Warning Spoilers ahead for all books in the series! The main series development is the return of Sid Baker, which was first teased in LONDON RULES but finally Herron reveals that yes, she did survive SLOW HORSES and has spent the last few years recuperating in a Service facility in the Lake District. Kill us? I listened to the audio version narrated by Andrew B Wehrlen and found it an utterly engaging tale. He is due to be accompanied by Nick Duffy, leader of 'The Dogs', for added security, but demands Taverner join him instead. Catherine Standish is Lambs assistant, and a recovering alcoholic. While she obsesses on punishing Lamb, the team is actually in crisis mode. Slough House has been wiped from Service records, and fatal accidents keep happening. Mick Herron has done it again. Slow Horses, based on the first of Mick Herron's Slough House novels, follows the fortunes of a bunch of Security Service exiles under Gary Oldman's grotesquely seedy, unsupportive leader Jackson Lamb, as they attempt to untangle an ongoing act of domestic terrorism. Desperate Measures reaches nailbiting conclusion. Shes a canny political operator with her eyes on First Desk. We left her severely injured and MIA until a shocking phone call at the end of Spook . 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. I'm totally invested in the world of the slow horses of Slough House since starting the series in 2017. So it's "the f**king wilderness" for him. River Cartwright Apple River was there ostensibly because he messed up a training exercise at Stansted Airport that killed 149 hypothetical people. He is as corrupt as any of the villains in the series. Quite young and still deluding herself that the infamous Diana Taverner will take her back into important operations, Ashley is also obsessed with the source of her demotion: Jackson Lamb, head of Slough House. He is never without a drink or a smoke, even when the team goes dark, and remains as rude and offensive as ever. Will we ever see WW Henderson return to his Aldergate building? Lamb theorises that Slough House is going to be blamed for whatever operation Regent's Park is running and be disavowed if it fails. He was raised by his grandfather, David, a service legend, and grew up hearing stories of his time in the service. This is yet another winning book from the series featuring the "slow horses" of Britain's intelligence world. Hes overweight, frequently drunk and appears dishevelled, but many enemies make the mistake of underestimating him. Ho is the computer nerd, a legend in his own mind; Dander is a brash cokehead; and Wicinski a desk analyst who was framed for paedophilia. Lamb calls Katinsky, deducing that he is the supposedly fictional Russian spymaster "Alexander Popov". The writing is so good, you feel every sentence has been worked on to get the best out of it. Sandy *The world could end while I was reading and I would never notice*. Your email address will not be published. You probably do need to have read the earlier books to understand the character dynamics, and previous events are referenced throughout - we listened to the audiobook and The Cats Father, who hasnt read the previous books, was able to follow but missed a lot of the jokes & plot points. Finnish crime drama Man in Room 301 coming to BBC Four, Fans of realistic spy fiction will enjoy David McCloskeys debut thriller Damascus Station, newly available in paperback in the UK. Jack Lowden as River Cartwright, an up-and-coming MI5 agent shunted aside to Slough House after a very public training exercise mistake. Leaving her house the two are apprehended by James Webb and head of security Nick Duffy, who force them into a car after searching Lamb. . Lamb and Taverner will have to work together to maintain MI5s independence, but can they put their history of betrayal and revenge behind them? Baker seemed the most competent of the gang because she was: she eventually revealed to River that Taverner had posted her to Slough House to keep an eye on him. But if you've read any others, and liked them, you'll like this one. Slough House is the seventh book in the brilliantly unique Slow Horses British spy thriller series - soon to be seen on TV in a star-studded adaptation. ps the casting in the series on screen is wonderful. Does Unforgotten work without Nicola Walker? Herron does his usual, clever job of merging these strands into one and theres a lot of fun to be had in seeing how it ties in with the continuing battle between Lamb and Lady Di over control of Slough House and its resources. The Oscar-winning actor Gary Oldman is playing Lamb, Kristin Scott Thomas the steely apparatchik Diana Taverner, and Jack Lowden the disgraced young agent River Cartwright. She claims to have an operative embedded with the Sons of Albion who organised the kidnapping, but will also facilitate the rescue. His description of the man Popov was speaking to, Andrei Chernitsky, matches Boughs killer. But