| Title | : | London Rules (Slough House, #5) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1473657377 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781473657373 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 344 |
| Publication | : | First published February 1, 2018 |
| Awards | : | Barry Award Best Thriller (2019), Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Shortlist (2019) |
London Rules (Slough House, #5) Reviews
-
Just superb and sublime! So good that I wished I had more stars to give this ever improving series featuring the Slough House failures from the intelligence services, presided over by the grotesque, corpulent, repulsive and flatulent Jackson Lamb, a man who refers to himself as a pagan deity. This is outstanding espionage fiction, that sharply satirises the car crash that is contemporary British politics with Brexit, and the security services. The unwritten London rules are followed religiously in the world of spies, and the number one rule is covering one's arse at all costs, never letting the truth get in the way of the official version of events. It all begins with an attack on a village that I was sure was located in a developing nation, only to be shocked it was Abbotsfield in Derbyshire, that leaves 12 dead. ISIS are quick to claim responsibility, but all is not as it seems. A shell shocked nation and politicians look for answers and resolution from the security services, riven with rivalries, presided over nominally by Claude Whelan, although the real power behind the throne, is the Machiavellian Diana Taverner, biding her time before she skewers Whelan.
In the meantime, Roddy Ho, a wonder with a keyboard, but nothing else, has his life saved by Shirley, although he is blindingly unaware of this. None of the 'slow horses' have a problem with Ho being taken out, and Shirley is suitably repentant about her ill advised intervention that has Ho still breathing. Still, Slough House reluctantly come to Ho's aid, only to be alarmed when they learn there are connections to the Abbotsfield horror. The terrorists up the stakes by following up with an uspeakable massacre of penguins and a train bomb that luckily is foiled. A populist Brexit politician, Gimball, modeled on Nigel Farage, is the fierciest of critics of the intelligence services and a muslim mayoral candidate, with the expectation of benefiting from his machinations. I could not help laughing when he ends up being 'glossed'. Slough House is under lockdown, which Lamb and the slow horses are not going to take lying down as mayhem and accidents ensue. With Diana looking for any excuse to take out Lamb, she is to find that there are no rules that he will not break.
Much of contemporary British politics surrounding Brexit are almost beyond parody, but Herron incisively does it with style and panache. We at long last come to understand how Lamb ended up at Slough House and why he bought alcoholic mother hen, Catherine, with him. Without doubt, Herron's ingenious caricature that is Jackson Lamb is the shining star of this series, and he is spectacular in this book. If you are an espionage and spy thriller aficionado, and even if you are not, I strongly urge you to read this book, you will not regret it. This is a fantastic and hilarious addition to the series, and I had a ball reading it! Many thanks to John Murray Press for an ARC. -
4★
“Eight months of anger f**king management sessions, and this evening she’d officially be declared anger free. It had been hinted she might even get a badge. That could be a problem – if anyone stuck a badge on her, they’d be carrying their teeth home in a hankie. . .”
More of Herron’s trademark humour, off-beat characters, and action in and around London. Plus his wonderful mood setting where the weather and the time of day become their own characters. I love this part of his style.
This fifth book in the series isn’t dependent on the first four, but readers who haven’t met Jackson Lamb or the others before are less likely to enjoy the interaction between characters. Lamb is unique. Often drunk, living in a cloud of cigarette smoke, and more of a bear than a lamb.
“The smoke from his cigarette was a blue-grey spiral, but broke into rags when it hit the ceiling. Still daylight outside, barely evening yet, but Lamb punched his own clock, and won on a technical knockout.”
Roddy Ho, who self-identifies as “The Rodster”, is the pivot-point for this instalment. He is an IT whiz who thinks he’s a lady-killing Mr Cool because he has a "girlfriend", Kim, whom we met in
Spook Street. We know she’s been using him for wiping credit card debt and such while holding out the promise of a loving relationship eventually– just not “yet”. This time, we meet her people.
