Slow Horses

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

De: Mick Herron

Narrado por: Sean Barrett

*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

Reseñas de la Crítica

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

Intelligent, plausible and restrained.

What did you love best about Slow Horses?

Perhaps it is the combination of an interesting plot development without " boy's own" shenanigans. Just as there is an audience for the representations of mega brutality and endless car chase-like scenes, there is also an audience for intelligent, persuasive story with talented, well written character development. This novel excels in the latter category. There is no sidestepping of a truth..it is quietly alluded to and left to a listener's intelligence.

What did you like best about this story?

The lack of over explanation and mindless minutiae. Instead of limiting the listener's imagination, the writer encourages the listener to imagine their own version. This very clever enabling works magnificently to draw a person into the story's machinery.

What about Sean Barrett’s performance did you like?

Ah Sean. One never tires of listening to his vocal range and restrained but emotive characterisations. But why didn't you try " doing" Joanna Lumley's voice Mr Barrett? I know. Because this actor is an exemplar when it comes to doing justice to any audiobook.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Have to admit I was hooked in when the rag tag collection of " losers" galvanise themselves into action. It is a well known device, I know, but somehow it felt better written than many others we have seen or read.even if an IT " geek" is once again the background star of the event. Here is an idea for a novel. A handsome, urbane, well dressed IT specialist, with loads of real friends, teaches everyone in the office how to hack into...whatever...and goes home to an amazing life leaving the others to tap away on their computers and save the situation. Never seen that character.

Any additional comments?

Perhaps this story has been told before. Misfits making good is not an original idea. Nor is the idea that " those higher up" made it there through no skill of their own and on the shoulders of others. What makes this novel for me is the clean, concise writing.

great procedural novel

slow horses was a no brainer as far as interesting stories go - who can resist the underdog. I usually go to sleep with english narrators, but this one kept me listening without a break.

Start of a great series.

What made the experience of listening to Slow Horses the most enjoyable?

It's a very interesting if somewhat silly premise. MI5 agents that make "mistakes" are relegated to Slough House. They're deemed too stupid and dangerous to be "achievers" (the good spies) so they are instead trapped in kind of a purgatory, stuck doing the tedious and menial paperwork associated with covert operations. And, of course, bored spies get into all kinds of trouble. :)

Who was your favorite character and why?

Probably the Slow Horses' leader, Lamb, because he's so multi-dimensional. And very funny.

Have you listened to any of Sean Barrett’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I could listen to Mr. Barrett recite the phone book and be very entertained. He is, simply, one of the best. This may be an instance where the performance was better than the material. I've sampled the next one in the series and it's nowhere near as good. I may actually skip to the third which has another of my favorites doing the job - Gerard Doyle.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I laughed out loud at some of the dialogue. I will say that it is a little disjointed and I found myself having to replay sections so I really grasped what I was hearing. But then I read while I run so sometimes I get distracted. There's a lot of moving parts in Slow Horses - it's not a book you can breeze through without paying full attention. I think the characters are all very interesting so it will be fun getting to know them in the following books.

Any additional comments?

N/A

We're all a bit slow, aren't we?

I envisioned a marvelous flowerbed, right in that weedy corner of the yard. I wanted it, but was dreading the prospect of digging up the ground. Turning the soil, digging out the weeds and grass, adding compost and mulch, prepping the soil. My least favorite part.

So this book was chosen to keep me company. Something entertaining and light.

The story started out slow. Frankly, if I hadn't been stuck in the yard anyway, I might have stopped listening. Then about an hour in, I found myself laughing.But in that not quite funny but sort of wincing way--when the joke is on you and it's a bit painful.

And I stopped playing in the dirt. Rewound. And listened again.

That was my introduction to Slough House and Mick Herron. Underrated. Under the radar. Magnificently, awesomely human.

These are the stories of heroes who have dared greatly and failed spectacularly. And survived. Banned to a boring, mundane, useless existence. Except once or twice, they get to secretly save the world.

a pleasure to listen to

First work of Mick Herron I have found. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute. Entertainingly written and Sean Barret's performance was spot on.