Tag Archives: slough house

Slough House – Mick Herron (Slough House #7)

Slough House – Mick Herron

I accidentally skipped this one – I realised while reading Bad Actors, so I have gone back to listen to it.

Here’s the blurb …

A year after a calamitous blunder by the Russian secret service left a British citizen dead from novichok poisoning, Diana Taverner is on the warpath. What seems a gutless response from the government has pushed the Service’s First Desk into mounting her own counter-offensive – but she’s had to make a deal with the devil first. And given that the devil in question is arch-manipulator Peter Judd, she could be about to lose control of everything she’s fought for.

Meanwhile, still reeling from recent losses, the slow horses are worried they’ve been pushed further into the cold. Slough House has been wiped from Service records, and fatal accidents keep happening. No wonder Jackson Lamb’s crew are feeling paranoid. But have they actually been targeted?

With a new populist movement taking a grip on London’s streets, and the old order ensuring that everything’s for sale to the highest bidder, the world’s an uncomfortable place for those deemed surplus to requirements. The wise move would be to find a safe place and wait for the troubles to pass.

But the slow horses aren’t famed for making wise decisions.

I am always completely horrified by the machinations between people who are meant to be on the same side. Lady Di in particular.

Lamb was awful, Catherine Standish sensible and resolute, Dander impulsive, River heroic, Roddy as useless and useful as ever, and Louisa and Lech just trying to get by. The pace is fast, and some of their ‘on their feet’ thinking is hilarious (Lech describing a dead person as pretending to be a corpse for sexual reasons). The descriptions are great, and this one is very current.

I think there is only one more to go – Clown Town.

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Filed under 5, Audio, Crime, Fiction, Mystery, Recommended, Spy, Thriller

Joe Country – Mick Herron

Joe Country – Mick Herron

I have been slowly making my way through the Slough House series – this is number 6.

Here’s the blurb …

‘We’re spies,’ said Lamb. ‘All kinds of outlandish shit goes on.’

Like the ringing of a dead man’s phone, or an unwelcome guest at a funeral . . .

In Slough House memories are stirring, all of them bad. Catherine Standish is buying booze again, Louisa Guy is raking over the ashes of lost love, and new recruit Lech Wicinski, whose sins make him outcast even among the slow horses, is determined to discover who destroyed his career, even if he tears his life apart in the process.

Meanwhile, in Regent’s Park, Diana Taverner’s tenure as First Desk is running into difficulties. If she’s going to make the Service fit for purpose, she might have to make deals with a familiar old devil . . .

And with winter taking its grip Jackson Lamb would sooner be left brooding in peace, but even he can’t ignore the dried blood on his carpets. So when the man responsible breaks cover at last, Lamb sends the slow horses out to even the score.

This time, they’re heading into joe country.

And they’re not all coming home.

I love the way Mick Herron writes – the way he describes sunlight like a person.

There is a high body count in this one and some of my favourite characters didn’t make it out alive. But that has always been the case, don’t get too attached.

It is terrifying to think that the secret service might actually be like this.

A review

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Filed under 4, Audio, Crime, Fiction, Spy, Thriller