Larry arrives at a seaport in Harwich, but is shot dead by "The Dogs" on the orders of Tierney, who plant a weapon on his corpse to justify the killing. There is a sense of pieces being moved ready for further developments, most notably in the change in dynamic between Judd and Lady Di, and its not clear what the return of Sid will mean long term but the devastating ending and the question it leaves means I am very keen to read the next book. Forming a protective ring around him, they stopped chief dog Nick Duffy from shooting him from a helicopter. Tierney returns from the US, ordering all loose ends be tied up after Taverner further lies to her about the operation. Will Devon Welles get a promotion or will we see a new character take the job? document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); 2021 Crime Fiction Lover. He is never without a drink or a smoke, even when the team goes dark, and remains as rude and offensive as ever. English crime author Mick Herron didnt begin his writing career with the Slough House series, but theres no doubt these novels represent his most successful work. But it was Hassan who turned the goons against each other reducing their numbers to one and Hassan who finally knocked his captor out with a well-thrown rock. Just get ready for a jaw-dropping development at the start - and a poignant ending. River Cartwright, is away in Kent, mourning the death of the OB, short for the Old Bastard who was Cartwright's grandfather, surrogate father and was a service legend. Based on the Seas o n 2 trailer that ran after Season 1 Episode 6 on Apple TV+, most of the key cast will be back, including Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb, Jack Lowden as River Cartwright, Kristin . . Slough House is Mick Herrons seventh novel about his team of unloved, incompetent though often marvellously effective MI6 spies. Standish beats Krymov in a game of chess, and he reveals it was Katinsky, not Pashkin he met with to set up the Webb meeting. Lamb calls Katinsky, deducing that he is the supposedly fictional Russian spymaster "Alexander Popov". With Bad Actors just a few short days away, Im ponder what we might see. We soon discover that Lamb is playing a deception game and that River has instead brought the O.B. Those consigned there are known as "Slow Horses". But Lady Di is slowly learning that the patriotism doesnt mean they dont have demands and YouTube billionaire-turned-new-channel owner Damien Cantor in particular would like Lady Di to come on his show and do an interview. Lamb instead leaves Katinsky with one bullet left in his revolver, and Katinsky kills himself. Danders character arc, for example, can only really be seen through the prism of her developing friendship with Longridge. River didn't know if he really believed that, but he knew for sure that he didn't know he didn't, and if River thought that way others might too, and act upon the possibility. Thanks for the review. River Cartwright, the protagonist of the novel, was going places. Ambitious, backslapping government toff Peter Judd (Samuel West), aka 'PJ', is definitely not supposed to be identified with any Boris Johnsons who may or may not have been Foreign Secretary at the time Slow Horses was written. Judd booted Hobden to the curb and Taverner's chief dog Nick Duffy literally pushed him over it into the path of oncoming traffic. David discusses the cicada theory of Russian sleeper agents embedded in British society, which MI5 dismissed as a hoax after no sleepers were found and discovered that the programs alleged mastermind, Alexander Popov, did not exist. But in the end, he takes the high road and lies to him, saying that according to his grandfather, Ho was just so awesome that he was making everyone else look bad, so had to be disposed of. There is a lot going on in this book with two main plot lines why Slough House has been deleted from the Services records and the fallout from Lady Dis decision to sock it to Russias GRU. Here, Herron introduces a new slow horse, Ashley Khan, and further develops his subplot of Russian interference in the British establishment.Buy now on Amazon. Quite young and still deluding herself that the infamous Diana Taverner will take her back into important operations, Ashley is also obsessed with the source of her demotion: Jackson Lamb, head of Slough House. The website's critical consensus says, "Slow Horses says nay to the sophomore jinx with a second season that might be even better than its supremely addictive predecessor. Also see Mick Herrons standalone novels, Nobody Walks and This Is What Happened? So it's "the f**king wilderness" for him. All that remains is to dive in & find out what fresh hell Jackson Lamb (AKA Mick Herron) & his crew stumble into this time. Herron IS brutal to his characters and their fans. She claims to have an operative embedded with the Sons of Albion who organised the kidnapping, but will also facilitate the rescue. Follow I Read, Therefore I Blog on WordPress.com. Set in 1950s Finland, during the Cold War, the books tell the story of a young police woman and budding detective who cuts against the grain when, John Fullertons powerful 1996 debut The Monkey House was set in war-torn Sarajevo and was right in the moment. A befuddled Roddy Hos thoughts on The Parks plumbing is worth the price of admission alone. However, they cant afford to ignore the assassination, on UK soil, of a Russian defector. Several other members of the team think that it may have happened to them too, though their incompetence makes it difficult to be sure. David Walmsley as Larry, a member of the Sons of Albion. It still rankled, his fall from grace, and why shouldnt he take some matter of revenge? As the slow horses try to work out whats going on, they find themselves caught up in events outside their control and in the cross hairs of a ruthless enemy who doesnt care about collateral damage . Jack Lowden as River Cartwright, an up-and-coming MI5 agent shunted aside to Slough House after a very public training exercise mistake. It is revealed that Moe (real name Alan Black) was Taverner's mole, but was found out and murdered by Curly, who then fled with Zeppo, Larry and Hassan. That means Slough House would normally be a safe book for the characters. Love Herons London, his wit, capability