s Park is killed, and he is the last known person to see the man alive. Whelen’s precarious position is not improved by Diana Taverner, second in command at Regent’s Park, angling to usurp him. The slow horses come into the picture when it becomes known that Rodney Ho, the resident technogeek and aspiring Lothario, leaks intelligence information to a girl pretending to be his girlfriend. In charge of the slow horses, Jackson Lamb must put his team on the front line to stop the terrorists, salvage Rodney, and stay one step ahead of the A-team spymasters at Regent’s Park. Of course, as the agents track the terrorists, nothing is what it seems. Herron displays his usual in-depth knowledge of spycraft and politics, cheekily written scenes of the misfit spooks, and masterful descriptions of slow horse headquarters in Dickensian style. I alternate between savoring each well-crafted line, laughing out loud, and racing through the pages in suspense. Like the other books in the series, this one may be read as a standalone, but it is so much more enjoyable when you know the characters’ backstories that have been built carefully from the first one. If you like your mysteries and spy novels well-written, darkly humorous, and thrilling, you’ll love this one.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2021 by Katherine Y
Format: Kindle
Some surprises here the play between humor and violence is hard to put down. If you liked the first four, keep going.
Reviewed in the United States on October 29, 2025 by Kindle Customer
Format: Kindle
I enjoyed this book immensely and recommend you read it as soon as possible. A hallmark of London Rules and the other Slough House books is they seamlessly combine drama, action and humor. Humor. For grins, I annotated each passage in the book that made me smile or laugh out loud — and ended up with a total of 105. And about 25% of those were sustained belly laughs. The humor comes in the form of the narrator’s satirical observations and the character’s invective banter and vulgar puns, frequently delivered unexpectedly in dramatic situations. Lamb has the most punchlines but all the main characters at times deliver slashing comebacks and biting sarcasm. Action. This book has plenty of action. Mass shootings, fights, gun fights — it all drives the plot forward and adds suspense. Genuine suspense, not the “action thriller” suspense in bad movies that translates to insipid, implausible and insufferable. The reader cares about the characters and never knows who’s going to die. It keeps the action interesting. Drama. Most of the characters in London Rules are tormented. They struggle with addictions, PTSD, the memories of murdered or lost loved ones, their dead-end careers, their frustrated political aspirations, their sexual peccadillos. Their struggles tinge all interactions with tension. And when the characters hurt, we empathize with their pains because we know them well. The narration is top notch, full of pop culture references and detailed descriptions of scenes. The diction is precise. Be sure to look up words you don’t know. For example, if you don’t know the meaning of “vajazzle,” look it up when you see it in London Rules. You’ll get a laugh for your effort. The narrator personifies different parts of the day (for example, dawn) and depicts it creeping through and observing Slough House. Definitely literary. Definitely difficult to do in an entertaining way. Mick Herron pulls it off with aplomb. I’ll leave you with a sample: “On (dawn) goes, down the final set of stairs, and somehow passes through the back door without recourse to the shove this usually requires, the door being famously resistant to casual use.”
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Reviewed in the United States on October 24, 2024 by Glosso
Format: Paperback
Two things are becoming clear with Mick Herron. First, I think he'd rather be writing works that would be considered literature instead of great spy story escapism. His books’ first and last pages are becoming long, long allegories (or metaphors?) that really don't add to the story, set it up, or foretell anything that will happen over the next 300 plus pages. They are showcases of the author's ability to run languid sentences together and animate weather, daylight or the lack thereof, and other setting conditions that really are not key to anything that follows. They were interesting the first few books, now I read fast to plow through these showboating paragraphs that go on and on and only serve to stand between me and the next well crafted, intelligent and humorous spy caper at Slough House. Second, the author really does not like Donald Trump. Eh? I’m sure he doesn’t care about alienating some of his audience, but the specific shots he squeezed in a couple of times in this book seemed forced and appeared more to underscore his “correctness of thought” than provide any meaningful or humorous addition to the story. Perhaps he’s worried that the misogynistic politically incorrect characters he crafts will get him uninvited to all the right parties (good lord, he’d have to hang out with JK Rowling!) and this is his effort to stay on the literati circuit. But, luckily for the reader, this latest installment is as good as those preceding. Again, the crimes are external – foreign terrorists bent on striking for a cause they do not question – and internal as Diana Tavener (a now favorite villain) seeks to shore up a mess partly of MI5’s creating. Add to this the quirky personalities of the slow horses and it is another tight and intelligent story. (Sorry Mr. Herron, a story it is, not literature). Roddy Ho takes a larger role in this as his delusions of grandeur and sexual prowess place him at the center of a storm he’s helped kick off. Coe sheds his ear buds and hoodie more to almost engage at times and now jumps in with crucial analysis and tidbits tied to his training as a psychologist. Plus, he turns out to be as lethal with a paint can as he was with a pistol in the last story. And always the fantastically crafted Jackson Lamb. It has been a while since I’ve enjoyed a character as much as the slovenly, self-centered crank who loves his Joes even while tormenting them and is at the top of his game intellectually and analytically (though definitely not sartorially nor hygienically). A great character in another strong entry in the series.
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Reviewed in the United States on March 21, 2025 by Wayne A. Smith
Format: Paperback
"London Rules" is the fifth book in the Slough House series, Slough House being the (fictional) place where MI5 relegates its failures and misfits. I've now finished four of these books inside a week. There is little I can add to what I've said about the earlier installments. I'm hooked. I love River, Lamb, Standish, Molly Doran, Louisa Guy. Quite keen on Dander and Flyte too, reserving final judgment on J. K. Coe. Ho provides entertainment value, but I don't like him per se. I speed through these books, occasionally appreciating the style, occasionally appreciating a grace note, but mostly just swept up by the story and bitter wit. And London. The books remind me of my hometown. Five out of five bell-ringing stars. About my reviews: I try to review every book I read, including those that I don't end up enjoying. The reviews are not scholarly, but just indicate my reaction as a reader, reading being my addiction. I am miserly with 5-star reviews; 4 stars means I liked a book very much; 3 stars means I liked it; 2 stars means I didn't like it (though often the 2-star books are very popular with other readers and/or are by authors whose other work I've loved).
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Reviewed in the United States on September 4, 2025 by Mary Soon Lee
Format: Kindle
Mick Herron is a gifted author with a talent for painting a seamy, brooding locale with questionable characters who are both misfits and unlikely heroes. His dialogue is clever, crafty and humorous. I’m addicted. Bring on Book 6.
Reviewed in the United States on August 11, 2026 by Wirthwhile
Format: Kindle
I discovered Mick Herron's books by accident through a recommendation on Kindle, for which I'll be forever grateful. I just love them - the combination of cunning plots, idiosyncratic characters, wonderful dialogue, humour and, at times, poetic descriptions are just stunning. I have highly recommended them to friends and family. I am trying not to gobble them up, torn between wanting to find out how Lamb gets his slow horses out of the latest mess, using cunning and blackmail, and dreading finishing the book. Thank you, Mick, for giving me so much enjoyment and, dare I say it, insight into the machinations of the security services? Keep writing and I'll keep reading!
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Reviewed in the United States on January 24, 2025 by Draig
Format: Kindle
A perfect thriller from first to last. Fantastic writing, fantastic dialogue, fantastic read. A great escape from the politics of the day that includes politics of the day.
Reviewed in the United States on October 4, 2025 by Kate Meyers