Slow Horses by Mick Herron

Finally, a new focus for the spy genre! The Slow Horses referred to as spies, that during their training, on missions or for other reasons have been deemed unfit for James Bond style duty and have been farmed out to Slough House to bide their time doing document dumps and other administrivia until their retirement.

River Cartwright, one of the main characters is a particularly bitter slow horse. His grandfather was a big mucky muck in MI-5 and River was set to follow in his footsteps. Now relegated to Slough House, he blames his failure on another recruit who may or may not have had an agenda to get rid of River.

Joining him at Slough House, away from the Regency Park HQ is a variety of interesting failures. His boss Jackson Lamb appears to be merely riding it out. But is he? Slovenly, gross and all around jackass, he might also be brilliant. He knows his spy craft. Ho the technology man, Min Harper the milquetoast, Louisa Guy the angry woman, Struan Loy the office jokester, noisy Kay White and supposed alcoholic Catherine.

Nothing is as it seems though. Not even to the slow horses themselves. A journalist, marginally involved with British Nationalist interests, is tailed by the slow horses in what they consider to be a useless and frustrating training exercise. But is it?

That question is asked constantly throughout the book and it is almost impossible to decipher what is really going on. Based on snoopy Ho, you get one story about why each player has been placed in Slough House. Bu you are also privy to each player’s personal viewpoint.

The story does unfold kind of slowly – and not in the metaphoric sense. However, wants it gets galloping, it really engrosses you. My only frustration? It ended in a “read the next book to find out” fashion. I hated that. It means I have to read the next one to find out the end of the story. Arrrrrrrghhhhhh!