Bad Actors, eighth in the series, has no connection to performance, despite the title that might immediately pop a stage into the back of an American readers mind. He never gifts them glory, barely grants them a tolerable existence and never hesitates to kill one or two of them off if the plot requires it. Taverner has her own problems to occupy her. Warning Spoilers ahead for all books in the series! This is my favorite type of book - clever humor (esp British) with a good story. However, during a scouting mission, when the two are stalking a right-wing journalist called Robert Hobden, Sid is shot by an unseen intruder. River Cartwright, the protagonist of the novel, was going places. Against a background of Brexit, Novichok poisonings and Yellow Vest protests, the remaining slow horses are dealing with the recent violent loss of two associates. Realizing he has been outmaneuvered, Katinsky goads Lamb to kill him. Dead Lions: When River Cartwright screwed up, he was sent to the Slough House. The rest of the team reconvene, and River recalls he took a photo of Taverner covertly meeting with Alan Black whilst carrying out surveillance training. There is a sense of pieces being moved ready for further developments, most notably in the change in dynamic between Judd and Lady Di, and its not clear what the return of Sid will mean long term but the devastating ending and the question it leaves means I am very keen to read the next book. He was nobodys idea of an avenging knight. Like all series of this vintage, the characters tend to come and go so a good way to start this review is the same way Herron does and begin with an update on who is currently active. As the slow horses try to work out whats going on, they find themselves caught up in events outside their control and in the cross hairs of a ruthless enemy who doesnt care about collateral damage . Charles Partner was, in fact, a double agent at the top of MI5, and had been getting away with selling Britain's secrets for years thanks to the befuddled ignorance of his alcoholic assistant, Catherine Standish. Any trail his dead grandfather had left, no one was going to follow but him. The subject matter allows for some sophisticated satire and some notable current politicians are lampooned pseudonymously. Change). After spiraling following the death of Min, Louisa seemed to recover and gain her footing. Lamb, Cartwright, Min and Louisa, with assistance from Roddy, are able to track them to the same location. He tells River that in East Berlin Bough went AWOL and was assumed to have defected, but returned drunk. (LogOut/ So chipper, so needy, so inept. Now, like his fellow slow horses, he keeps looking for new ways to revive his career. Louisa Guy goes to Pembrokeshire to find him; after all she had been in a relationship with Min, another slow horse and Lucas father. Lamb retains all of his old skills and is a fearsome operator. Sid Baker - One of the most shocking reveals in Slow Horses was the fate of Sid Baker who a fellow agent sent to spy on Slough House but who River slowly got to know throughout the course of the book. However, one of the business men behind the deal, looking to make contacts in Russia, passes on sensitive information to the GRU who are looking to escalate matters. True, Ho and Standish managed to retroactively track the movements of Alan Black's alias and locate the van he had hired for the kidnapping. At the head of this seeming hodgepodge of debris stands the Falstaffian Jackson Lamb. The only clue he finds is an undelivered text Cicadas. printed out and left in a dead drop in . And this series is one of my favorites. Thats not to say there isnt heartbreak. River cartwright is contacted by the kidnappers and sent into The Park to retrieve secret documents in exchange for her release. It brings to a close several series plots and leads to at last one emotional farewell to a series character. Here, Herron introduces a new slow horse, Ashley Khan, and further develops his subplot of Russian interference in the British establishment.Buy now on Amazon. Hassan's kidnappers, Moe, Larry, Curly and Zeppo, hold him hostage in a London terrace basement, with it transpiring that Simmonds is behind the kidnapping. He took on Standish as his office manager unknown to her to protect her from being imprisoned as a traitor. River goes undercover in France to try to find the source while the other slow horses try to work the angle from London. Standish beats Krymov in a game of chess, and he reveals it was Katinsky, not Pashkin he met with to set up the Webb meeting. Based on the Seas o n 2 trailer that ran after Season 1 Episode 6 on Apple TV+, most of the key cast will be back, including Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb, Jack Lowden as River Cartwright, Kristin . Your email address will not be published. "[18] On Metacritic, the season has a weighted average score of 84 out of 100 based on 10 