River Cartwright is an MI5 prodigy; his grandfather was a famed higher-up in the organisation and he’s set to follow in the man’s footsteps. He’s nearly done with his training when his final exercise goes drastically wrong and before long, he is banished to Slough House, an MI5 outpost where those who have fallen into disgrace are sent. It’s unclear what the Slow Horses, as Slough House’s employees are known, do all day, except that it is tedious and senseless work. But then a young man is abducted, and the Slow Horses must come together to save him.
This book has an interesting idea behind it. Spying in the modern world lacks the glitz and glam of the James Bond novels; there’s no swanning around the world drinking martinis in casinos here. Most spying is done remotely, digitally, though there are still boots on the ground. I would also imagine it’s difficult to fire people from an organisation like MI5, which explains why the smart but obnoxious Jackson Lamb has been dispatched to lead his own brand of misfits. To be fair, not all of the characters work equally well; some are caricatures, Lamb himself is over the top and Cartwright is primarily Man With Grudge.
The novel has a lot of humour in it though, some of it very pedestrian, some of it not so much. And I was surprised by the novel’s language; the sentences are long and complex and it assumes the reader is smart enough to keep up with the plot without having to explain everything, which is always a plus. I also loved the description of Slough House, nested above a perpetually closed Chinese restaurant across from the Barbican; I love London, and this all seems spot-on. And I was pretty invested in the faith of the kidnapping victim. The resolution to the issue was incredibly satisfying and I loved how it was handled. Very off the beaten path – in more than one way.
Ultimately, I’m not entirely sure how I felt about this book. It was good, yes, and the central problem is well thought out, but it wasn’t entirely what I was expecting. Still, it’s a good read and I’ll be checking out the rest of the books if my library will let me.
And no, I haven’t seen the show, but I will say Gary Oldman is perfectly cast.