Slow Horses - Mick Herron

Mick Herron's first entry into the Jackson Lamb/Slough House series is in some aspects a little more low-key compared to how it later develops and is quite slow to get started, but already many of the character traits and the dry sardonic look at the British Intelligence Services is very much in place in Slow Horses. Having said that, after it has taken some time to establish the nature of the dumping ground for failed spooks that is Slough House however, and the types of characters consigned there through incompetence, bad luck and well, personality problems. There is nothing low-key either about an MI5 undercover operation that goes badly wrong, and plenty of action and drama that results in a number of casualties among the ranks of the slow horses.

As far as the operation goes, well it's still relevant today even if the post-9/11 world of terrorist activities has moved on and expanded considerably beyond this. A young man has been abducted, put in an orange jumpsuit and hooded, bound to a chair and threatened with execution by a group who claim that they are going to behead the young man live on the internet. It's a familiar situation now, but this one is reportedly taking place on UK soil. Diana Taverner, Second Chair of MI5, knows that resolving this situation could improve the standing of the British Intelligence Service with the general public after a number of recent failings.

But what's that got to do with Slough House? Jackson Lamb's little outfit aren't usually tasked with anything more than sifting through rubbish (in some cases literally), but simmering resentment over what some feel to be an unjust fate, has led them to perhaps over-estimate their capabilities and poke their noses into affairs that they'd be better off leaving well alone. Particularly if 'Lady Di' is involved. Unfortunately from them, when the Five operation inevitably goes belly up - and it does big time - someone has to take the blame, and the slow horses at Slough House are conveniently placed at the end of the buck-passing line. Them's the London Rules. He might not look like much but Jackson Lamb doesn't always play by the rules, is better than others at playing London Rules, and clearly knows where the bodies are buried, which makes him still a dangerous adversary.

Any reader coming back to Slow Horses having been introduced to the Jackson Lamb series later in it run will only recognise about half the characters. Since no one has ever made the journey out of Slough House back to Regent's Park, you can presume that casualty numbers are surprisingly high for a 'team' (I use the term loosely) of no-hopers who aren't trusted to actually run any ops, but you'll have to read the other books to find out some of the bizarre and shocking circumstances in which that takes place. Here in Slow Horses, despite the slow introduction, Mick Herron's wonderful creation quickly engages with humour and wonderful character detail, with wonderful observations about British society, attitudes, politics and journalism. This is a great start to the series and it only gets better as we go along.