Spook Street by Mick Herron

 

The reject spooks of Slough House are called to action when an assassination attempt is made on a long-retired spook, the grandfather of one of their own.

Having decided to read the Slough House/Slow Horses series of books by Mick Herron after watching the TV series I was determined to read the fourth book in the series, Spook Street, before season four is televised. This has been my favourite of the series so far, probably because I went into the story completely blind.

The opening scene is horrific and has obvious implications for the security service, however, the involvement of the staff at Slough House isn't called for. Slough House is where the rejects, those who've done something wrong or are unreliable, are sent to carry out boring tasks until they become so worn down that they resign. It's a second shocking event, shortly after the first, that drags the slow horses into the story.

All the usual characters feature and added to the mix are a couple of new ones. Moira Tregorian is an organiser trying to make sense of the mountains of discarded paperwork. She really doesn't approve of Slough House and its staff. JK Coe was part of Psych Evaluation but has now been sidelined; he's a very strange character and the other slow horses are struggling to figure him out as he won't interact with anyone.

Jackson Lamb doesn't feature quite as much in this story which has links to the end of the Cold War and possible nefarious acts that River Cartwright's grandfather may have been involved in, acts which have now put his life in danger.

The action doesn't stop as the slow horses have to protect their own, along with uncovering who, and why, people are in danger. The revelations that are disclosed are astonishing and could have long-term implications for the team. The grand finale, though, has left me devastated.

Author Details

Mick Herron is the #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of the Slough House thrillers, which have won the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year award, two CWA Daggers, been published in twenty-five languages, and are the basis of a major TV series starring Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb. He is also the author of the Zoë Boehm series, and the standalone novels Nobody Walks and The Secret Hours. Mick was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, and now lives in Oxford.