Slow Horses (Slough House Thrillers book 1) by Mick Herron (book review).
I’ve seen the ‘Slow Horses’ TV series on DVD and thought it was about time I looked at the books, especially as they fall under our remit. We SF fans are notorious for wanting a change from SF, turning to espionage. I also found it easier or cheaper to buy as a book set, even if they aren’t in order under the plastic wrap. As good as a TV series is, it doesn’t always give all the details. I didn’t know, for instance, that ‘Slough House’ was the nickname for ‘Slow Horses.’ I just assumed it was the building name. MI5 is chock-a-bloc with slang words to hide the various tasks they do. The dogs are the active unit let loose in the UK, for instance. In some respects, this is a tradition from John le Carré and even the likes of ‘The Sandbaggers’ on TV.
The slow horses are the failures who’ve messed up in MI5. If they don’t resign, they are assigned to Slough House, where, under Jackson Lamb, they do boring work so they eventually quit and save the service severance pay. Those there at the moment suffer their lot. The main character we follow is River Cartwright, who is the grandson of a famous MI5 executive named David Cartwright. River Cartwright, the grandson of renowned MI5 executive David Cartwright, experienced a significant setback during a simulated attack. The others there are for other failures, like leaving top secret information on a train. Becoming alcoholic. Should there be an etc. here?
Lamb instructs Cartwright to examine the garbage of journalist Robert Hobden, and then he discovers that Sid Baker had swiped and returned a finger memory chip to grab its contents. Hassan Ahmed has been kidnapped, with an internet film showing him imprisoned and to be beheaded in 48 hours but no ransom. Lamb tells his people that this isn’t their job, but Cartwright and Baker think Hobden is involved and investigate further, unaware that one of their own number also has an agenda back at Regent’s Park. If you thought espionage could be a dirty game, just imagine when your side is setting you up and you have to counter it. Much of the rest we call spoilers is actually classified. Well, except Cartwright’s first name is his mother’s fault, although you would have thought he might have deed-polled and changed it by now. Then again, I tend to think of ‘Jackson’ as an American, not British, name.
The final chapter does give the impression that author Mick Herron wasn’t sure if there was going to be a second novel or not. Much of the novel was establishing the characters and events, dropping off clues that were used at the end, even if we missed seeing a vital conversation between Lamb and Cartwright. Certainly, the characters that matter are memorable, but Herron pays less attention to the others when he drops them off.
This book is certainly worth reading, but ensure you give yourself an hour or more to read the last 125 pages in one sitting, or you’ll get one of Lamb’s itchy farts wanting to see how it all works out. Now that I know what to look for, I feel compelled to watch the story again.
GF Willmetts
July 2025
(pub: Baskerville, 2010. 328 enlarged paperback. Price: varies. ISBN: 978-1-933-90303-2).
check out website: www.johnmurraypress.co.uk/landing-page/baskerville-imprint/
