Description

*Soon to be a major TV series starring Gary Oldman*

‘The most exciting development in spy fiction since the Cold War’ The Times

Slough House is the outpost where disgraced spies are banished to see out the rest of their derailed careers. Known as the ‘slow horses’ these misfits have committed crimes of drugs and drunkenness, lechery and failure, politics and betrayal while on duty.

In this drab and mildewed office these highly trained spies don’t run ops, they push paper. Not one of them joined the Intelligence Service to be a slow horse and the one thing they have in common is they want to be back in the action.

When a boy is kidnapped and held hostage, his beheading is scheduled for live broadcast on the net. And whatever the instructions of their masters at the Intelligence Service headquarters, the slow horses aren’t going to just sit quiet and watch.

‘Captivating’ Christopher Brookmyre

‘Wonderfully cynical’ Bernard Cornwell

Publisher Review

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 -- Alex Clark * Observer * I was delighted to discover Mick Herron's riotous Slow Horses series about the black sheep of MI5 -- Nick Cohen * Big Issue * 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 -- Bernard Cornwell * Daily Express * I was delighted to discover that this is merely the first in a captivating series -- Christopher Brookmyre * Herald * A funny, stylish, satirical, gripping story * Guardian * The most enjoyable spy novel in years * Mail on Sunday * 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 * Daily Telegraph * Surely among the finest British spy fiction of the past 20 years * Metro * If you read one spy novel this year, read Real Tigers. Better still, read the whole series * Andrew Taylor, The Spectator * Mick Herron is the real deal * Irish Times * The John le Carre of our generation * Val McDermid * The best modern British spy series * Daily Express * The finest new crime series this Millennium * Mail on Sunday * As a master of wit, satire, insight . . . Herron is difficult to overpraise * Daily Telegraph * Jackson Lamb - the most fascinating and irresistible thriller series hero to emerge since Jack Reacher * Sunday Times * The new spy master * Evening Standard * Praise for Mick Herron's Jackson Lamb series: * . *