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". What seems a gutless response from the government has pushed the Services First Desk into mounting her own counter-offensive but shes had to make a deal with the devil fist. On that subject. Finish it. The wise move would be to find a safe place and wait for the troubles to pass. There are several novellas that introduce new characters and expand the Slough House world. [17], The second season also received critical acclaim. Louisa Guy was sent to Slough House after she lost a tail involved in gun smuggling. Hes ineffectual, arrogant and completely unaware of his failings. If that was happening, River needed to stop it. Lamb breaks him out, and the two deduce Moody was the gunman sent to kill Hobden. His bad habits belie a still keen, devious mind and his abilities as an experienced intelligence officer. It also lays the ground for the events of Joe Country, and at the same time introduces a series villain, ex-CIA operative Frank Harkness. Nobody is assigned to Slough House because of their skills they're all failures of one sort or another. He talks to a team which guides him, telling him to look for an Asian male. Which he is, but a thoroughly relatable one. The only downside is that I'm at the end of available books in the series (again). The seventh entry to the Slough House series is as thrilling and bleeding-edge relevant as ever. EEAAO star gives tearful speech after historic win, The best Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom deals, Shop Sky deals across TV, broadband and mobile, Finding My Own Rhythm: My Story by Motsi Mabuse, PS5 bundle with FIFA 23 and white DualSense controller with case, Shop EE's iPhone, Galaxy and more phone deals, Spider-Man: No Way Home (4K UHD) with MJ Funko Pop! Moody returns to Slough House and attacks Min and Louisa when they re-enter, but is killed when he breaks his neck falling down the stairs in a scuffle. After the Berlin Wall came down, he tells her, spy networks were being rolled up across Europe, and everyone was paranoid about old scores being settled. Theyre still getting paid but no longer formally exist and things get more sinister when Louisa Guy discovers that someone from the Service is trailing her and the other slow horses find that they are also being followed. To do so, however, shes had to strike up an alliance with ex-politician turned PR guru Peter Judd who has put together a group of patriotically minded billionaires willing to fund operations that the British state may balk at. The impetus for the plot is a fictionalized version of the Skripal incident: Russian agents smeared the Novichok nerve agent on the Salisbury doorknob of a former Russian military officer, Sergei Skripal, who had been a double agent for British intelligence. And yet the Slow Horses somehow get involved investigating schemes endangering Britain. However, they cant afford to ignore the assassination, on UK soil, of a Russian defector. Slough House is the seventh book in the Slough House/Jackson Lamb series by award-winning British author, Mick Herron. Thats how I interpret it. She clawed her way to the top but was David Cartwrights choice to be the perpetual number two the smarter move? That means Slough House would normally be a safe book for the characters. You will be rewarded at the end. (LogOut/ Did keeping Mins son safe finally allow her to be at peace with Mins death? Everyone enjoys an underdog story of course, but on top of that, the novels are about friendships forged from the common bond of disappointment but tested in life-and-death situations. Meanwhile, still reeling from recent losses, the slow horses are worried theyve been pushed further into the cold. One of the first things to appreciate is that each novel is an underdog story a group of individuals, under-qualified and under-resourced, who have to beat their better-off cousins at The Park to save the day. Louisa interrogates a dying Kyril and learns that Pashkin and his associates were meant to drain Nevsky's accounts from the Glasshouse while it was evacuated. Thanks for the review. River Cartwright aliases River Cartwright MI-5 agent in London, in his early 30s; grandson of MI-5 legend David Cartwright. Judd is delivering a speech in the City of London on the day of the anti-capitalist protest. Set in 1950s Finland, during the Cold War, the books tell the story of a young police woman and budding detective who cuts against the grain when, John Fullertons powerful 1996 debut The Monkey House was set in war-torn Sarajevo and was right in the moment. When a Russian operative is killed, they think the slow horses who now appear to be off-the-books were responsible. Its the kind of humor that catches you unaware, in a did he really just say that? style. Partner had been selling secrets to the Russians. Ho notifies River that Chernitsky's destination is Tunbridge Wells, where his grandfather lives. Cant think of any current heavy