This is number five in Mick Herron’s masterful Jackson Lamb spy thriller series. Slough House is still sitting there in all its seedy glory, its inhabitants, the slow horses, the drop-outs from MI 5, still reigned over by the ever-reliably repugnant Jackson Lamb.
Over at Regent’s Park, First Desk Claude Whelan is dealing with the problems of a prime minister losing his popularity in a post-Brexit world with at least two MPs plotting to take his place, the usual planning and scheming of Second Desk ‘Lady’ Di Taverner and, oh yes, the UK is being hit by a barrage of terrorist attacks.
Back at Slough House resident geek Roddy Ho is in all sorts of trouble, Shirley Dander is attending mandated anger management sessions and the creepily enigmatic JK Coe is starting to speak. River, Catherine and Louisa are whiling away the hours performing mind-numbingly boring tasks and holding in reserve their repressed talents.
Through all of this Mick Herron’s brilliant, occasionally laugh-out-loud, wit shines through. There is action aplenty and nail-biting suspense leading to a terrific conclusion.
This is spy fiction as art. A huge 5 out of 5!
Published by John Murray (Publishers) an Hachette UK company.
Excellent!
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