From the Bookshelf of Reading the Detectives…

Slow Horses (Slough House, #1)

Mick Herron

Start date: October 15, 2018

Finish date: November 8, 2018

Discussion: Buddy reads

Why we're reading this: We're trying the first in the popular Slough House series. …more
[close] We're trying the first in the popular Slough House series.

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What Members Thought

Jan 16, 2018 Sarah G rated it it was ok

Very average story and an awful writing style.

Writing doesn't have to spell everything out but there were far too many pseudo-stylish passages which in fact just left you wondering 'WTF is going on?' and 'who TF is he talking about here?'. There is nuance and then there is just downright terrible writing. He also has the odd habit of writing a phrase. As a separate sentence. Which gets really old. Really fast.

The character names were strange but oddly forgettable - Jackson Lamb, River Phoenix, s ...more

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Apr 05, 2020 Dipanjan rated it really liked it

“Slow Horses” is the first book in the series around Slough House, which is basically an office where spooks have been banished for various reasons from the ranks of achievers at Regent’s Park for various crimes of drugs and drunkenness, lechery and failure, politics and betrayal. Banished to Slough House Jackson Lamb’s misfit crew of highly trained agents don’t run ops, they push paper. And the premise of the entire environment is that none of them joined the Intelligence Service to be a “Slow “Slow Horses” is the first book in the series around Slough House, which is basically an office where spooks have been banished for various reasons from the ranks of achievers at Regent’s Park for various crimes of drugs and drunkenness, lechery and failure, politics and betrayal. Banished to Slough House Jackson Lamb’s misfit crew of highly trained agents don’t run ops, they push paper. And the premise of the entire environment is that none of them joined the Intelligence Service to be a “Slow Horse”. So what do you do with a band of broken intelligence agents? How do you deal with shoddy spies? Send them to Slough House where they become a slow horse. Relegated to pen pushing and day after relentless day of listening to recorded conversations, the slow horses are stabled at Slough House with the hope they’ll retire themselves.

The wheels are set in motion when a boy is kidnapped and held hostage. His beheading is scheduled for live broadcast on the net. And whatever the instructions of the Service, the slow horses aren’t going to just sit quiet and watch. They push paper, day after day. But when this young man is kidnapped they realize they can’t just sit on the side-lines. The Slow Horses get ready to run. What the powers that be don’t count on is the resilience, the pig-headedness, of the disparate group of men and women that have been consigned to gather dust in a dingy office.

The writing is sharp and forthright, insightful and hits the bulls-eye on many occasions. The political climate is just as relevant today as it was when the book was first published. Threats from extremists of the homegrown variety sit alongside the ‘usual’ threats to security. There is commentary on the rise of extreme right-wing violent groups, of racial tensions and of floppy haired politicians using their much-loved buffoon exteriors to hide the fact they are willing to do almost anything to succeed their own personal goals.

None of the characters are likeable. They work together every day and barely speak to each other. River Cartwright has chip on his shoulder the size of Mount Olympus. Roderick Ho is anti-social to the point of offensive and completely oblivious to the fact. Caroline Standish, Sidonie Baker, Min Harper and Louisa Guy all have their own individual issues and Jed Moody seems trapped in some sort of regression where he is still the spook he once was. Then there is Jackson Lamb. Overweight, uncouth, opinionated and rude, he does and says what he wants. And that turns out to be the most effective thing when the slow horses try to save Hassan, the man who is due to be beheaded.

The narrative flits between the slow horses, MI5 and Hassan and slowly the picture becomes clearer. There are many things at play and they all tie up nicely together at the end. This is definitely a series I would recommend starting from this book. Slow Horses introduces the characters and sets the scene for what is definitely going to be a cracking series. In a nutshell, this is a very uniquely positioned storytelling that will keep on surprising you as you undertake the journey into the murky waters of the Slough House.
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Dec 20, 2017 AngryGreyCat rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-other-mystery

I was recommended Slow Horses by a member of the RMT Bookchat group on Facebook and I will admit to having initial reservations since at first glance it seems to be a spy book, which is not something I usually read.

Slow Horses refers to the group of failed spies who are put out to pasture at Slough House. Jackson Lamb is their “fearless leader”, a man who knows where the bodies are buried and rules over his kingdom of failures in a somewhat benevolent manner. River is the newest inductee and is ...more

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