The book opens with an attack in a village that sounds like it’s in the middle of a war zone. Herron moves us between the attackers, the Slough House crew, the real spy headquarters at Regent’s Park, and politicians.
I found this slow going for a while and lost interest in some of the characters, but as the plot thickened (sorry, I’m not as inventive as Herron), I enjoyed it like the others in the series. I particularly enjoyed seeing more of J.K. Coe, the deadly newcomer to Slough House.
“And as for J. K. Coe, Catherine recognised a hand grenade when she saw one. And she didn’t think his pin was fitted too tight.”
In Spook Street, Coe’s was the final act in a
“. . . series of events so painfully compromising to the intelligence services as a whole that – as Lamb had observed – it had put the ‘us’ in ‘clusterf**k’, leaving Regent’s Park with little choice but to lay a huge carpet over everything and sweep Slough House under it.”
Poor old Regent’s Park isn’t going to be any happier about this series of events either, especially as the finger of suspicion begins pointing in their direction. But Lamb warns against alerting them yet.
“‘Yeah, but before committing Hare Krishna, let’s see if we’ve got wiggle room when it comes to assigning blame.’
‘Hara-kiri.’
‘You’re welcome.’
Lamb is such an unseemly character (grubby slob, often drunk, bitingly insulting), that the higher-ups wish they could get rid of him. But they can’t,
“Because I have so much dirt on you, I’ve started an allotment.’
The question is asked.
“‘Is he like this all the time?’
‘I expect so,’ said Catherine. ‘I don’t work weekends.’”
I can answer that. YES. Yes, he is. But he’s smart and clever and surprisingly nimble when the need arises. An unlikely saviour, if ever there was one.
This latest book speaks of Brexit and Trump, and we have politicians in the line of fire, but the focus of the plot is finding the person or group who perpetrated the attack on the village. When another event occurs, the usual hermit-like J.K. Coe breaks his silence with a suggested connection which means there’s a mole.
By the end, I was ready for the next book, and judging by a sudden brief phone call to River Cartwright (the main character in previous books), there must be one in the works. I hope so.
Thanks to NetGalley and Hachette – John Murray for the preview copy from which I’ve quoted.
P.S. For anyone who knows London, you might enjoy this lengthy excerpt. I did.
“Noon comes with bells on, because this is London, and London is a city of bells. From its heart to its ragged edges, they bisect the day in a jangle of sound: peals and tinkles and deep bass knells. They ring from steeples and clock towers, from churches and town halls, in an overlapping celebration of the everyday fact that time passes. In the heat, it might almost be possible to see their sound travel, carried on the haze that shimmers in the middle distance. And in time with the bells, other devices strike up: clocks on corners and hanging over jewellers’ premises strike the hour in their staggered fashion, all a little behind or a little ahead of the sun, but always – always – there’s one single moment when all chime together. Or that’s what it would be nice to pretend; that twice a day, around midnight and noon, the city speaks as one. But even if it were true, it would be over in a moment, and the normal cacophony re-establish itself; voices arguing, chiding, consoling and cracking jokes; begging for ice cream, for lovers to return; offering change and seeking endorsement; stumbling over each other in a constant chorus of joy and complaint, bliss and treachery; of big griefs, small sorrows, and unexpected delight. Every day is like this one: both familiar and unique. Today, like tomorrow, is always different, and always the same.” -
Brilliant. Just brilliant. I sincerely hope that
Mick Herron is going to continue with this series because it gets better with each book. He kills his characters off and then replaces them with better ones! Who does that in a series?
Mind you he keeps his best characters going, River, Lamb, Catherine, Louisa are in every book. And they are so entertaining. The dialogue is witty and full of black humour. When political correctness was handed out Lamb was obviously behind a door somewhere and missed the message.
Five books down and this has become one of my favourite spy series ever. It needs to be a television show! Please keep writing them Mr. Herron! -
London Rule #1 is to cover your arse.
