The Secret Hours

I think this is Mick Herron's best book and the best spy fiction I have read for a very long time. I have felt a slight sense of staleness creeping in to the Slough House series and it's as if Herron by freeing himself from some of the shackles any long running series necessarily imposes, has found a new burst of creativity. This is evident in the brilliant way the book is structured in episodes moving between the present day and 1990s Berlin, a clever construction in which it gradually becomes apparent that the story relates to events alluded to in some of the Slough House novels, and in the exuberance and brilliant wit of Herron's written style. I won't discuss plot details here but everything rings so true and I don't think anyone show more has written more accurately about what life is like in Whitehall since Le Carré (who amusingly pops up a few times as a yardstick Herron sardonically wields).
The most purely enjoyable book I have read this year. Bliss. show less

A moribund, hamstrung, dead-on-its-feet inquiry into secret service wrongdoing is about to be put out of its misery when a bona-fide file about old school espionage dirty deeds lands on its lap. The events take place in 90s Berlin, but the consequences might affect the future of the Park as it tries to keep itself together in crumbling Brexit Britian. Great stuff, adjacent to but not directly part of the Slough House series (Standing By The Wall is a prequel Slough House story in the collection of the same name), it's a picture of a beaureaucracy of accountability as stagnant as the country's own finances which are being gradually broken down and scavenged and ultimately discarded. The cyncism and betrayals of the spy game at their most show more ruthless seem almost decent and honourable and patriotic set beside the heedless looting of the public purse. A great read, but a dark vision. show less

Herron follows a new thread (or should that be threat) facing 'the Park' in the present taking us back to a past debacle that all Slough House fans wonder about, just what the heck did happen in post-wall Berlin? He also highlights in the most serious way he has yet, the lunacy of a government thinking to safely sub out stuff like vetting spies for their internal (and presumably external) security organizations. Also the lunacy of thinking any of us thinking we are safe: we are preyed upon by the ultra rich and even some of the lesser rich. Also of thinking any of us, even some of the ultra media savvy are safe from the media and internet in general. You are not. Period. While there are some slouchy, likeable characters this is a book show more in a darker key. For all his drinking and farting and smoking and being rude to people, Jackson Lamb is a serious dangerous angry and person and don't you forget it. So is First Desk, bless her nerve show less

I have loved all of Mick Herron’s ‘Slough House’ books and this so-called ‘standalone’ thriller is actually part of that series — indeed, it explains much of what happens in the previous books. It is a prequel to the entire enterprise. But it has a very different feel. First of all, there are long sections of the book where nothing much is going on. That’s deliberate. It sets things up nicely. By the second half of the book, it become unputdownable. I love the fact that this book, set mostly in the early 1990s in Berlin, has a cast of characters that will be familiar to readers of the earlier books — but using different names. We recognise them — with one notable exception — because of how they behave or speak. My show more one gripe is the plug on the book’s cover from Martin Cruz Smith, who calls Herron ‘one of the best writers of spy fiction working today’. That’s ridiculous. Herron is THE best writer of spy fiction today, full stop. show less

Mick Herron's The Secret Hours is a novel that can be read and enjoyed on multiple levels. For some it will serve as a standalone novel, possibly even an introduction to Herron's work and his take on the world of espionage. For others, those readers who have already read all or most of Herron's Slough House series, The Secret Hours will read as the prequel to the series that they've been hoping for for a while now.

Spies and politicians have always been closely linked, and they do not always agree on exactly which of them should be calling the shots - especially when it comes to means and methods. That's why one disgruntled prime minister decided to form the Monochrome inquiry, a small group tasked with uncovering any "historical show more over-reaching" by the British spy agencies. And now, just when it seems that the inquiry will come to nothing, the committee learns of something that happened in Berlin in 1994, something that fits the definition of over-reach perfectly.

Herron's story alternates between flashbacks to 1994 that are seen through the eyes of a young agent on her very first assignment and that same agent's witness testimony in the present. What the witness tells the committee will reveal the details of an operation that went so badly that its repercussions were felt at the highest levels of MI5 both then and now.

But as I say, readers are certain to experience The Secret Hours differently. The novel's premise has all the makings of a standalone spy thriller, and it certainly works well as one, especially for readers who make the effort to keep up with all the character names right from the beginning. But longtime Slough House series readers are going to quickly figure out that there's a lot more there for them than for standalone readers. They will start to recognize characters from the series despite the fact that those characters are working in Berlin under aliases. They will begin to smile to themselves when they realize, that their favorite series characters have not changed a whole lot since this 1994 career-defining fiasco - and they will laugh out loud at the caustic wit and sarcasm they have become so accustomed to in Mick Herron's prose style.

Personally, I'm grateful that I am caught up on the Slough House series, including novellas and short stories, because The Secret Hours answers so many questions I had about incidents only alluded to to one degree or another in the series books. This is most definitely the series prequel I've been wishing for. show less

I am a long time fan of Mick Herron’s writing style. His brand of literary flair interwoven with dark world-weary wit and stinging political and social satire has always really appealed to me, and this new standalone novel The Secret Hours does not fail to deliver on that score. If you are more inclined to tell an emperor he is wearing no clothes than standing by polishing a set of rose coloured glasses, then this writing will elicit many wry smiles from you.

But it’s not all clever banter and realpolitik. There are life and death matters at play too, and that’s where The Secret Hours plumbed unexpected depth for me. One of the several alternating first-person narratives takes us back to Berlin in the heady aftermath of show more reunification, where both vengeance and reinvention were on the menu. When spies are involved, who can a new kid on the block trust? The lies, blackmail and deception kept me turning the pages, eager for the next reveal. And, Herron delivers many in this outing. Continue reading: https://www.bookloverbookreviews.com/2023/11/the-secret-hours-mick-herron.html show less

The first half is all setup and a bit slow, but it kicks into a higher gear halfway through with the introduction of witness #137. Her tale of an assignment in Berlin in 1994 is soon revealed to include important backstory for characters in the main Slough House sequence, though it's not clear immediately who and/or how many they are, as they are all referred to with code names. Except David Cartwright, for some reason... The last few chapters come together in a truly satisfying way that takes the series forward in a way I did not expect given its billing as a standalone. I quite liked it!