with language and how skillfully characters and plots are crafted. Books with River Cartwright But I think hes got too old and too thin. All we know about her on the show is that she's lonely and misses being part of a team. Cartwright is able to rescue Roddy Ho before he can be taken into custody, but Min and Louisa are unable to stop their colleague Struan from being taken from his home by operatives. Outside of Slough House there is Diana Taverner Lady Di behind her back the ultra-ambitious Second Desk in charge of Ops. BTW I suspect Mack who left the first comment on 12th February last year was more than happy with Garry Oldmans portrayal of Jackson Lamb. Another has just failed in an attempt to kill David Cartwright. The series was given a straight to series order by Apple TV+ in October 2019, with Gary Oldman announced to star. Well, as Jackson Lamb was delighted to point out, they actually didn't. Read the book and then laugh at my incorrect guesses! Jackson Lamb investigates, finding Bough's hidden phone under the seat with the message cicada, and gets the team to look deeper. With the 2022 release of the Apple TV+ series Slow Horses, however, it's come onto the radar of an entirely new set of people - many of them addicted to the twists and turns and delightful subterfuge . Slow Horses, based on the first of Mick Herron's Slough House novels, follows the fortunes of a bunch of Security Service exiles under Gary Oldman's grotesquely seedy, unsupportive leader Jackson Lamb, as they attempt to untangle an ongoing act of domestic terrorism. Moody returns to Slough House and attacks Min and Louisa when they re-enter, but is killed when he breaks his neck falling down the stairs in a scuffle. Lucas had seen something he shouldnt have whilst working a holiday job and his attempt at exploiting the situation is having profound consequences. Roddy Ho, Shirley Dander and Lech Wicinski round out the team. Beyond the individual storylines exist a set of meta-plots, developing over the series as a whole, which again must be read in order. Standish begins having flashbacks to the death of a former colleague of hers and Lamb's, Charles Partner. Slow Horses is a spy thriller television series based on the Slough House series of novels by Mick Herron. i wish it would go on forever. Spook secrets were dangerous to friends and foes alike, and the old man had made plenty of both down the years. Is dead, we know why Jackson whacked him and we have met Rivers spy daddy and had him whacked too, I can understand if Herron thinks he has served his purpose. With a seasoned spy for a grandfather, his star in MI5 was expected to ascend into the stratosphere. The Oxford Series and other Mick Herron novels, Barbican Station A Slough House Podcast. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); 2021 Crime Fiction Lover. Plus it would be interesting if the focus moved onto Louisa who has never really reckoned with taking those diamonds and who is also quietly competent at the back. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Shortlisted for a number of prestigious awards including The CWA Steel and Gold Daggers, and The Theakston Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year Award.Buy now on Amazon, Claire Harper calls Slough House for help after her teenage son, Lucas, goes missing. Part of the popularity of the series lies in the fact these books simply make you feel good. So, what connects the oligarch with an old rumour of Russian sleeper agents? Hes overweight, frequently drunk and appears dishevelled, but many enemies make the mistake of underestimating him. (SPOILER) I was very sorry at the departure of two in Joe Country, though one seemed to me less of a loss. River Cartwright Apple River was there ostensibly because he messed up a training exercise at Stansted Airport that killed 149 hypothetical people. No wonder Jackson Lambs crew are feeling paranoid. The main series development is the return of Sid Baker, which was first teased in LONDON RULES but finally Herron reveals that yes, she did survive SLOW HORSES and has spent the last few years recuperating in a Service facility in the Lake District. Theyve never needed to kill us, said Lamb. It is also revealed that Standish narrowly escaped a treason charge through her links with Partner and his death. Taverner has her own problems to occupy her. Chernitsky ambushes Ho on the train and escapes after an altercation with Dander. Roderick, a self-anointed master of online information with a blind spot big enough to encompass all human interactions, spends his days wondering just what he did wrong to end up in Slough House. Lamb and his team flee the property before "The Dogs" arrive, knowing that since the operation has not gone to plan that Slough House will be blamed. Lamb really is an appalling character and I can easily understand those who don't like him but he is bloody funny too! He tells River that in East Berlin Bough went AWOL and was assumed to have defected, but returned drunk. I listened to the audio version narrated by Andrew B Wehrlen and found it an utterly engaging tale. Haunted office manager Catherine is seen attending AA meetings and is regularly taunted by Lamb about alcohol. The significance of her connection to Black wasn't obvious to him, of course, because he didn't know Black from any other random thug, but she knew that the connection was something she needed to bury. After locating the photo and evading security, he and Lamb threaten to reveal Taverner's operation to the Director-General and the press. Initially the series was to consist of two seasons, but two additional seasons have since been ordered. If Herron has whacked him then I think its a really interesting decision because on one level, his story arc had mostly come to an end anyway (the OB is dead, we know who his dad was and hes dead too) and it does show that no one in Slough House is safe from whacking. Slough House has been compromised, and now a new team of killers is in the UK. I also really wanted to see Rivers mum make an appearance and will feel cheated if its just at his funeral. Taverner is dealing with intelligence and now Home Secretary Peter Judd MP regarding a large upcoming anti-capitalist protest in London. 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