Mick Herron totally puts you in the place and time with this series. He’s no fan of Brexit, English politics or the press and has great fun at their expense. And talk about colorful characters. This series has them in spades. Roddy Ho is at the center of this one. The story starts with an attack on a small English village, killing twelve. Then Shirley saves the oblivious Roddy from a car barreling towards him. It soon becomes apparent, to the Slough House crew, at least, that this was no accident. After there’s another attack, this one on penguins at the zoo, they slowly figure out that there’s a connection between these incidents and Roddy.
I love that this gang of misfits are f***ups in a major way. These aren’t folks that made a single mistake and were banished. They continue to mess up in meaningful and sometimes deadly ways.
I read this one out of order, so am distraught that I’m now caught up with the series except for #8 coming out next month. I have to give Herron such credit. He can write a beautiful phrase in one moment and a page or so later, the most disgusting description. And both work. Nobody does it better when it comes to spy thrillers, to paraphrase Carly Simon.
Gerard Doyle is the perfect narrator for this series. -
4.5 ☆
Sooner or later, all the sins of the past fell into the keeping of the present.
Last winter's political shakeup led to the departures of Peter Judd as Home Secretary and Ingrid Tearney as the Head, or First Desk, of MI5. Unfortunately for Diana ("Lady Di" but never to her face) Taverner, the Second Desk in charge of Ops, she has been once more passed over for the top spot in MI5. Claude Whelan now heads MI5 and he has a lot on his plate.
[Lady Di] was waiting for his fall, not to be ready to catch him, but to be sure when he hit the ground he never got back on his feet.
Which was why she was his usual sounding board when sh*t hit the fan. At least when she was there in front of him, he could be sure that she wasn't behind his back.
Besides, she had a wealth of experience of sh*t hitting the fans. In her time, she'd lobbed more of the stuff around than a teenage chimpanzee.
The Brexit referendum has just passed. Change is in the summer air and it shimmers with violence. MI5, which means Whelan, needs to stop what seems like a random string of terrorist attacks and to placate a beleaguered PM who had campaigned against Brexit.
The biggest threat Parliament faces is democracy. It's been a necessary evil for centuries, and for the most part we've been able to use it to our advantage. But one f*cking referendum later and it's like someone gave a loaded gun to a drunk toddler.
Even in MI5's desolate backwaters, ie. Slough House, the threat of violence is surfacing. Specifically, the slow horses are reassessing their most recent addition, J.K. Coe, and pondering whether they have a psychopath in their midst. And then another one of them is saved from what would otherwise have been a fatal car accident. Maybe it's time for a review of the playbook:
London rules were written down nowhere, but everyone knew rule one.
"Cover your arse."
London rules meant build your walls high, and the order in which you chucked your people over them was in inverse proportion to their usefulness.
But that was London rules for you: force others to take you on your own terms. And if they didn't like it, stay in their face until they did.
Herron has always touched upon politics in his Slough House series but Brexit offers an entire new vista of material to satirize. Published in 2018, London Rules is very topical in addition to showcasing Herron's typical intricate plotting and humor (parts were hysterically funny). And while this doesn't end with cliffhangers, there's a clear foundation for massive change in the near term. Like the preceding installments, this could be read as a standalone but why shortchange yourself?
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2nd Reading -
Outlandish and cynical with splashes of subversive humor -- ah, comfort reading at its best. My re-read of
London Rules did not disappoint. Unchanged rating of 4.5 ☆
*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*
Listed in GR sequence, but not necessarily in chronological order:
#1
Slow Horses 4 ☆
#2
Dead Lions 4 ☆
#2.5
The List 4 ☆
#3
Real Tigers 4.5 ☆
#4
Spook Street 5 ☆
#5.5
Marylebone Drop 4 ☆
#6
Joe Country 5 ☆
#6.5
The Catch 4 ☆
#7
Slough House 4.5 ☆
#8
Bad Actors 4 ☆ -
In the murky world of the British secret service, there’s a tacit understanding that everyone plays by London Rules. These aren’t the ones neatly compiled in official binders. No, these are the unwritten rules, the real ones. #1: Cover your arse.
