This is perfection in a spy novel! I am reading my way through the Jackson Lamb series and Spook Street is the fourth and the absolute best so far. They have all been superb so that is saying something.
In the prologue disaster strikes London but it is in the early stages of Part 1 that the reader is really hit with a right proper wallop from which it takes a while to recover. The story is complicated but never convoluted and the wonderful characters all stay true to form. Jackson Lamb, the old toad, is as fabulously repulsive as ever, still presiding over the Slough House losers. They are in Slough House rather than at The Park through the commission of various misdemeanours but underneath the general air of negativity they are all possessed of sharp minds and exceptional, though for the most part hidden, talents.
The dialogue is as witty as ever and I can’t help showing you a tiny sample: Catherine to Lamb and Chapman, two old spooks trying to out-quip each other: “‘You two’, she said. ‘It’s like watching dinosaurs having foreplay. Or Top Gear.’ The action is riveting, the humour at times laugh-out-loud and the ending totally satisfying. There is a shock loss from which I still haven’t recovered (I’m still in my pyjamas at 1.30 pm and have just been served a nice lunch by a worried husband trying to help me through this moment).
I have it on good authority that London Rules, the next book in the series, is even better than Spook Street. I’m going to follow my pattern of pacing myself by reading a few different books now, all the while knowing there is something magical in store.
Spook Street is highly intelligent, witty, masterful story telling by Mick Herron. He is a genius! 10 out of 5 at least.
John Murray (Publishers) an Hachette UK Company
No comments:
Post a Comment