This is the first book in what is hopefully a good series. I liked the style of the writing and the characters. Slow horses is a really good idea. It is a good read with humour thrown in.

Slow Horses opens with a scene at King’s Cross station, where we follow River Cartwright in pursuit of a suspect. It’s an incredible opening, with a deft hand for detail and tension. What follows is the story of the ‘slow horses’, sidelined to the nondescript Slough House, each a failure of sorts, put out to pasture where they can cause the least harm.

Slough House is filled with some brilliant characters, not least their leader and chief misfit, the unforgettable Jackson Lamb. I’ve read a fair few thrillers and have never come across his like. Grumpy, sarcastic and almost entirely unpleasant, Lamb is a fabulous character who’ll grow on you over the course of the book, whilst still maintaining his gruff, unkempt and almost entirely unpleasant exterior. But there’s more going on beneath – Lamb is a smart, savvy character who will quite happily eat you for breakfast before breaking wind and sloping off for an actual breakfast.

The story is also first-rate – a young man is kidnapped and his captors are threatening to broadcast his beheading live on the internet. ‘Five’ at Regents Park are on the case, but will Lamb and his slow horses pip them at the post?

Gritty, dark and shot through with a beautifully dark wit, Slow Horses is one not to be missed. Utterly brilliant, and I’ll be racing through the rest of Mick Herron’s back catalogue to get ready for book five, London Rules which is out now.

The first book in a series of Slough House - will definitely be reading more - for full review of this book, see the tumblr link

Even though I toiled through the first 60 pages of each Jackson Lamb thriller before giving up, I was unable to find them in any way gripping or amusing and liked neither the characters nor the plots. Unfortunately, I had requested all four books of this series at once and was kindly given free copies by netgalley in return for an honest review: Tantamount to flogging a dead horse!

Oh to have secured the rights to bring this series to television! The inmates of Slough House, MI 5’s dustbin, where the detritus of the twilight world of espionage spend their days in pointless mind- numbing tasks, designed to encourage their resignation from the service, reveal an amazing capacity for saving the world as we know it. Well not quite, but they are not as useless as their masters believe. Mick Heron is not John le Carre, BUT he is a writer of rare talent. His characters are certainly three dimensional, each with a back story, which lends them additional credibility. Under the direction of Jackson Lamb, a spy, who had seen action behind the curtain during the Cold War - a proper Joe, the Slow Horses (Slough House) embark upon a series of high energy actions in and around a London. Jackson Lamb, himself, is neither George Smiley nor 007. He is utterly foul, in his personal habits, hygiene, language and political correctness. But he is a leader with an acute understanding of the psychology of his charges and uses this knowledge with the assurance of a practiced puppet-master. And I didn’t mention the humour. I was reduced to tears of laughter on so many occasions. These novels are real page turners and I cannot wait for Jackson Lamb, River Cartwright, Catherine Standish et al to make it to the tele-Box.

I picked up this one as a ‘Read it Now’ on NetGalley and I am glad I did. ‘Slow Horses’ is the first book in the Slough House series of modern day espionage thrillers based on Jackson Lamb.

Jackson Lamb presides over Slough House, a dumping ground for members of the intelligence service who’ve messed up, be it a terrorist training scenario that went wrong or leaving vital data on a tube train. The book starts off with an agent called Cartwright who’s leading a terrorist training scenario goes wrong and it is only having a retired spook as a grandfather that saves his career, well stops him being dismissed and instead assigned to Slough House. The plot (based around a domestic terror plot to carry out a beheading live on the net) keeps you reading on, maybe not as intricate as a John Le Carre, but certainly with the same page turning ability as a Le Carre. Jackson Lamb is a very much a rogue character and you do get to find out what caused his fall from grace that landed him at Slough House.

Mick Herron should be on your ‘must read’ list for any readers of well written and plotted espionage/spy fiction. Right, now I am off to hunt down book two in the series…

A tale of outcast spies, caught up in an MI5 bungled secret op. I liked the variety of characters, though it sometimes felt there were a few too many to keep track of. The plot left a little to be desired at times, but overall this kept me reading & I wanted to know how things would work out.

I got off to a slow start with this book. As I continued reading I became more in tune with the style of writing and really enjoyed. I empathised with all the characters and could visualise them all. Excellent

I’ve only just discovered this series by Mick Herron..... I’m wondering where I’ve been!!
Slow horses are MI5’s ‘rejects’ that aren’t good enough to remain in the main squad but are unable to be fired due to different reasons. Whilst they may be rejects in MI5’s eyes they are still very talented and capable individuals.... given the opportunity to work together actually having a case to work.. they show they are a formidable team.

I loved getting to know the characters that appear in this book, there is a great balance between storyline & character background so that you feel like you are bonding with the ‘Slow Horses’. It’s a fast paced book and the storyline isn’t one that you can work out straightaway from the beginning.

Great read and I cannot wait to read more from this series... luckily for me I was behind on discovering it so I can read #2 straightaway.

A wickedly funny and witty send up of the spy genre. A motley crew of operatives have been cast adrift in the dreaded Slough House because of past failures or misdemeanours. They are left there undertaking menial tasks in the hope that they will eventually resign.

