*Puts feet up on desk, lights ciggie, farts*. He alleges when stationed in East Berlin he overheard Popov demanding the cicada program remain funded after the fall of the Soviet Union. Over the course of the Slough House series, there have been a number of plot threads that have been left open for future stories. Lamb blackmails Nick Duffy to get him into the records department at Regents Park. Lamb and his team are drawn into a complex and dangerous mess of Judd and Taverners making and, as usual, have to resolve things in their own inimitable style. All in all and nitpicks aside, I thought this was a great read in a series where theres been no let up in quality and I genuinely cannot wait to see what Herron does next with these characters. Required fields are marked *. 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. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Dead Lions - which went on to win the highly coveted Gold Dagger award for best novel of the year from the Crime Writers . She directed MI5 undercover agent Alan Black to infiltrate the group and organise the kidnapping with the intention of then miraculously finding and capturing the gang and freeing Hassan, who, conveniently, was the nephew of Pakistan's Defence Minister, someone it would be useful to impress. Reviewing and collecting spy fiction and nonfiction. A governmental think-tank, whose remit is to curb the independence of the intelligence service, has lost one of its key members, and Claude Whelanone-time head of MI5's Regent's Parkis tasked with tracking her down. Did keeping Mins son safe finally allow her to be at peace with Mins death? Their boss, Jackson Lamb is still keeping his team busy with pointless and unproductive assignments: following up social media absconders (#gonequiet), failures to pay fines or potential safe-houses for non-friendlies. He can handle Lambs temperament but he isnt who I see when I read the books. His wife's divorcing him and even the people who like him (pretty much only Louisa) think he's still a bit of an idiot. love this series- absolutely brilliant. Slough House is the one you want to find out about River. The show begins with young MI5 agent River Cartwright amidst a terror-threat situation at the Stansted airport, where he has to follow an Asian male in his 20s and apprehend him before he sets off a fatal explosion. 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. A Russian oligarch is visiting London and elements of The Park want to turn him because a potential future Russian president who owes British Intelligence would be a massive coupe. And true, River even tracked the remaining thug to a remote folly and had a real-life James Bond gunfight with him. David discusses the cicada theory of Russian sleeper agents embedded in British society, which MI5 dismissed as a hoax after no sleepers were found and discovered that the programs alleged mastermind, Alexander Popov, did not exist. But just as Cartwright was given just enough. Theyre worth reading in sequence. Your email address will not be published. I have waited patiently for this seventh book in the series to be released and, yes, I did zip right through it because I didn't dare put it down. His bad habits belie a still keen, devious mind and his abilities as an experienced intelligence officer. ps the casting in the series on screen is wonderful. River Cartwright is a main character played by Jack Lowden in in Season 1 and Season 2 of Apple TV+ 's Slow Horses . Not with any bad actor, whether in the Service hes led or the government hed served. Another semi-c0mpetent agent, Louisa is a little more able than most of Slough House's denizens. River was there ostensibly because he messed up a training exercise at Stansted Airport that killed 149 hypothetical people. I listened to the audio version narrated by Andrew B Wehrlen and found it an utterly engaging tale. [12][10], In June 2022, ahead of the second season premiere, the series was renewed for third and fourth seasons, which will be based on the next novels in the series, Real Tigers and Spook Street. [9] The cast was rounded out in December 2020 with the additions of Olivia Cooke, Jonathan Pryce, Kristin Scott Thomas and Jack Lowden. A handful of engaging spy thrillers followed before the author paused his novels to focus on journalism, although its also worth noting that he has freelanced. Roddy Ho is the computer whiz, uber-geek and the butt of everyones jokes, not just Lambs. Theyre not allowed anywhere near MI5 HQ, which is referred to as Regents Park although the organisation is no longer based there. The devils in this case are Peter Judd, a thinly veiled Boris Johnson, and young, wealthy new tech and online Channel Go media owner, Damien Cantor, looking to outwit and own Diana, who frankly admits to the corpulent and flatulent Jackson Lamb that she has made an error. Joe Country is a triumph and, in my opinion, the series highlight so far. The book ends with what was for me, a truly devastating development and even though you know what no one in Slough House is safe, I wasnt expecting it to hit that character. When a young man is abducted and his kidnappers threaten to broadcast his beheading live on the Internet, River sees an opportunity to redeem himself. I also think that Louisa has really stepped up to be MVP in terms of spy ability so it would be good to see her continue to move front and centre, especially as there will doubtless be some kind of additional call back to those diamonds and her affair with Min. At the height of the war on terror, a British subject is abducted by a terror cell and his beheading is to be streamed live on the internet, but the young man is a British Asian Muslim and the terror cell part of a far-right splinter group. And yet the Slow Horses somehow get involved investigating schemes endangering Britain. Im kinda