MICK
HERRON
SLOW HORSES
Translation Giorgos Barouxis
London, England. Slough House is where failed MI5 spies are sent to serve out the remainder of their careers. These “slow horses,” as they are known, have all committed some kind of professional blunder that has led to their exile there. Perhaps they botched an operation and lost the trust of their superiors. Perhaps they got in the way of an ambitious colleague and had the rug pulled out from under them. Or perhaps they simply have a drinking problem — not exactly uncommon in their line of work. But they all share one thing in common: they want to get back into the field. And most of the slow horses would do just about anything to make that happen — even work together.
Mick Herron’s River Cartwright, one of the slow horses, is deeply frustrated both by his failure and by the mind-numbing task of transcribing mobile phone conversations. So when a young man disappears and his kidnappers threaten to livestream his beheading online, River sees a chance to return to action. But is the apparent victim really who he seems to be? And what connection do the kidnappers have to a disgraced and disreputable journalist?
As the deadline for the hostage’s execution draws closer, River discovers that everyone involved in the case is pursuing their own agenda.
Slow Horses is the first in a series of eight novels translated into more than twenty languages and honored with major awards, including the Steel Dagger and Gold Dagger from the British Crime Writers’ Association. The series has also been adapted for television with great success, starring Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb, the head of the slow horses.