The novel follows the kidnapping of a 19 year old student whose only hope of rescue eventually falls the slow horses: the residents of Slough House.

This is a very entertaining read but it also includes some serious messages about radicalism. All the characters are wonderfully drawn. I can't think who PJ reminds me of!

Where has Mick Herron been all my life? I will read more.

I received a complimentary copy of the book from NetGalley and publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you.

What a find, I'm looking forward to reading more of Mick Herron.

the absolute top pleasure of these Herron books set in Slough House is Jackson, the head of the office - he's eccentric but somehow always does the 'right' thing - and here they are all set against each other and against the 'legit' part of the spy service - he is too pure for them, and he declines to participate in the internal politics which seems to be the main aim of the UK MI5 instead of apprehending enemies in foreign places. the cluster of down-graded but eager people on his staff are always interesting and despite his disclaimers he is utterly loyal and trusts that they will be to each other. the plotting is intricate and timed and always surprising - I like the narrative voice too with its nuance and wit. completely captivating ...

I am a patient reader but having read 25% of this book I officially give up! I have no clue what is going on because the author spends so long describing everything nothing of any interest has actually happened a quarter of a way through the book! Also I downloaded this book but the format is not suitable for ereaders, all the numbers have been replaced by ? symbols and it is beyond annoying. I downloaded the other books in this series but I will not be reading them, I don’t want to waste anymore of my time

I don't know how I managed to let this series pass me by but I must catch up now that I have found it.

For fans of John le Carre, this is a must. A grittiness and complexity that parallels Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy but told from the modern-day perspective of the security service's back-benchers, not the starting line up. Slough House is a place for the slow horses, those who have either done wrong or just aren't up to scratch. The hope is that slow horses will either reform themselves, and prove useful, or leave the security service all together.

This first novel in the series sets the ground work for Jackson Lamb's group of misfits and the adventures they get up to in the attempt to find a young man who has been kidnapped by terrorists. But, things are not as they seem. A lot happens here so pay close attention. A brilliant start to a promising series. I best get reading as this is pure gold!

Provided copy is really unreadable due to the fact there's no numbers in it. They are replaced by a error ASCII code.
1 Star is due to this effect, not because of the story / writer.

Not my kind of story couldn't get in to it at all. No empathy with the characters.

Thank you to NetGalley, John Murray Press and Mike Herron ARC of Slow Horses in return for my honest review.

This is the first novel I have read by this author and it will not be the last. In fact I moved quickly on to reading ‘Dead Lions’ directly after this. ‘Slow Horses’ refers to British Intelligent Agents who have made errors or messed up and are ‘relegated to Slough House. Here they complete the more menial tasks.

The novel has a broad range of characters and River is one of the most bitter and twisted of all of them. He sees a way to redeem himself when a young man is abducted.

It is written with a clever wit. Recommended.

This is the 1st book in the 'Slough House' series by author Mick Herron. Slough House is a dumping ground for British intelligence agents who have messed up a case.. The "slow horses," are given menial tasks rather than be trusted on bigger cases. This is the second book I have read from this series having inadvertently started reading this series with the second book. I hesitated starting this book having not been completely blown away by the first book., but found this one personally a lot more enjoyable.

In this novel a young man is abducted and his kidnappers threaten to broadcast his beheading live on the Internet, Slow Horse River Cartwright sees an opportunity to redeem himself. i really enjoyed this book and having experienced a slow start with the first novel intend to continue reading this series.
Maybe the characters are starting to grow on me as well as getting used to the authors style but

I would like to thank Net Galley and John Murray Press for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

With the release of the 5th instalment in the Slough House series I had the privilege of being introduced to this great collection of novels.

A large portion of the book is dedicated to providing plot back stories and character substance (which is indicative of a series), but damn is the delivery just absolutely brilliant. There is definitely an Inspector Sam Vimes undercurrent (Terry Pratchett’s Discworld) with the cynicism that is portrayed in a number of the characters. Equally so, Lamb is portrayed as a rough and pessimistic protagonist, but with compassion for those that are denied it from everyone else (even though that compassion is hidden behind snide remarks, rebukes, and even total disregard).

The story itself borders on the farcical at times (in a good, clever way), reminding me of ‘Burn After Reading’ once or twice. But yet the strings that hold it together are relevant and substantial. And again, the wit with which the story is relayed makes it so enjoyable, having you laughing aloud on many an occasion.

Thanks NetGalley and the Publisher for a review copy!

A most interesting story of spooks engaged in skulduggery and the existence of an independent obscure department for slow horses that have been put out to grass, staff that are considered to be useless. Providing a diverse cast of characters who are misfits or guilty of some misdemeanour condemned to work on boring routine work. The powers that be use them as a convenient source for scapegoats when things go wrong. Its head is an uncouth and obnoxious character that hides a sharp intellect that is not willing for his people to be used as such. He senses danger when it is threatened and rallies his people who are inspired to show their suppressed qualities that help them all to survive. The characters are so interesting and engaging the reader will want to know more about them.