Bad Actors

I'm not sure if this is the best of the series, or I'm just getting to know what's going on better, but I couldn't stop reading. Not only was the story interesting, but the humor was great. Jackson Lamb is as crass and insulting as ever, but it's hard to get upset because he treats everyone the same way. Also, he's the one that seems to always know what's going on and what's going to happen next. Diana Taverner seems to be the only other person who can somewhat keep up with him. When the two of them cooperate, which isn't often, I think they could do just about anything.

Shirley Dander played a big role in this one, and she was a riot. Who else would attack a bus with an iron? And when she became a target for some bad guys, I knew we show more were in for a wild ride.

I almost want to read this one again right now, but I plan to start at the beginning of the series and read them all, soon I hope. I know I missed a lot in the first few, especially since I listened to them as audiobooks that got hard to follow occasionally. Next time, I'll read the ebooks so I can easily stop and search for things. show less

I used to read the Slough House books with a surprised glee. I was impressed by the unexpected lyricism of the introductions, fascinated by the tortured existence imposed on the occupants of Slough House by Jackson Lamb, the grotesque to whose dominion they had been condemned for their sins and delighted by the wickedly insightful insider view of the realities of British politics that I was given.

Now, things have changed. I'm not surprised anymore and my glee has curdled as I have come to understand that what is presented to me here about British politics, unpleasant as it is, is more factual than fictional. Only the names have been changed to attack the guilty.

The pleasure I took in 'Bad Actors', my eighth visit to Slough House was show more more rueful than gleeful. Sadly, the least realistic thing about a plot which involved a Russian spy influencing policy in Downing Street, was that the scandal was covered up. These days, it would be splashed across the tabloids for five minutes, be rigorously denied until the pictures and audio snippets his the public domain and then we'd all be told that it was time to move on. I feel no guilt for having greatly enjoyed seeing bad things happen to the Special Advisor who was not of course Dominic Cummings but who provided a satisfyingly accurate effigy to burn in his stead.

The two moments that stood out for me in this book were both action-oriented and both glorious in their way.

The first was the way in which Diana Tavener, hunted and apparently powerless and corned, extricated herself from trouble. It demonstrated her character perfectly: it was cunning and ruthless and its success pivoted on abusing the denizens of Slough House and prevailing through the force of her reputation for both surviving and taking revenge.

The second was seeing Shirley Dander give way to full-on berserker violence in the face of what should have been overwhelming force but which she turned into a series of targets to humiliate. I thought the attack on the retreat that Dander was staying in was beautifully done and a perfect example of why I enjoy these books, even though they no longer surprise me. The situation managed to be both absurd and filled with menace. The violence was both terrible and joyful. Shirley Dander was, for once, in exactly the right place doing exactly the right thing and it was wonderful to see.

I hope that there are many more Slough House books and that in one of them, someday soon, the pot will revolve around how the carrion crows in Westminster, who are currently feasting on our wounded and bleeding democracy, are finally brought down. Although that's probably too much of a fantasy to make its way into a Slough House novel. show less

Jackson Lamb and his ‘slow horses’ (or most of them) are back, and as chaotic and desperate as ever. So, too, is Diana Taverners, the Machiavellian First Desk at MI5, as ever beset by the far-reaching repercussions of some of her own machinations. These tribulations are exacerbated by the plotting of the Prime Minister’s senior special adviser, who wants to bring MI5 under direct control from Downing Street.

In other news, a former senior figure from Russian intelligence from before the fall of the Berlin Wall, appears in London, and seems to be deliberately avoiding the normal measure taken by such characters to avoid detection. Meanwhile, another prominent figure from the world of political advisers and thinktanks has gone show more missing, and all the parties mentioned above seem desperate to find her. I rather wish I lived in a society where I felt that all the political scheming and intrigue was too extreme to be believable, but sadly I find it all too plausible.

