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In Stock.
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Thursday, May 29
Description
THE BOOK BEHIND THE FOURTH SEASON OF SLOW HORSES, THE APPLE ORIGINAL SERIES STARRING GARY OLDMAN IN HIS EMMY-NOMINATED ROLE AS JACKSON LAMB. What happens when an old spook loses his mind? Does the Service have a retirement home for those who know too many secrets but don’t remember they’re secret? Or does someone take care of the senile spy for good? These are the paranoid concerns of David Cartwright, a Cold War–era operative and one-time head of MI5 who is sliding into dementia, and questions his grandson, River, must figure out answers to now that the spy who raised him has started to forget to wear pants. But River, himself an agent at Slough House, MI5’s outpost for disgraced spies, has other things to worry about. A bomb has detonated in the middle of a busy shopping center and killed forty innocent civilians. The “slow horses” of Slough House must figure out who is behind this act of terror before the situation escalates. Read more
Publisher : Soho Crime
Publication date : December 12, 2017
Edition : Reprint
Language : English
Print length : 336 pages
ISBN-10 : 1616958693
ISBN-13 : 95
Item Weight : 2.31 pounds
Dimensions : 5.5 x 0.9 x 8.2 inches
Book 4 of 9 : Slough House
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Thursday, May 29
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Top Amazon Reviews
Like the other books in the series, this is a great one. Great plot. Great characters. Laugh-out-loud humor, sometimes in the most morbid of situations. The character of Jackson Lamb is most intriguing because he is the most endearing, the most humorous, and the most cruel and obnoxious. My friend RP, who recommended the Slough House series to me, notes that Lamb is the best reason to read the books. Quite true. But also perplexing, because Lamb is an a-hole. For example, the character of Catherine Standish is a recovering alcoholic, and Lamb relentlessly pokes at her, pouring her alcoholic drinks when she comes into his office and repeatedly mentioning her drunken past. Lamb makes scatological references, as well as cruel and bigoted jokes about an Asian character, about a Black character, about an old man and about his employees in general. Here are some highlights: “…I’ve had bowel movements that worry me more.” He reflected a moment. “Quite recently, come to think of it.” And: “There’s always Louisa, of course. She’s pretty reliable.” “Well, it’s a sliding scale, isn’t it?” said Lamb. “Least f’d-up employee of the week. We should have a plaque.” And this zinger: “I hate ageism, as you know, but old people are pretty useless.” So why do we love him? Because he’s funny, obviously, but more than that, because when the chips are down, he’s extremely competent and backs his slow horses with his life and career. Lamb has the ingenious ability to understand the motivations of people, to track their tortuous thought processes, to understand why they’re doing what they’re doing or why they are lying. There is also a touching scene where Lamb thinks Catherine Standish may drink an alcoholic beverage he’s given her. And when she doesn’t, he pours the drink into his glass, as if it disturbs him that Catherine might relapse. The reader can tell that Lamb is a broken character, that something so horrible has happened to him he wants the banishment of supervising the exiled slow horses toiling at Slough House. All of this makes him endearing in the same way a grizzly bear is endearing — from a distance, without having to interact with him personally. The detailed descriptions of scenes and settings in the book are superb. When the narrator describes a cafe, it’s easy to imagine the author Mick Herron visiting the place, taking detailed notes and then weaving those notes into the novel. And that applies to each scene in the book. Herron paints vivid pictures that give the reader the sense of being there. Read the passages aloud and then take a moment to close your eyes and visualize them. They’re that good. There is one action scene in the book that is quite unrealistic. It involves a car crash and a bad guy taking a gun from an MI5 agent, who is a former cop. I won’t go into the details, but it is an ugly head in an otherwise brilliant story. (Apparently, the writers of the TV series recognized it as not very plausible and tried to rewrite it. They didn’t do much better. Their scene is literally incredible too.) Still. My recommendation is read this book. You won’t want to put it down.
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Reviewed in the United States on October 21, 2024 by Glosso
This 4th novel in the Mick Herron series is very similar to the first three. The writing is superb. While the writing is off the charts great. Herron consistently comes up short on the plot side. Well update here… after just finishjng the novel I have to say the overall plot is good. I am reading the series in lieu of switching my streaming service from Netflix to Apple tv. Actor Gary Oldman is a perfect choice for character Jackson Lamb. As a general observation over the last 30 or 40 years many writers choose the evil within rather than external to the crime fighting organization. I believe this theme is played out. Now after just completing reading the novel I stand by this statement. I will continue to read the series because I do not want to pay for Apple tv.
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Reviewed in the United States on January 22, 2024 by ddelaney2011
The Slow Horses (Slough House) series continues with this strong entry in the series. As with the prior books, the enemies within are a major part of this spy story. The misfits of Slough House under Jackson Lamb has a new case fall into its lap. Again River Cartwright is the focal point to this tale of riveting suspense. His lode star - the grandfather who raised him and who was a former MI5 Second desk, is sliding into dementia. What to do with an old spook who may not realize that his stories are closely held state secrets? Would MI5 put him away permanently to ensure no embarrassing tales of the past are revealed? The writing is strong, though in a few places dialogue has some obtuse utterances. I'm not sure if these are English vernacular or the author's doing, but these "what did he say?" moments only occur a couple of times. The cast of characters is a strong team with book-by book replacements that keep a freshness to the cast. All in all a rip-roaring tale I finished over a weekend. One does wonder why with the Slow Horses being integral to addressing four calamities now for MI5 they haven't been welcomed back to Regent Square with big shiny new IDs. The answer of course is that would destroy the setting and theme of the series and I can overlook this incongruity because these are highly entertaining tales. Highly recommended.
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Reviewed in the United States on February 4, 2025 by Wayne A. Smith
Another good Slough House good read!
Reviewed in the United States on April 30, 2025 by J. S.
The gang at Slough House is busy chasing down terrorists and solving puzzles. Old school spy stuff keeps them busy.
Reviewed in the United States on April 15, 2025 by Brenda
This is my first “Slough House” read. Have to say I’m impressed. I’ve been watching the Apple TV series and wanted to pick up where the series has left off. The characters are even more deeply colored and drawn than in the series. The plotting in this one struck me as very, very good. The multiple subplots were mostly wrapped up, with a few notable exceptions. What’s River up to now, and how is Tavernder cleaning up the fallout? I have only two (minor) complaints: first, when reading this on kindle the jump from one character’s narrative to another is not clearly delineated; and since there’s over a dozen different viewpoints it is often confusing. Some font or text bridge used in the paperback versions probably make this more clear. Two, the occasionally very lengthy and detailed metaphorical descriptions of architecture is a bit much. Nevertheless, highly recommend.
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Reviewed in the United States on January 9, 2024 by ARealisticReviewer