actors. Ambitious, backslapping government toff Peter Judd (Samuel West), aka 'PJ', is definitely not supposed to be identified with any Boris Johnsons who may or may not have been Foreign Secretary at the time Slow Horses was written. What would be the point?. Robert M. Cartwright, 82, of Toms River, passed away on Friday, Nov. 15, 2013 at Community Medical Center in Toms River. River is tempted to reveal that it's really very obviously because he's "an insufferable prick". Fans will scour Bad Actors for news of River Cartwright, . After locating the photo and evading security, he and Lamb threaten to reveal Taverner's operation to the Director-General and the press. Constant budget constraints have left the Park unable to respond to Russian provocation. Slough House has been compromised, and now a new team of killers is in the UK. Jackson Lambs Slough House crew are still coming to terms with the events in Wales that saw the death of ex-Dog Emma Flyte and their own J K Coe but they also have a more serious problem to deal with: Roderick Roddy Ho has discovered that someone in the Park has wiped their records from the Service database. It wasnt really him, he knew that. A befuddled Roddy Hos thoughts on The Parks plumbing is worth the price of admission alone. Shortlisted for a number of prestigious awards including The CWA Steel and Gold Daggers, and The Theakston Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year Award.Buy now on Amazon, Claire Harper calls Slough House for help after her teenage son, Lucas, goes missing. Someone more like Warren Clarke or Sidney Greenstreet is more in keeping with how he is portrayed. Nobody Walks is even set in the same espionage world as a retired spy digs in to his sons mysterious death. Larry arrives at a seaport in Harwich, but is shot dead by "The Dogs" on the orders of Tierney, who plant a weapon on his corpse to justify the killing. Plus he was the normal one. What the Slow Horses did manage to do was foil Di Taverner's plan to mop up her mess by executing the remaining kidnapper. THE SITE FOR DIE HARD CRIME & THRILLER FANS. And like Ashley, most readers will rush a third of the way into the book, at least, before confirming that almost all the machinations taking place have Jackson Lamb behind them. I would also love to know whats happening with Sid as well as how River is dealing with his fathers death! Perhaps COVID-19 will make an appearance in next years novel. I would have liked to have got a bit more emotion in the scenes between her and River given the flirtation between them in SLOW HORSES but Herrons very restrained, showing touches of Rivers guilt over what happened to her at the same time as gently indicating there could be something more here as well. Before we discuss the books in more detail, lets have a look at some of the main characters. The group have links to a disgraced journalist that Slough House have been investigating. Has Louisa finally been able to put her past with Min behind her? The Mandalorian's Pedro Pascal on season 3, Neighbours announces seven more returning cast. Tierney returns from the US, ordering all loose ends be tied up after Taverner further lies to her about the operation. As we know, however, Freddie Fox's "Spider" Webb had fed him false information, and River is, in fact, a highly competent, if over-eager agent. So, what connects the oligarch with an old rumour of Russian sleeper agents? Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. David dismisses River's theory that Bough's death was the work of the FSB or related to the conspiracy, but seems generally unsettled and warns River to be careful. Probably all that really need be said about Slough House is that its well up to the standard of the rest of this brilliant series. Slough House is the one you want to find out about River. Slough House is an administrative purgatory for MI5 service rejects who have bungled their job but somehow have not been outright fired. He used to break down doors and carry a gun before his gambling problems compromised him. She thinks that there are two people trying to kill her and River doesnt know if its a real threat or something caused by the gunshot wound to the head that she took at the end of SLOW HORSES. Her most recent novel is The Long Shadow (Five Star Publishing, 2018). Last one emotional farewell to a team which guides him, telling him to look for an male. Messed up a training exercise mistake you 've read any others, and fatal accidents keep happening for of!, on UK soil, of a Russian operative is killed, they the! To try to find the source while the other slow horses who now appear to be blamed for operation... At peace with Mins death a canny political operator with her eyes on Desk! The Sons of Albion who organised the kidnapping, but will also facilitate the.... Team is actually in crisis mode Slough House is the one you want to find the while... 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