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Slow Horses

The bestselling thrillers that inspired the hit Apple TV+ show Slow Horses (Slough House Thriller 1)

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Slow Horses

By: Mick Herron
Narrated by: Sean Barrett
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 *Now an award-winning Apple TV+ series starring Gary Oldman, Kristin Scott Thomas and Jack Lowden*

'The most exciting development in spy fiction since the Cold War' The Times

'To have been lucky enough to play Smiley in one's career; and now go and play Jackson Lamb in Mick Herron's novels - the heir, in a way, to le Carré - is a terrific thing' Gary Oldman

****

Spooks are supposed to be stealthy . . . But those who make a noisy mess of their careers end up in Slough House.

This is Jackson Lamb's kingdom: a dumping ground for spies who've screwed up. Once high fliers, they're now slow horses, condemned to a life of pushing paper as punishment for crimes of drugs and drunkenness, lechery and failure, politics and betrayal. In drab and mildewed offices, these highly trained spies moan and squabble, stare at the walls, and dream of better days - not one of them joined the Intelligence Service to be a slow horse, and the one thing they have in common is their desire to be back in the action.

So when a young man is kidnapped and held hostage, his beheading scheduled for live broadcast on the net, the slow horses aren't going to just sit quietly and watch. And unless they can prove they're not as useless as they're thought to be, a public execution is going to echo round the world.

'The most enjoyable British spy novel in years' Mail on Sunday

'The new spy master' Evening Standard Crime Thrillers Espionage Political Spies & Politics Suspense Thriller & Suspense Disappearance Exciting Funny Witty

Critic Reviews

Praise for Mick Herron's Jackson Lamb series:
The new spy master
Jackson Lamb - the most fascinating and irresistible thriller series hero to emerge since Jack Reacher
As a master of wit, satire, insight . . . Herron is difficult to overpraise
The finest new crime series this Millennium
The best modern British spy series
The John le Carré of our generation
Mick Herron is the real deal
If you read one spy novel this year, read Real Tigers. Better still, read the whole series
Surely among the finest British spy fiction of the past 20 years
With his poet's eye for detail, his comic timing and relish for violence, Herron fills a gap that has been yawning ever since Len Deighton retired
The most enjoyable spy novel in years
A funny, stylish, satirical, gripping story
I was delighted to discover that this is merely the first in a captivating series
The first of his series about MI5 and a character called Jackson Lamb, one of the great monsters of modern fiction. He's a wonderfully cynical writer and there's a lot of dark humour in it. I'm not clever enough to write this sort of thing
I was delighted to discover Mick Herron's riotous Slow Horses series about the black sheep of MI5
For something really gripping, head for Mick Herron's Jackson Lamb series, in which a sidelined spook and his cohorts battle their way back to the centre of a life of espionage. Begin with Slow Horses and enjoy
Mick Herron's Slow Horses series has all the thrills of John Le Carre or Len Deighton with a black humour
All stars
Most relevant
is anything but slow. This story hits the road running and keeps the pace up right until the tantalising end. There isn't a single tedious moment, with action, intrigue and cool wit all keeping you utterly entertained every second. Sean Barrett, of course, is as brilliant as ever and still my favourite narrator. I can't wait to get onto the next in this series and any others written by this obviously talented author.

Slow Horses

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The one who said the book should have been edited because Cartwright would certainly have been killed by the bomb in the first chapter. I won’t write a spoiler here but all I will say is listen carefully to Cartwright’s later musings and discussions with Spider because if you do, you’ll understand what really happened. It’s easy to miss so I can see why the other reviewer did, but it’s there.

This is an excellent book and series.

Disregard previous reviewer

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Dry, with at times a caustic & witty dialogue, this pacey and highly entertaining plot amused and held me from the start. I loved this book and am delighted to see it is the first in a series ( 2nd novel already downloaded and waiting ).

Enjoyable from start to finish

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A great story once you got into it. Difficult to follow at times. Worth sticking with it!

A great story once you got into it. Difficult to follow at times. Worth sticking with it!

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I really enjoyed this book. It seemed much shorter than it actually is, just because it was so well written and read. The reader is excellent too.

Excellent start to a series

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