A darkly comic introduction to the Slow Horses of the secret service, a team of inept workers whose spying careers are ranked as failures. After a blunder on a training exercise, MI5 misfit River Cartwright has been demoted to desk duty at Slough House, led by grumpy Jackson Lamb. But when River stumbles upon a shocking abduction plot, he must step up to rescue the victim from a devastating fate. A gripping and highly enjoyable read.

A well-written thriller that had me gripped from the start. Will be looking out for this author in the future.

I love a good thriller, and this is a great thriller. A fast-paced twisty ride filled with texture and dry wit. I am going to read everything he has ever written! Suspense, mystery and intrigue, what more could you want?

Loved this. A great introduction to Jackson Lamb and his band of misfit MI6 rejects. Slow Horses is very entertaining - thrilling and darkly funny. The spycraft feels authentic and the characters deftly drawn. Mick Herron writes like Hiassen channelling Le Carre.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book

slow horses:slough house..the place no one want to end up as its the end of their careers and the only hope is that once at slough house that they resign..peacefully and quietly...

but a young man is kidnapped and is expected to be killed and somehow slough house is implicated in this event

there is so much that happens but at a slow pace...that you are left wondering if the slow horses will ever get to it..plenty of characters to love and hate...

found this one engaging and the surprises kept me reading...

This is a really odd book. I can't decide whether it is utterly brilliant, or complete farce. Or chillingly realistic. I think I'm siding towards a preference and I'm intrigued enough by the totally unique writing style to want to read another book. Like nothing I've ever read before. I read the 5th one first and then couldn't really face the others, so one it is.

Book 1 in the Slough House Series which I thoroughly enjoyed and will be downloading the rest of the series in due course.

Apologies for such a late response. I did give this a number of goes, but it just didn't grab me. The first couple of chapters were a bit confusing, and I didn't warm to the characters. Just not my thing, nothing to do with writing quality. Thanks for the opportunity to try it out.

You don't stop being a spook just because you're no longer in the game.

Banished to Slough House from the ranks of achievers at Regent's Park for various crimes of drugs and drunkenness, lechery and failure, politics and betrayal, Jackson Lamb's misfit crew of highly trained joes don't run ops, they push paper.

But not one of them joined the Intelligence Service to be a 'slow horse'.

A boy is kidnapped and held hostage. His beheading is scheduled for live broadcast on the net.

And whatever the instructions of the Service, the slow horses aren't going to just sit quiet and watch . . .

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

This is a great introduction to a new crime series. The first time I have read anything by Mick Herron but I have already downloaded the rest of the series to read. Can't say fairer than that! You do wonder where it is going as it is a bit of a slow starter as you are to introduced to all of the dregs of the spook world. I like the fact that this isn't about the shiny heroes, these are the bottom of the heap types who have been sidelined for whatever reason. As the pace picks up towards the middle of the book, you can't help but root for them all. Moving on to Dead Lions shortly!

I can see why this series is so well-regarded. The characters, the premise, the writing, it all leaps off the page and grabs you by the throat.

A fun variant on spy stories, a world away from Spooks. I enjoyed the layers of characters being uncovered and the tension that was maintained throughout

DNF at 37%.

The premise of this book was really interesting, but I really struggled to get into it. I don't know what the actual plot was, and while there was a lot of charactisation, by the time that the author had moved from one character to another, I'd forgotten the previous ones.

Provided by NetGalley for an honest review.

This was my first Mick Herron book and I have to say I quite enjoyed it.
It started off slow for me, but once it picked up speed, it really sped along!

The characters are well written and fleshed out and with every scene, you learn something new about them. By the end, you’re rooting for these under dogs and hoping they come out on top. There are plenty of twists and turns and edge-of-the-seat moments.

A good read.

As usual I will not reiterate details of the plot - there are plenty of other reviews to read if that's what you are looking for...

This book - the first in Mick Herron's "Slough House" series - had me hooked pretty much from the start. There are some great characters, described with a wry sense of humour, and the plot was well constructed. There's a quirky touch to the writing, and the whole construct - of an "office of last resort" for failed spooks - sounds as though it could actually be true.

Jackson Lamb is at first sight an unsavoury character, but I suspect there is more to him than meets the eye...

I am now working my way through the other books in the series - back to back - not often that happens.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read this in return for my honest review.

I loved the gritty, not altogether likeable, characters and the machinations of MI5. For a thriller, it was surprisingly funny, too. I can't wait to read the rest of the series!

A fantastic read. Thoroughly enjoyed this and it is not something I would usually pick up. Will look for more from this author in future.

I love these books - how to make failed spies sound good! The prose is rivetting, amusing and well crafted. I could not put them down and read each one avidly.

Thought it was going to be really interesting when I read the Prologue but, sadly, it turned out, for me at least, not to be. The title sums up the way I feel about this book. I stopped reading at 18%.

Loved this book. Not one expects of a spy novel, with the spooks a great bunch of misfits and eccentrics - but despite the misdemeanours or intrigue which has made them the black sheep of MI5, and suspicious even of each other, they finally pull together to unmask the villain. Full of humour as well as excitement. Will read the rest in the series !

A very enjoyable read. I had my eye on this book for a few months, a spy novel with a great cast of characters. Although it starts with quite a lot of character description, it doesn't take too long to get into the action. I would recommend reading the first few chapters in one go to get into it.
A young chap is kidnapped, thrown in a cellar then told he's going to be executed live on the web, will five, or the spy rejects, the slow horses come to his rescue?
The storying telling jumps from scene to scene without any warning so a little confusing until you get the jist, but it does make for fast, pacey reading. Each of the slow horses has a reason for being there, mostly cockups but some harbour resentment more than others and have a need to get back. Twists and turn in every chapter, like a good spy should have, looking forward to the next one.