London Rules
The fifth book in the series behind SLOW HORSES, an Apple Original series now st reaming on Apple TV+
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4.4 • 627 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
THE FIFTH BOOK IN THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING SERIES BEHIND SLOW HORSES, AN APPLE ORIGINAL SERIES NOW STREAMING ON APPLE TV
Ian Fleming. John le Carré. Len Deighton. Mick Herron. The brilliant plotting of Herron’s twice CWA Dagger Award-winning Slough House series of spy novels is matched only by his storytelling gift and an ear for viciously funny political satire.
“Mick Herron is the John le Carré of our generation.”—Val McDermid
At MI5 headquarters Regent’s Park, First Desk Claude Whelan is learning the ropes 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; from the PM’s favorite Muslim, who’s about to be elected mayor of the West Midlands, despite the dark secret he’s hiding; 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 MI5 satellite office for outcast and demoted spies, the agents are struggling with personal problems: repressed grief, various addictions, retail paralysis, and the nagging suspicion that their newest colleague is a psychopath. Plus someone is trying to kill Roddy Ho. But collectively, they’re about to rediscover their greatest strength—that of making a bad situation much, much worse.
It’s a good thing Jackson Lamb knows the rules. Because those things aren’t going to break themselves.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
In Mick Herron’s fifth Slough House novel, the rules collapse in chaos, leaving the slow horses caught in the fallout. An attack in a quiet Derbyshire village shocks the nation, sparking fear, finger-pointing, and a string of bizarre follow-ups. At Regent’s Park, Claude Whelan struggles to shield a beleaguered prime minister while political rivals and a hostile press circle for blood. Meanwhile, at Slough House, the misfit spies wrestle with their usual demons—grief, rage, and addiction—while delusional hacker Roddy Ho suddenly finds himself at the center of a wider conspiracy. Forced into action, Jackson Lamb’s ragtag crew demonstrate once again their captivatingly peculiar gift for turning disaster into something even worse. Herron blends political farce with genuine menace, critiquing power and vanity while grounding the story in his characters’ vulnerabilities. Darkly funny and disturbingly timely, London Rules is Herron at his most incisive.
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
OMG
Some of the best writing and characters ever.
Don’t wait!
Jonesing for the next season of Slow Horses on TV, I decided to make my own series and picked up the books by Mick Herron. They are everything the show is and more of course because they come direct from the (slow) horse’s mouth, the fevered imagination of Mick Herron, from which this amazing psychotic twisted & darkly hilarious world springs. LONDON RULES is a blast; Don’t miss a single one of these transporting thrillers!
Didn’t enjoy as much as the previous books
This was probably my least favorite Slough House novel to date. There are so expected comedic parts but the overall story didn’t work as well for me.