There are a lot of great jokes in Slow Horses, its title included. Slough House is a halfway home of sorts for disgraced MI5 agents; the Slow Horses. Any number of reasons can earn you a transfer to Slough House. Botching an operation, alcoholism, political machination; all might put your career on hold and send you to the drab establishment on the edge of London. Working at Slough House is designed to be mind numbingly boring. The goal is that you slowly realize that quitting is the only way out.
Slow Horses may be written as a spy thriller, but comedy is where it truly shines. I rarely enjoy written humor, but Mick Herron combines excellent prose with classic British comedy in a unique way. Parts of it remind me of the excellent The Sellout from a few years ago, although the subject matter couldn't be more different. Herron succeeds in selling the funny with the serious and in creating characters who are both fantastical and relatable. Established voices like John le Carré rarely go beyond sly and clever in their work. This doesn't mean that le Carré leaves me cold, very much the opposite, it just underlines how well Herron pulls it off.
Jokes are, of course, not to be explained. River Cartwright is one of the ex-spies assigned to Slough House after a disastrous training exercise. His promising career is sidetracked and he finds himself running trivial errands for Jackson Lamb, the rotund traditionalist heading the department. The whole affair seems like a dead end. Nothing of interest has happened at Slough House in years and the other inhabitants (inmates?) seem disinterested or fully checked out. However, as a teenager is kidnapped in front of his home, the Slow Horses are pulled into the intrigue. Saying more would considerably spoil some of the fun.
Slow Horses is the first in a series (six volumes so far), but it barely shows. An extended sequence introduces the cast without feeling like a setup for a second book. Understanding the characters is a payoff in its own right. It's all very self contained, even as the characters are clearly moved into position for the next story. I've often recommended J.K. Rowling's Cormoran Strike Series of private eye novels for people looking for an entertaining but well written thriller. If Herron's follow up, Dead Lions, is as impressive, I might consider changing my recommendation.
Slow Horses may be written as a spy thriller, but comedy is where it truly shines. I rarely enjoy written humor, but Mick Herron combines excellent prose with classic British comedy in a unique way. Parts of it remind me of the excellent The Sellout from a few years ago, although the subject matter couldn't be more different. Herron succeeds in selling the funny with the serious and in creating characters who are both fantastical and relatable. Established voices like John le Carré rarely go beyond sly and clever in their work. This doesn't mean that le Carré leaves me cold, very much the opposite, it just underlines how well Herron pulls it off.
Jokes are, of course, not to be explained. River Cartwright is one of the ex-spies assigned to Slough House after a disastrous training exercise. His promising career is sidetracked and he finds himself running trivial errands for Jackson Lamb, the rotund traditionalist heading the department. The whole affair seems like a dead end. Nothing of interest has happened at Slough House in years and the other inhabitants (inmates?) seem disinterested or fully checked out. However, as a teenager is kidnapped in front of his home, the Slow Horses are pulled into the intrigue. Saying more would considerably spoil some of the fun.
Slow Horses is the first in a series (six volumes so far), but it barely shows. An extended sequence introduces the cast without feeling like a setup for a second book. Understanding the characters is a payoff in its own right. It's all very self contained, even as the characters are clearly moved into position for the next story. I've often recommended J.K. Rowling's Cormoran Strike Series of private eye novels for people looking for an entertaining but well written thriller. If Herron's follow up, Dead Lions, is as impressive, I might consider changing my recommendation.