London Rules
The bestselling thrillers that inspired the hit Apple TV+ show Slow Horses (Slough House Thriller 5)
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4.4 • 361 Ratings
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- £5.49
Publisher Description
*Now an award-winning Apple TV+ series starring Gary Oldman, Kristin Scott Thomas and Jack Lowden*
'Mick Herron is the John le Carré of our generation' Val McDermid
'The best thriller writer in Britain today' Sunday Express
****
At Regent's Park, the Intelligence Service HQ, new First Desk Claude Whelan is learning the job the hard way.
Tasked with protecting a beleaguered Prime Minister, he's facing attack from all directions: from the showboating MP who orchestrated the Brexit vote, and now has his sights set on Number Ten; from the showboat's wife, a tabloid columnist, who's crucifying Whelan in print; and especially from his own deputy, Lady Di Taverner, who's alert for Claude's every stumble. Meanwhile, the country's being rocked by an apparently random string of terror attacks.
Over at Slough House, the last stop for washed up spies, the crew are struggling with personal problems: repressed grief, various addictions, retail paralysis, and the nagging suspicion that their newest colleague is a psychopath. But collectively, they're about to rediscover their greatest strength - making a bad situation much, much worse.
'Dazzlingly inventive' Sunday Times
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
British author Herron's superlative fifth Slough House novel (after 2017's Spook Street) opens with a terrorist attack in Derbyshire that kills 12. All MI5 resources are looking for the culprits with the notable exception of the "slow horses," the spies demoted to London's Slough House, who suffer from self-doubt and the crushing weight of the abuse of their leader, Jackson Lamb, "a fat bastard you dismissed at your peril." They are actually pretty competent, and one of them, J.K. Coe, has a powerful insight into the Derbyshire terrorists after a second attack. Meanwhile, someone's trying to kill hacker Roddy Ho, and Ho's colleagues want to know who and why. Eventually, the investigation into Ho's attempted murder converges with the search for the terrorists. The ironic title, an echo of the "Moscow rules" trope of cold war fiction, conjures up the absurdities and intrigues of bureaucracy, espionage, and politics. Herron combines a strong plot with a fine, often comic style as he celebrates the power of community in response to terrorsim.)
Customer Reviews
Excellent Herron doesn’t disappoint
Another excellent Slough House book. The misfits are all such believable characters. Lamb doesn’t disappoint either.
Superb
Another wonderful satirical view of the UK political landscape, wondering though what happened to the OB.
Mr
Outrageous but brilliant. Un-put-down able. I bought the whole series of books and read each consecutively without stopping.
The characters are fantastic and in Jackson Lamb, iconic and unique.
Who will play him in the film adaptation? Stephen Fry, Robbie Coltrane, Alan Bates, Barry Humphries in the guise of Sir Les Patterson, or all jumbled up?