“We’re talking about a bunch of mindless bottom-feeders whose general ignorance of our way of life is tempered only by their indifference to human suffering, we’re all agreed on that?”“Is this the politicians or the killers?”“Good point, but I meant the killers.”
This series follows a bunch of Mi5 (British secret service) agents who’ve messed up so badly that they end up at a building called Slough House and have been nicknamed the Slow Horses. They’re given mundane tasks, under a deliberately offensive leader named Jackson Lamb (“Ethical behaviour’s like a vajazzle on a nun. Pretty to picture, but who really benefits?”), in hopes that they’ll quit. Instead, they end up piecing together others’ diabolical plans and messing up the villains every time.
I love the humour. No, not Jackson Lamb insulting everyone, but agent Roderick Ho’s bulletproof belief in himself as the alpha and in his girlfriend, Kim; agent Shirley Dander, who is extremely skilled at deadly force but is child-like in cheating at the yellow car game and insisting on grabbing something to eat during their mission; and I literally laughed out loud at one point. No spoilers, but I was delighted by the ridiculous description of paint cans.
I usually find description boring, both as a reader and as writer, but Mick Herron is so good at embodying not only every human, but Slaugh House itself. I’ve never read a series that begins and ends with a description of the main building.
I also liked that the plot had more of an international angle but never pretends that Britain keeps its hands clean. If anything, Britain continually digs its own grave.
The Slow Horses books tend to have reasonably happy endings, but this one closes with a reminder that no one is infallible. Which I liked, because one character seems more superhuman than the rest in a way that sets off my B.S. meter. Great way to hook us in, Mick!
Warning: in addition to many humans, penguins die in this novel. I feel sad whenever I think about those penguins.
Full review on my website includes what I didn’t like.
