Slow Horses by Mick Herron
Thank you for visiting the fascinating and unsettlingly prophetic world of the slow horses. This group of MI5 operatives is tied together by the fact that they all made terrible mistakes and will stop at nothing to atone for them.
An introduction by the author, book club discussion questions, and an exclusive short narrative focusing on the slow horses are all included in this special tenth-anniversary deluxe edition of a contemporary classic.
Slough House is where retired MI5 spies go to kill time and salvage what’s left of their failed careers. The so-called “slow horses” have all embarrassed themselves in some way to be demoted to that position. Perhaps they blew an Op so horribly that they can no longer be trusted.
Perhaps they interfered with an ambitious coworker and ended up with their feet being pulled out from beneath them. Perhaps they simply developed an unhealthy dependence on alcohol, which is common in this profession. But they do have the desire to return to the centre of the activity. And the majority of them are willing to work together with one another in order to achieve their goals.
The slow horses find an opportunity to make amends when a young man is kidnapped and his captors threaten to stream his beheading live online. Is the victim, however, really who he seems to be?
Slow Horses by Mick Herron
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The actions of Slough House, a defunct holding facility for disgraced and failed MI5 spies, are the focus of Slow Horses. Jackson Lamb, their archwashout and a burned-out field agent, supervises from a bleak office at the top level.
The book begins gradually. Since the story moves so slowly, it’s easy to quit before the action begins. I know I almost did. At first, there doesn’t seem to be much to like about these disgruntled folks and their lives spinning into ever smaller circles of resentment and hatred.
There are numerous internal monologues, numerous instances of the same incident being seen from various perspectives, and some self-indulgence on the side of the author as he sets the scene with wordy glee.
‘Slow Horses’ paints a realistic portrait of office life in the twenty-first century, that bizarre and fascinating environment that many of us live in. When Jackson Lamb is in charge of the office, it becomes a site of perpetual drama and a nonstop soap opera that is both crazier and funnier. who disregards all known health and safety laws, business protocol, and, most crucially, the espionage laws that are enforced by the MI5 “Dogs”?
