Danders character arc, for example, can only really be seen through the prism of her developing friendship with Longridge. Washed-up and paranoid far-right journalist Robert Hobden deduced, after Taverner sent Moody to steal his laptop, that MI5 were behind the kidnapping and kicking over their traces. Now that the O. But just as Cartwright was given just enough. Slough House is the seventh book in the Slough House/Jackson Lamb series by award-winning British author, Mick Herron. They are expected to endure dull, paper-pushing tasks, along with occasional mental abuse from their miserable boss, Jackson Lamb, who expects them to quit out of boredom or frustration. [12][10], In June 2022, ahead of the second season premiere, the series was renewed for third and fourth seasons, which will be based on the next novels in the series, Real Tigers and Spook Street. . She used to assist Charles Partner, who was First Desk at Regents Park until his suicide something its rumoured Lamb might have had a hand in arranging. But there may be a flavor of wicked humor remaining in what one does afterwardalong with great satisfaction at what Lamb and the Slow Horses pull out of their grubby, out-of-fashion hats. Newcomer Marcus Longridge replaces Min on the Pashkin assignment, and confesses to Louisa he has a gambling addiction. Well that was an experience: high-speed foot chases, unexpected decapitations, incompetent spies and a lot of middle-aged flatulence. Hes overweight, frequently drunk and appears dishevelled, but many enemies make the mistake of underestimating him. River discovers the bomb left at the airfield and realizes the attack was a hoax, calling Taverner to have the Code September retracted. Tierney returns from the US, ordering all loose ends be tied up after Taverner further lies to her about the operation. We soon discover that Lamb is playing a deception game and that River has instead brought the O.B. $380-932/person per day, plus sea transport from Cartwright $200-400/person (return). Is River really dead? Warning - Spoilers ahead for all books in the series! But is the victim who he first appears to be? At the height of the war on terror, a British subject is abducted by a terror cell and his beheading is to be streamed live on the internet, but the young man is a British Asian Muslim and the terror cell part of a far-right splinter group. Right from the first book, Herron shows hes not afraid to kill off his creations and some of those deaths hit very hard indeed. I also really wanted to see Rivers mum make an appearance and will feel cheated if its just at his funeral. one of the things always on the mind of any reader of the series is whether all the characters will make it out alive. The title track "Strange Game" was performed by Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger, who wrote the song exclusively for the show[15] together with the shows composer Daniel Pemberton. (LogOut/ Follow I Read, Therefore I Blog on WordPress.com. What didn't become clear till later was that Webb had misled Cartwright on Di Taverner's instructions in order to discredit him, because River had previously tailed Taverner on his own initiative and seen her talking with Black. The writing is so good, you feel every sentence has been worked on to get the best out of it. However, one of the business men behind the deal, looking to make contacts in Russia, passes on sensitive information to the GRU who are looking to escalate matters. Not that Mick Herron pays the slightest attention to what his fans want, but I for one would love to see the return of Sid, and would welcome possible Sid-River interactions, but I guess thats not in the cards. 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. Sadly it wasn't enough to prevent her from being shot by her colleague Jed Moody, who she interrupted when he was trying to clean up Taverner's operation. So I just read it all in one somewhat elongated gulp. Who is the new Head Dog? In the dilapidated offices of Slough House, these files spooks spend their time on various pointless tasks, designed to break their will and bring about their resignations, avoiding the hassle, expense and bad publicity of employment tribunals. Thats how I interpret it. love this series- absolutely brilliant. In the aftermath, a dead body in the elder Cartwright's home is identified by Jackson Lamb as being that of River Cartwright. River bribes a taxi driver in Stroud, who reveals he drove Chernitsky to an airfield and flying club in Upshott, but was instructed to lie about it and call a number should people come looking. With a seasoned spy for a grandfather, his star in MI5 was expected to ascend into the stratosphere. Thanks for the review. Jack Lowden as River Cartwright, an up-and-coming MI5 agent shunted aside to Slough House after a very public training exercise mistake. With involvement from the highest levels of the UK's security apparatus and all the double-crosses and secrets you'd expect from the genre, there's a lot to pick over, so let's pour that bin all over the office floor and have a poke through it. When River Cartwright was relegated to Slough House, he was too young to have developed the legendary skill set of which Jackson Lamb can boast. Their boss, Jackson Lamb is still keeping his team busy with pointless and unproductive assignments: following up social media absconders (#gonequiet), failures to pay fines or potential safe-houses for non-friendlies. Joe Country was particularly bloody for some of them. He could see one of either breed breaking a lock, finessing a window; could see them working round the study, looking for clues. Lamb meets with Nikolai Katinsky, an ex-KGB agent and defector. How is River handling patricide? Slow Horses is available to watch on Apple TV+. This is yet another winning book from the series featuring the "slow horses" of Britain's intelligence world. River Cartwright is positioned as Lamb's spiritual opposite. Which he is, but a thoroughly relatable one. What seems a gutless response from the government has pushed the Service's First Desk into . He is assigned by his superior Jackson Lamb to carry out surveillance on Robert Hobden, a journalist associated with far-right politicians Peter Judd MP and Roger Simmonds. Beyond the individual storylines exist a set of meta-plots, developing over the series as a whole, which again must be read in order. River Cartwright, who is also ambitious but doesn't get the same favor from their grumpy boss, is often jealous of the fact that Sid gets (relatively) more glamorous assignments than him. The show begins with young MI5 agent River Cartwright amidst a terror-threat situation at the Stansted airport, where he has to follow an Asian male in his 20s and apprehend him before he sets off a fatal explosion. 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. Cartwright, David - Known as the power behind the throne in his time at MI5 in the 70's and 80's. Now known as the "OB", Old Bastard. 