And when it comes to MI5, it doesn’t matter whether you work at Regent’s Park or Slough House. The former is where all the cool kids get to be spies. The latter is home to agents who’ve screwed up royally but can’t legally (or at least, quietly) be killed.
As the book opens, Regent’s is on high alert. A group of armed men drove into the centre of a village in Derbyshire & opened fire. People died, the men vanished & Islamic State claimed responsibility.
News of the attack doesn’t exactly brighten the current mood In the UK. The public is still bitterly divided over Brexit, right wing politicians are pushing their xenophobic agenda & previous attacks have left everyone a tad jumpy. MI5 desperately needs a win but before they literally have a clue, a second attack takes more lives. Regent’s Park #2 Diana Taverner is running on fumes & the last thing she needs is to deal with Slough House’s resident fossil, Jackson Lamb.
Lamb’s not sure if he has a problem or not. It seems someone may have tried to run over Roddy Ho. “The Rodman” (as he thinks of himself) is Slough House’s IT guy. He has 2 gifts. The first is his way with computers. The second is an unshakeable belief he’s a chick magnet with basic social skills. Lamb’s at a loss. Why would a stranger want to kill Ho? He’d understand if it was someone who knew him. Everyone at Slough House has thought of killing The Rodman, pretty much on a daily basis. Colleague Shirley Dander was the one who saved him & she’s already apologized.
From these 2 threads the story goes haring off in multiple directions before doubling back to give you the big picture. There are several new characters added to the returning cast of (ir)regulars & as usual, not everyone will survive. A couple of things make this outing a little different than the others. We get more one-on-one time with each of the Slow Horses as they reflect on personal problems & the remnants of their career. These more serious moments add layers that make us sympathize with their situations. Well…except Ho. But you do have to admire his refusal to let reality dent his delusions. Herron also shines a light on current issues such as government bureaucracy, the rise of overt racism & how easily the media can influence & manipulate public opinion.
I don’t have a great track record when it comes to slowly savouring Herron’s books & once again I failed. It was just too damn good to put down. It’s well paced & full of colourful characters. Many come across as thinly veiled stand-ins for some of the country’s well known figures & you get the sense it’s Herron’s chance to take satirical jabs at some of the ridiculous behaviour of late. The dialogue is clever & frequently laugh out loud funny. Each of the characters has a personal tic that helps bring them to life or in the case of Lamb, a whole herd of them. They alone ensure this is an entertaining read. What elevates the book is smart, intricate plotting that will have you scratching your noggin as you try to figure out how the story lines tie together.
This is book #5 of what has become my favourite series (Heron also has a number of stand-alones). I adore black humour & for my book dollars, you can’t beat smart & funny. So…you may have caught that I’m a fan but this is just me babbling. If you’re interested, pick up
Slow Horses & see if it suits.
Before I go, I’d like to apply what I learned here & add 2 new rules to the playbook: Never turn your back on a can of paint. Avoid penguins. -
Another brilliant addition to Mick Herron's brilliant espionage series based on a group of misfit spies (the 'Slow Horses') exiled to Slough House, where the dregs of the British secret service are sent to serve out their days with mind-numbingly dull tasks. Ruling over them all is Jackson Lamb, an odious man who drinks and smokes too much and whose sense of personal hygiene and lack of sensitive dialog makes him reviled by all. But he is not incompetent at his craft and is wily enough to know what secrets are being hidden by those in charge of the service, including those of the current head, Claude Whelan and the one who wields the real power behind him, Di Taverner.
All the favourites are back in this fifth novel, although still reeling from the events played out at the end of the previous one. They all have issues which have all helped to land them at Slough House, problems with drugs or alcohol, anger management, difficulty with interpersonal relationships, or ability to follow orders. River Cartwright is the least damaged of the Slow Horses, but even he finds himself in trouble when sent to protect a politician.