As ever, Mick Herron weaves an enthralling story liberally strewn with hilarious one-liners and some genuinely funny slapstick scenes, although he never allows the comic element to compromise the integrity of the plot. Jackson Lamb is as odious (while simultaneously likeable) as ever, and the slow horses remain as inadvertently dysfunctional as only they can be.

Eight novels and three novellas in, and this engaging series shows no sign of losing momentum. show less

The First Desk at MI5, Diana Taverner, is in trouble. A Steve Bannon-style politician who wants to burn it all down has decided he will install his own lackey. Meanwhile, an old-hand Russian operative appears in London and seems quite unbothered that MI5 knows it. Taverner has to turn to (shudder) Jackson Lamb and his crew of misfit spies, Slough House, for assistance. As Taverner does a disappearing act, one of the misfits is locked up in a hospital for deranged spies, thanks to her overactive cocaine habit - and things get confusing.

As usual, Herron brings present-day politics to the table, doused in acidic wit. Another frenetic, funny, and furious entry in an excellent series.

Latest installment 'bout the Sloughiest of Houses and the reason I'm listening to most of the rest on audio. Nasty political advisor to the PM gets up to nasty business, Slough House stumbles into the mounting chaos and gives it a shove. In some ways these are an amazing exploration of modern human inadequacy, helplessness and sense of encroaching doom, and you can usually tell who the villains are by the ones who don't feel them so much, and Roddy Ho.

Relistened to this, why not, and loved Shirley Danders acheiving full apotheosis as action hero, albeit in a way that makes you worry Herron might be setiing the reader up for horrible heartbreak, the way he sometimes does.

This is just the best series out there! Hilariously funny, black humour, lots of tension, great and memorable characters, and always a good suspense story. The scene with Roddy Ho and Shirley Dander doing a chase on the dark streets of London practically had me rolling on the floor. This book moved back and forth and forth and back on the busy London streets, and, as always, there is Jackson Lamb pulling the strings and staying on top of all the nefarious characters which are usually from high up in the secret service or even higher. The real kicker with this one is that someone or some group has put a cease and desist order out on Lady Di herself. It was cool to see Diana Taverner practicing her own form of spycraft as she tries to show more stop the freight train that is coming right at her. I'm caught up with this series now, and waiting for Mick Herron to finish his latest book. I can't recommend this series enough. Every book is a winner. show less

I love the Slow Horses books, so of course I eagerly awaited this latest installment. I was especially anxious to get to this since the previous installment ended on a cliff-hanger with the fate of one of the major characters hanging between life and death. And without being too spoilerish about it, I will say that for 99.99% of this book, we are kept in the dark about the fate of that character, and only get the very slightest of a slight hint at the very end of this book. So I am rather peeved at Mick Herron, and view this as a cheap marketing trick to make us read the next installment (which I would have done anyway). Anyway, my annoyance at this may have colored my enjoyment of the book, and I have to say that I found this one to be show more a little padded and repetitive.

As to the story itself: The Slow Horses books are good, though perhaps a bit formulaic: the Slow Horses must outwit not only the enemy agents, but also their counterparts at the Park, where the "real" M15 spies are housed. For the past several books, the Park has been led by the ice cold Diana Taverner (Lady Di), and she has no compunctions about sacrificing a Slow Horse or two to make herself look good. But somehow Jackson Lamb and his Slow Horses always seem to be able to thwart Lady Di.

As they do the real enemy: in the past several books, Russia and Putin's secret service have been up to no good in Boris Johnson's Great Britain.

In this book, a Swiss consultant to the PM has gone missing and it turns out she might be a Russian plant. Herron maintains the witty writing and complex plotting that I love. I am starting to wonder whether some of the characters, usually so brilliantly done, are becoming just a tad bit caricaturish (Roddy Ho and Shirley Dander who feature prominently in this book), but it's all so wittily done I don't care. I'm just a little bit less in love with the series that I have been but I'm still eagerly awaiting the next installment.

3 stars show less