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. His description of the man Popov was speaking to, Andrei Chernitsky, matches Boughs killer. This coupled with the biting satire and basic humanity of Herrons writing are what have kept me coming back. 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. [3] Each season has been based on an individual book in the Slough House series. Still, I am broken-hearted and may not be able to finish Bad Actors. Someone more like Warren Clarke or Sidney Greenstreet is more in keeping with how he is portrayed. Theyre still getting paid but no longer formally exist and things get more sinister when Louisa Guy discovers that someone from the Service is trailing her and the other slow horses find that they are also being followed. All in all and nitpicks aside, I thought this was a great read in a series where theres been no let up in quality and I genuinely cannot wait to see what Herron does next with these characters. The doctor will see you now Victoria Selman, Fans of realistic spy fiction will enjoy David McCloskeys debut thriller Damascus Station, newly available in paperback in the UK. Baker seemed the most competent of the gang because she was: she eventually revealed to River that Taverner had posted her to Slough House to keep an eye on him. Hes ineffectual, arrogant and completely unaware of his failings. Sandy *The world could end while I was reading and I would never notice*. Hes also ruthlessly effective. He tells River that in East Berlin Bough went AWOL and was assumed to have defected, but returned drunk. 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. He tried to leverage his former acquaintance with Judd into calling off the kidnapping because Judd, it turns out, has a secret, extremist past and connections to the Sons of Albion's financial backer. And will Herron reveal this fact early in the book or leave us hanging throughout? Slough House has been compromised, and now a new team of killers is in the UK. (SH) Cartwright, River - Young, white, fair hair, grey eyes and a mole on his upper lip. Lamb, Cartwright, Min and Louisa, with assistance from Roddy, are able to track them to the same location. He alleges when stationed in East Berlin he overheard Popov demanding the cicada program remain funded after the fall of the Soviet Union. 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. B. Theyve never needed to kill us, said Lamb. And true, Min and Louisa managed to follow that van Until they ran out of petrol because Min was hungry and thinking about sex instead of filling up the tank. 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. The Salisbury Novichok poisonings, Russian secret service interference on British soil, has not gone down well in political or intelligence circles, so much so that First Desk arch-manipulator Diana Taverner loses touch with her better instincts as she seeks revenge, making a deal with the devil that results in the Kazan episode. A year after a calamitous blunder by the Russian secret service left a British citizen dead from novichok poisoning, Diana Taverner is on the warpath. I dunno. Lamb really is an appalling character and I can easily understand those who don't like him but he is bloody funny too! Read the book and then laugh at my incorrect guesses! It turns out that the British term bad actor means a person whos done things that are harmful, illegal, or immoral. 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. The complete guide to Mick Herrons Slough House series, Irish crime drama North Sea Connection comes to BBC Four. His deft and sympathetic characterisation affords the reader a connection with the slow horses (the Parks nickname for their castoffs) which grows with every triumph, every obstacle overcome, and their losses are felt keenly. Herron has provided another winning entry in what is becoming both a critical and commercial hit. Apple liked it so much that it made two seasons back-to-back. Because I already know that lurking inside is an intricate plot wrapped around plenty of wit & humour. While she obsesses on punishing Lamb, the team is actually in crisis mode. Not with any bad actor, whether in the Service hes led or the government hed served. Given what Reeses boyfriend was doing, theres clearly some potential for him to pop up in future books and if so, I would like to have him get more to do than being the butt of the joke. Ho is the computer nerd, a legend in his own mind; Dander is a brash cokehead; and Wicinski a desk analyst who was framed for paedophilia. Despite giving every indication of wanting his team of slow horses to fail spectacularly, he never gives up on a Joe (spy), and its this trait which makes him such a popular character. I was delighted to receive the latest Slough House novel seventh in a series which is current, political, clever, witty and realistic. I love this series, but it does require starting at the beginning. Life in Slough House is defined by drudgery. They had their own neo-Nazi reasons for doing this but it turned out that the plot was initiated by MI5 Second Desk "Lady" Di Taverner (Kristin Scott-Thomas) as a false-flag operation to earn her Brownie points in her boss' absence. He wants a tame intelligence service ready to do the PMs bidding and leaks rumours that a government advisor has been subject to extraordinary rendition by an MI5 gone rogue. Let's just make that clear from the start. - The most shocking thing coming out of Slough House was the poisoning and apparent death of River Cartwright in the final moments of the novel. 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. Involving themselves in the drama, the slow horses soon realise that the machinations of The Park are even more twisted than they could ever have imagined. Warning Spoilers ahead for all books in the series! Cartwright, having copied the contents of Hobden's USB drive before delivering it to Regent's Park, realises it contains no information and manipulates a rival, James 'Spider' Webb, into confirming the same. Slough House is the one you want to find out about River. B. I also think that Louisa has really stepped up to be MVP in terms of spy ability so it would be good to see her continue to move front and centre, especially as there will doubtless be some kind of additional call back to those diamonds and her affair with Min. However, they cant afford to ignore the assassination, on UK soil, of a Russian defector. 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. 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. He used to break down doors and carry a gun before his gambling problems compromised him. Louisa and Longridge pursue and kill Pashkin when he attempts to escape the Glasshouse, having betrayed and killed Piotr to steal an extra stash of diamonds along the way. 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