curious to see if River makes it or not. He was nobodys idea of an avenging knight. Well, that would be another book spoiler that could affect future seasons, so LOOK AWAY NOW. Fans will scour Bad Actors for news of River Cartwright, . but it also leaves me in a quandary as I don't want to say anything that will give even the slightest spoilers for the delights between these covers so I'm just going to say that if you're not a Herron fan, do yourself a favour and start this series from the beginning; and if you are, you'll need no urging from me to get your hands on this as soon as you possibly can. I did put in my preorder for BAD ACTORS this week and am counting down until it arrives. Slough House is Mick Herrons seventh novel about his team of unloved, incompetent though often marvellously effective MI6 spies. Ho traces the number, which places the phone in Estonia. Cokehead Shirley Dander's been send to a sanitarium to dry out; narcissist Roddy Ho is creating avatar girlfriends for himself as a distraction; River Cartwright, the most potentially sane of the Slough House discards, isn't even around, presumed dead or permanently missing. River Cartwright was sent to Slough House after a training exercise left King's Cross crashed. Slovenly, rude, and apparently drunk most of the time. And this series is one of my favorites. With the 2022 release of the Apple TV+ series Slow Horses, however, it's come onto the radar of an entirely new set of people - many of them addicted to the twists and turns and delightful subterfuge . He is never without a drink or a smoke, even when the team goes dark, and remains as rude and offensive as ever. It is also revealed that Standish narrowly escaped a treason charge through her links with Partner and his death. Since Dead Lions, Herron has setup an every other book dynamic of killing off slow horses. Lamb, Cartwright, Min and Louisa, with assistance from Roddy, are able to track them to the same location. 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. Tamsin Topolski as Kelly Tropper, a pub barmaid in Upshott and the daughter of Alex and Duncan. However, they cant afford to ignore the assassination, on UK soil, of a Russian defector. Not with either side. Its clear that shes changed due to the shooting, a little slower and less bright, but theres an excellent set-piece towards the end that shows shes not out of the game. Will Devon Welles get a promotion or will we see a new character take the job? Slough House's cyber expert Roddy Ho discovers he cannot hack Hobden's laptop as it is air gapped, furthering everybody's suspicions. 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. In some cases, we earn commissions from affiliate links in our posts. Mick Herron. . She was announced as having died, but Roddy Ho inferred from her sudden online invisibility that she had been 'disappeared'. Slough House is his reward for taking care of Charles Partner for MI5. 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 wants a tame intelligence service ready to do the PMs bidding and leaks rumours that a government advisor has been subject to extraordinary rendition by an MI5 gone rogue. Lamb, already aware of this, had notified David Cartwright that he was another potential target due to his complicity in Partner's death. A befuddled Roddy Hos thoughts on The Parks plumbing is worth the price of admission alone. . Plus he was the normal one. These are such fun books that I have to drop everything and read them as soon as each one comes out. And given that the devil in question is arch-manipulator Peter Judd, she could be about to lose control of everything shes fought for. Zo Boehm. Slough House is an administrative purgatory for MI5 service rejects who have bungled their job but somehow have not been outright fired. Perhaps COVID-19 will make an appearance in next years novel. His deft and sympathetic characterisation affords the reader a connection with the slow horses (the Parks nickname for their castoffs) which grows with every triumph, every obstacle overcome, and their losses are felt keenly. Slough House is the seventh book in the Slough House/Jackson Lamb series by award-winning British author, Mick Herron. Thanks for the review. Another has just failed in an attempt to kill David Cartwright. one of the things always on the mind of any reader of the series is whether all the characters will make it out alive. He was a connection to the O. Former field agent Richard Bough, aka Dickie Bow, recognizes a man who tortured him during the Cold War, follows him, and dies on a rail replacement bus of an apparent heart attack. Things get pretty close, and Curly is stopped right in the nick of time before he murders the young student. 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. White T," complains our hero, River Cartwright, played by Jack Lowden, to his co-working nemesis, "Spider" Webb, played by Freddie Fox. But they have they actually been targeted? River is then instructed to deliver it to the service's Regent's Park Headquarters, much to his surprise. B. I would also love to know whats happening with Sid as well as how River is dealing with his fathers death! This novel is a series highlight for me, and went on to win the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award as well as being shortlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger Award, The British Book Awards and The Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award.Buy now on Amazon, A North Korean hit squad is conducting a terror operation on British soil, and one particular fly in the ointment is that the plan they are working to is one of the Parks own. Curly and River engage in a brief shootout, before he is knocked out by Hassan with a rock. This series is perfect for those that want their humor dark and smart. Louisa and Longridge pursue and kill