A Winner from Herron

Dead Lions by Mick Herron

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Another winner from Mick Herron. It's a witty, complex, sardonic tale about "failed" MI5 agents who are put out to graze their lives away as 'slow horses' in a decrepit, ramshackle building somewhere in London.
A 'proper' spy on a fast track career path in MI5 persuades two eager 'slow horses' to help deliver a Russian oligarch and his two henchmen into a high-tech, secure building with the apparent aim of landing an important intelligence source close to the corridors of power in the Kremlin. Simultaneously the head of the slow horses, Jackson Lamb, is investigating the suspicious death of a former agent - whose unfortunate demise leads his investigation into the depths of rural England where a Cold War sleeper cell is still slumbering.

In addition to appreciating the complexity of his plots, I find Herron's style so amusing. Here's a great description of the frustrating bureaucracy that Lamb faces all day -
Lamb said, “Yeah, I could have prepared a report. Presented it to Roger Barrowby, who’s evidently running things these days. He’d have had three other people read it and make recommendations, and if they came up positive, he’d have formed an interim committee to investigate possible avenues of reaction. After which—”

The only irritating aspect of his style is his inclination to start what I call sub-chapters without making clear who the characters are; it takes a few moments to realize that Herron has moved onto new scenarios and people.

Herron's best character is Catherine Standish - a steady, understated recovering alcoholic of indeterminate age who once had a 'relationship' with a senior MI5 officer. She blows up Lamb's pomposity as they discuss his investigation of the suspicious death -
“So maybe it’s not the same plan. Maybe it’s been adapted. But either way, it’s in play. This isn’t you chasing ghosts from your past any more. It’s a ghost from your past jumping up and down, shouting ‘look at me!’” “And why’s that?”

Shawn Callon, author of The Simon Montfort Series of Spy Novels, wrote this review.



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Dead Lions