Slow Horses is an espionage novel by British writer Mick Herron, published in 2010. It is the first novel in the Slough House series, following River Cartwright and a group of disgraced MI5 agents as they attempt to escape their desk jobs.
 | |
| Author | Mick Herron |
|---|---|
| Language | United Kingdom |
| Series | Slough House |
| Genre | Spy fiction, Thriller, Comedy |
| Publisher | Soho Crime |
Publication date | 2010-06-01 |
| Publication place | England |
| ISBN | 978-1399803052 |
| Followed by | Dead Lions |
Plot
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Principal Characters
editThe book utilises third-person limited point of view, with Herron frequently rotating between characters' internal monologues and perspectives.
- River Cartwright, a disgraced MI5 spy who desperately wants to clear his name and prove his place in the organisation.
- Jackson Lamb, an aging Cold War-era spy who manages the operations of Slough House.
- Diana Taverner, serves as second desk and Head of Operations at MI5.
- Sidonie “Sid” Baker, the most capable of the agents at Slough House, her reasons for being sent there are unknown.
- Jed Moody, a Slough House agent who was previously a globe trotting spy.
- Louisa Guy, a former field agent who was sent to work at Slough House after she took the fall for a failed operation.
- Catherine Standish, Jackson Lamb's assistant who previously served under deceased MI5 Director-General,
Charles Partner.
- Roddy Ho, an arrogant hacker who works at Slough House.
- Min Harper, a Slough House agent who was relegated down the ranks of MI5 after leaving a confidential disk on a train
- Robert Hobden, a conservative journalist whose affiliation with far-right political groups destroyed his career.
- Hassan Ahmed, a university student kidnapped by a group of White supremicists.
Publication History
editConstable first published Slow Horses in the United Kingdom in 2010.[1] The book was published by Soho Press in the United States.[1]
The initial release of the novel was unsuccessful and Constable decided not to publish any further books in the series.[1] In 2015, John Murray acquired the rights to release the novel in the UK and released a new edition. The book began to find mainstream success after Waterstones named the novel its ‘thriller of the month’ in August 2017.[2][1]
In 2017, Nancy Pearl included Slow Horses on a list of books she recommended on NPR.[2]. Pearl described the book as "great fun" and said "Unlike some series of thrillers or mysteries, it gets better, each book is better than the one before."[3] In response, Soho printed an additional 2,000 copies of the book which sold out in 24 hours; they would go on to sell 20,000 copies that month.[2]
Background
editHerron began the book in 2008.[4]. Before writing Slow Horses, Herron primarily wrote detective fiction whilst he was working in the legal department of an employment-issues research firm.[5] In 2005, Herron was commuting to work when the London Subway Bombings struck.[6] The experience caused Herron to shift from writing detective to spy fiction. While he had previously not felt qualified to write about world events,[5] the bombings made him realise that “to be on the front line, you just have to be in a city. Suddenly, everywhere seems to be a viable target. So that opened the door and allowed me to write about such things.”[7] Herron references the morning during a scene where River Cartwright reflects:
People talked about that day in different ways. Either it was a story about them in which bombs happened, or it was a story about the bombs, and they’d just happened to be there.[8]
Reception
editWriting for The Booklist, Thomas Gaughan said Herron's novel was "filled with acidic wit and engaging misdirection... with enough suspense, double-dealing, and mayhem for thriller devotees; but it's also a wonderfully funny, farcical, deeply cynical skewering of politics, bureaucrats, turf wars, and the Great Game."[9]
Jeff Quest, creator of spy fiction review website Spy Write, praised Herron's cast of characters, saying while they might not be likeable on they surface, "you understand and relate to their motivations and foible."[10] Quest also noted Herron's "ability to capture the truth of city living" and complimented his use of real world locations throughout the story.
On the social cataloging website Goodreads, Slow Horses holds an average rating of 4.01/5 stars from 54,500 reviews.[11]
Adaptations
editA series adaptation of the book premiered on Apple TV+ on 1 April 2022.[12] The series stars Gary Oldman as Lamb, Jack Lowden as River Cartwright and Kristin Scott Thomas as Diana Taverner.
References
edit- ^ a b c d Higgins, Charlotte (15 January 2021). "Mick Herron: 'I look at Jackson Lamb and think: My God, did I write that? My mother reads this stuff!'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 1 November 2023.
- ^ a b c Cohen, Ben (7 September 2024). "Nobody Was Reading Him. Now He's the World's Best Spy Writer". The Wall Street Journal – via Proquest.
- ^ Inkseep, Steve; Pearl, Nancy (2017-01-12). "Fulfill Your Reading Resolutions With 6 Books From Librarian Nancy Pearl". NPR.
- ^ "Mick Herron – Interview". SpyWrite. 22 August 2018. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023.
- ^ a b "Is Mick Herron the Best Spy Novelist of His Generation?". The New Yorker. 28 November 2022. Archived from the original on 14 February 2024.
- ^ Pederson, Erik (9 December 2022). "The Book Pages: 'Slow Horses' author Mick Herron says, 'My heart is with those who struggle'". The Orange County Register. Archived from the original on 4 August 2024.
- ^ Millen, Robbie (8 June 2019). "Mick Herron, the accidental bestseller". The Times.
- ^ Herron, Mick (2010). Slow Horses. Soho Press. p. 68. ISBN 9781569479018.
People talked about that day in different ways. Either it was a story about them in which bombs happened, or it was a story about the bombs, and they'd just happened to be there.
- ^ Gaughan, Thomas (2010). "Slow Horses". The Booklist (106(17) ed.). Chicago – via Proquest.
- ^ Jeffrey, Quest (2018-04-18). "Slow Horses by Mick Herron". Spy Write.
- ^ "Slow Horses". Goodreads. Retrieved 2024-11-05.
- ^ "Trailer for new Apple Original espionage drama "Slow Horses", starring Academy Award winner Gary Oldman, debuts ahead of global premiere on April 1, 2022". Apple.com. 2 March 2022. Archived from the original on 27 October 2022. Retrieved 27 October 2022.