Slow Horses by Mick Herron

I was very late to the party with Slow Horses by Mick Herron. Sixteen years late, to be precise, as it was published in 2010. Although I guess it has become more popular in recent years, thanks to the TV series of the same name. (Which I also haven’t seen, due to not having the right streaming service.)

Slow Horses is the first in a series of spy novels. The series was recommended to me by a friend and I accidentally bought the seventh book in the series- Slough House. I did enjoy Slough House, but I was also aware that I never really quite understood what was going on. I learned that this is a series which is definitely best read in order!

So I started again with Slow Horses, which just subtly introduced the characters and their backstories, so you’re not out of your depth like I was with Slough House. 

The slow horses are spies who have messed up – whether alcoholics, drug addicts or they’ve slept with the wrong person. They’ve all been sidelined to Slough House – Jackson Lamb’s kingdom of bored pen pushers, missing the excitement of their previous lives.

River Cartwright is convinced he didn’t fail his mission and had been stitched up. But now he’s sifting through the contents of a right-wing journalist’s dustbin. And Roderick Ho is finding out all he can about his colleagues because he spends his whole like hacking.

Then a young man is kidnapped and held hostage. His kidnappers say they will behead him live on the internet in 48 hours. With nothing else to do, the slow horses make it their mission to track the young man down and rescue him. They’ve still got all the skills, but will their superiors try to stop them?

Slow Horses is an enjoyable and entertaining read. The style of writing is humorous and the flawed characters are really brought to life through Herron’s writing, particularly Jackson Lamb.

I haven’t really read any spy novels before, but it is quite similar to a police procedural thriller, like an Ian Rankin Rebus novel. I am definitely hooked and have already borrowed the next book in the series – Dead Lions – from my dad.