I watched and enjoyed the first season of Slow Horses on AppleTV+ a couple of years ago, so it was a no-brainer when I saw the first two books in the series by Mick Herron on for cheap at my local charity shop. I’d been reading a lot of heavier stuff lately and this looked like a welcome change of pace.

It is that, but I was impressed by how close the show keeps to the novel. My memory of the show was spotty, but reading the book brought back clear memories of the cast, settings and events. If you’ve watched the show, there’s not a lot to gain from reading the book, but I enjoyed it anyway.

If you’re new: Slow Horses is the first in a series of spy novels based in London. It’s centred around the enigmatic Jackson Lamb and his gang of misfits at Slough House, a police unit for those who’ve made a mistake of some sort, cast off from doing real police work. It’s the type of gig that’s designed to make the members quit – doing busywork and grunt work for proper investigators. River Cartwright is the newest member of Slough House, having botched a training exercise in a serious way.

After a local muslim man is kidnapped and his pending beheading is announced on a live video stream, the Slough House team winds up involved, and thing takes some turns.

It’s a good ride – the characters are compelling, the writing is kinetic and lively, and the twists are unexpected and earned (unless you’ve seen the show). It’s meticulously plotted but not as dense as many of Le Carré’s books. I’ll surely continue the series, but this time I’ll read the book first.

Follow along

There are a few ways to keep up:
Find one that works for you

Have something to share?

Something you wrote or made?
Something you think deserves attention?

I’ll read it.