Pashkin when he attempts to escape the Glasshouse, having betrayed and killed Piotr to steal an extra stash of diamonds along the way. My carefully organized reading list just took a direct hit. When a Russian operative is killed, they think the slow horses who now appear to be off-the-books were responsible. Louisa Guy, another member of the team who has been there from the beginning, is probably the safest pair of hands at Slough House. At the same time, Lamb is out in Oxford looking into the suspicious death of a retired agent. Im also worried about one or more Slow Horses dying in the next installment (my fingers are crossed so hard that it wont be River), but Louisas mourning Min/her continued engagement with his family gives me hope that even if we lose another Slow Horse or two, theyll be remembered. And not just one cliff either; each thread I wanted wrapped up just stops. Filming of the first season began on 30 November 2020, in England, and continued into February 2021, with Gary Oldman and Kristin Scott Thomas spotted on set in Westminster, London. Wannabe free spirit. The only slight nagging doubt is whether it will maintain the sky high quality standards. River calls in a Code September, prompting Taverner to evacuate Judd from his speech at The Royal Exchange and the immediate area around The Glasshouse. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); 2021 Crime Fiction Lover. Involving themselves in the drama, the slow horses soon realise that the machinations of The Park are even more twisted than they could ever have imagined. You will be rewarded at the end. Except as noted, each character has appeared in all seasons so far shown. I like the way events of previous novels continue to effect the narrative. River bribes a taxi driver in Stroud, who reveals he drove Chernitsky to an airfield and flying club in Upshott, but was instructed to lie about it and call a number should people come looking. Washed-up and paranoid far-right journalist Robert Hobden deduced, after Taverner sent Moody to steal his laptop, that MI5 were behind the kidnapping and kicking over their traces. Not crucial questions but worth thinking about . Sid in the books remains 'dead' for several books, and returns in Slough House, where it emerges that she suffered permanent brain damage and has been living in a safe house all along. Newcomer Marcus Longridge replaces Min on the Pashkin assignment, and confesses to Louisa he has a gambling addiction. Not that Mick Herron pays the slightest attention to what his fans want, but I for one would love to see the return of Sid, and would welcome possible Sid-River interactions, but I guess thats not in the cards. Skripal and his daughter were badly poisoned, but eventually recovered. Someone more like Warren Clarke or Sidney Greenstreet is more in keeping with how he is portrayed. His death and the deaths of Lamb's agents in Europe were what provoked Lamb to demand oversight of Slough House, a place where no one would ever again do anything significant, or get hurt. Hes already won a number of awards, and the development by Apple TV of a series, based on the books and with Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb, should only increase its popularity. 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. The series premiered on Apple TV+ on 1 April 2022. Desperate Measures reaches nailbiting conclusion. The team, acting on the orders of Taverner, shoots the man dead even though he was unarmed and surrendering, to prevent any . 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. Realizing he has been outmaneuvered, Katinsky goads Lamb to kill him. Slow Horses ending explained: Did they save Hassan? Since the first book came out back in 2010, Mick Herron's Slough House series has been a favourite among fans of spy novels. However, when Mins son went missing and she took on the role of detective, old feelings resurfaced. Drama, sadness, playfulness and great humour. Cokehead Shirley Danders been send to a sanitarium to dry out; narcissist Roddy Ho is creating avatar girlfriends for himself as a distraction; River Cartwright, the most potentially sane of the Slough House discards, isnt even around, presumed dead or permanently missing. Nobody Walks is even set in the same espionage world as a retired spy digs in to his sons mysterious death. Lamb discovers Katinskys involvement as a triple agent; he agreed to assist the Russians and distract Lamb in exchange for facing no repercussions for his defection decades earlier. 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 . Haunted office manager Catherine is seen attending AA meetings and is regularly taunted by Lamb about alcohol. 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. Standish speaks with Victor Krymov, the intermediary who set up the meet between Paskhin and Webb. The 7th in Mick Herrons SLOUGH HOUSE SERIES is another fast-paced, action packed spy thriller that adds biting satire to the temperature of the nation. [1] Season two premiered on December 2, 2022. Jack Lowden as River Cartwright, an up-and-coming MI5 agent shunted aside to Slough House after a very public training exercise mistake. His kidnapping and intended rescue is an unsanctioned false flag operation masterminded by herself to potentially increase cooperation with Pakistan as well as neutralise and intimidate the far-right. Theyre looking to pick off the slow horses one by one.Buy now on Amazon, Bad Actors takes a look at Brexit and the government advisor who engineered it. They had their own neo-Nazi reasons for doing this but it turned out that the plot was initiated by MI5 Second Desk "Lady" Di Taverner (Kristin Scott-Thomas) as a false-flag operation to earn her Brownie points in her boss' absence. 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. 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