Slow Horses
The bestselling thrillers that inspired the hit Apple TV+ show Slow Horses (Slough House Thriller 1)
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Slow Horses
Narrated by:
Sean Barrett
Buy Now for £15.99
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Narrated by:
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Sean Barrett
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By:
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Mick Herron
About this listen
'The most exciting development in spy fiction since the Cold War' The Times
'To have been lucky enough to play Smiley in one's career; and now go and play Jackson Lamb in Mick Herron's novels - the heir, in a way, to le Carré - is a terrific thing' Gary Oldman
****
Spooks are supposed to be stealthy . . . But those who make a noisy mess of their careers end up in Slough House.
This is Jackson Lamb's kingdom: a dumping ground for spies who've screwed up. Once high fliers, they're now slow horses, condemned to a life of pushing paper as punishment for crimes of drugs and drunkenness, lechery and failure, politics and betrayal. In drab and mildewed offices, these highly trained spies moan and squabble, stare at the walls, and dream of better days - not one of them joined the Intelligence Service to be a slow horse, and the one thing they have in common is their desire to be back in the action.
So when a young man is kidnapped and held hostage, his beheading scheduled for live broadcast on the net, the slow horses aren't going to just sit quietly and watch. And unless they can prove they're not as useless as they're thought to be, a public execution is going to echo round the world.
'The most enjoyable British spy novel in years' Mail on Sunday
'The new spy master' Evening Standard
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Critic reviews
Praise for Mick Herron's Jackson Lamb series:
The new spy master
Jackson Lamb - the most fascinating and irresistible thriller series hero to emerge since Jack Reacher
As a master of wit, satire, insight . . . Herron is difficult to overpraise
The finest new crime series this Millennium
The best modern British spy series
The John le Carré of our generation
Mick Herron is the real deal
If you read one spy novel this year, read Real Tigers. Better still, read the whole series
Surely among the finest British spy fiction of the past 20 years
With his poet's eye for detail, his comic timing and relish for violence, Herron fills a gap that has been yawning ever since Len Deighton retired
The most enjoyable spy novel in years
A funny, stylish, satirical, gripping story
I was delighted to discover that this is merely the first in a captivating series
The first of his series about MI5 and a character called Jackson Lamb, one of the great monsters of modern fiction. He's a wonderfully cynical writer and there's a lot of dark humour in it. I'm not clever enough to write this sort of thing
I was delighted to discover Mick Herron's riotous Slow Horses series about the black sheep of MI5
For something really gripping, head for Mick Herron's Jackson Lamb series, in which a sidelined spook and his cohorts battle their way back to the centre of a life of espionage. Begin with Slow Horses and enjoy
Mick Herron's Slow Horses series has all the thrills of John Le Carre or Len Deighton with a black humour
Would you listen to Slow Horses again? Why?
No, I very rarely listen to the same book twiceWhat did you like best about this story?
It is very cleverly put together, keeps you wanting to hear more.Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
noStarted a bit slow, but very clever story
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A thoroughly enjoyable espionage thriller
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However, this book is absolutely fantastic. Having seen the programme, I can see that there are some subtle differences – one of the characters is dropped in the show, they added some scenes, and some scenes play out differently. But on the whole, the TV show is very faithful to the book, so if you liked that, I’m sure you’ll love this. And vice versa, if you like the book, I’m sure you’ll love the show.
The plot has three strands. First, River Cartwright is an MI5 agent-in-training. A training exercise goes horribly wrong and he’s relegated to Slough House, where spies go who MI5 can’t out-and-out fire but who seemingly aren’t good for much apart from admin and a bit of surveillance. River now has to find his feet in Slough House among these rejects, losers and nerds, all marching to the drum of Jackson Lamb, the irascible boss with a love of farting when it’s least appropriate and saying what he’s thinking without a filter. He’s very refreshing in today’s world where nobody dare say anything for fear of offending someone.
The second strand is about Robert Hobden, an extreme right-wing journalist, and what secrets he may or may not know about government ministers.
The third and main strand is about the kidnapping of British Pakistani student, Hassan Ahmed. The Slow Horses find out he has been taken by a group calling themselves the Sons of Albion, and there seems to be a connection to Robert Hobden. They also uncover a link to MI5.
Running MI5 while “first desk”, Ingrid Tierney, is in the US is “second desk”, Diana Taverner, or Lady Di, as she is sometimes called. Diana is the perfect villain for the book, with a biting wit that only Jackson Lamb can go toe to toe with. The producers of the show really hit the nail on the head casting Kristin Scott-Thomas and Gary Oldman. They also struck gold with Jack Lowden who plays River Cartwright, as he successfully conveys a lot of what is in the book. That said, the book reveals even more about what’s going on inside his head. We see how slow he is to appreciate things. How he doesn’t quite grasp other things. We see the cogs turning before he eventually gets it.
As the kidnapping obviously begins to go wrong, Jackson Lamb realises that the slow horses are being set up to take the blame for it, so he and the misfits must try to save Hassan before it’s too late while also saving themselves
Even though I’d seen the series, I was still enthralled by the book. And it’s in no small part to the narrator. For whatever reason, while he was terrible for that prequel, he absolutely shines in this book. I couldn’t imagine anyone else reading this book.
The ending of the TV series is slightly different, and, dare I say it, better. Which is not to say that this isn’t good. It is. But the TV series expands on a few details to amp up the tension.
Would I listen to another book by Mick Herron? I’ve already downloaded the sequel.
Would I listen to another book narrated by Séan Barret? Probably. He’s perfect in this, but that prequel was read badly, so I’m not 100% sold on him just yet.
It's only June but I this is my book of the year
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Riveting
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Wish I had discovered Mick Herron sooner
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