Spook Street
THE BOOK BEHIND the 4th season of SLOW HORSES, the APPLE ORIGINAL SERIES starrin g Gary Oldman in his Emmy-nominated role as Jackson Lamb
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4.5 • 532 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
THE BOOK BEHIND THE FOURTH SEASON OF SLOW HORSES, THE APPLE ORIGINAL SERIES STARRING GARY OLDMAN IN HIS EMMY-NOMINATED ROLE AS JACKSON LAMB.
What happens when an old spook loses his mind? Does the Service have a retirement home for those who know too many secrets but don’t remember they’re secret? Or does someone take care of the senile spy for good?
These are the paranoid concerns of David Cartwright, a Cold War–era operative and one-time head of MI5 who is sliding into dementia, and questions his grandson, River, must figure out answers to now that the spy who raised him has started to forget to wear pants.
But River, himself an agent at Slough House, MI5’s outpost for disgraced spies, has other things to worry about. A bomb has detonated in the middle of a busy shopping center and killed forty innocent civilians. The “slow horses” of Slough House must figure out who is behind this act of terror before the situation escalates.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
In this installment of Mick Herron’s beloved Slough House spy series, the sardonic humor of these disgraced spies stuck in a backwater office takes a back seat to the captivating intrigue. In the aftermath of a seemingly inexplicable terrorist attack, hotheaded agent River Cartwright is growing worried about his beloved grandfather. At one point a legend in MI5, he’s become forgetful in his old age—and that includes forgetting what parts of his past he’s not supposed to talk about. You can feel the tensions rise as River fears the agency’s top brass might help his grandfather stop talking permanently—and not without reason. There’s still plenty of dry wit to be found in Spook Street (the undateable Roderick Ho has somehow found a girlfriend!), but there’s also an oddly perfect sense of melancholy underpinning everything.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In Herron's terrific, and terrifically funny, fourth Slough House novel (after 2016's Real Tigers), London's intelligence teams are on full alert after a suicide bomber kills dozens in a mall. But at Slough House, the home of British spies put out to pasture, the immediate need is to investigate the possible murder of one of its own, River Cartwright, apparently shot while seeing to his grandfather David Cartwright, a former powerful member of the Service, now a paranoid old man. Those in charge quickly figure out the people responsible for the bombing but don't understand the motive. Meanwhile, the Slough House team, led by the despicable Jackson Lamb, tries to figure out who would go after River. The search leads to France and a recently torched commune, an odd m nage of Americans, Russians, and children. The two plot lines slowly converge amid a heady mixture of deadpan humor, deft characterizations, and acute insight ("A loose bullet rips a hole in normality"). The title refers to a suspicious state of mind: "When you lived on Spook Street you wrapped up tight: watched every word, guarded every secret."
Customer Reviews
Good plot, great suspense
I’ve now read all but 2 of this series, and I love them all. Each “slow horse” is so unique, and what I wouldn’t give to work with Jackson Lamb!
A difficult read
If you enjoy struggling to follow the authors layout of dialogue then this is your guy.. This makes John Le Carre story telling an easy read.. don’t waste your time.
Can’t get enough
I’m a very fast reader. In order to slow myself down, to enjoy every bit of dialog, or writing, to slow the plot’s advance, I distract myself with something. But then I return, eager for it all to continue..