The action kicks off with two inexplicable events. A terrorist attack on a small, quiet village in Derbyshire and a failed attempt on the life of Roddy Ho, the Slough House IT specialist. Roddy (self-named "The Rodster") sees himself as God's gift to women. After all, he has a girlfriend called Kim (who is always asking him to do favours, like wiping debt off her credit cards, but always has an excuse for not staying the night with him).
As always, Herron's dialogues are sharp with dark, incisive humour as the Slow Horses encounter a terrorist group almost as inept as themselves and find themselves unofficially operational again. Hugely entertaining and enjoyable, I can only hope their will be many more books to come in this series. -
Without doubt, Mick Herron has created the best, modern spy series, in his Slough House books and this, latest instalment, is a wonderful addition. It begins with what seems to be a terrorist outrage, with us readers falling into line and imagining we know who is behind it. However, this is Mick Herron, these are the Slow Horses, and plotx do not go in straight lines here – they meander, double back, peer around corners and call your bluff.
So, things are not what they seem and our current batch of Slow Horses are eager to be involved with events. Except, without even realising it, they are, in fact, already involved. If not central, to what is going on. At least Roderick Ho (‘the Rodster’) is. However, so deluded is he – so blindly self assured – that he is not questioning much, including the fact that he has a beautiful new girlfriend; even if she does make excuses at the end of the evening, but too much of a good thing, right? Oh, nor does he realise that someone is trying to kill him. For Roddy Ho is up to his neck in trouble and it is up to Jackson Lamb, who, whatever his faults, will always do his best to protect his Slow Horses, to work out what is going on.
The real joy about Mick Herron is his writing. He makes all his characters human and sympathetic; even those who are doing very bad things. His books are full of deft plotting, dry one liners and bizarre events (the ‘paint’ scene will stay with me forever). Along the way, we have ambitious politicians with secrets, the wonderful Diana Taverner, longing to be in power and, central to everything, Jackson Lamb. Lamb, who rarely moves from his shadowy lair, but who everyone is wary of, and always seems to be around at the right moment – we see some of his impeccable timing in this novel.
This series is a joy. The latest instalment is intelligent, witty, and will make you long to read more by Mick Herron. He is an author on top of his game and, like Jackson Lamb, he can do no wrong in my eyes. I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review. -
I love this series! Mick Herron has created these unique characters that feel like old friends now. If you decide to try this series, do yourself a favor and start with the first book, Slow Horses.
The book starts out with a terrorist act, claimed by ISIS, but it’s not in some small village in the Middle East. There are two more events, one involving penguins and the other a train. There is an attempt on Roddy Ho's life, and Shirley regretfully saves him. It happens a second time, again unsuccessfully. So who would want poor delusional Roddy dead and why? Diana Taverner puts Slough House on lockdown. She couldn’t seriously think that would keep them in. The slow horses, River, Louisa, Shirley, and the relatively new J. K. Coe, actually almost act like a team, even though they don’t like each other. I didn’t think Jackson Lamb's disgusting habits could get much worse. Surprise! I don’t know how den mother Catherine puts up with him. The first London Rule is “cover your arse.” There’s a whole lot of that going on.
This was a great addition to the series. I love the black humor and the insults and the sarcasm. I admit many of the British political references probably went right over my head, but I could infer meaning and they made the book feel very timely. Add in the characterization of day and night, and the book also felt darker and more threatening than its predecessors. Events at the end made me wish the next book was available right now. Not an abrupt cliffhanger, but there are threads that aren’t completely woven into the Slough House fabric yet. -
This is the 5th book in the 'Slough House' series by author Mick Herron. Slough House is a dumping ground for British intelligence agents who have messed up a case. The "slow horses," are given menial tasks rather than be trusted on bigger cases.
I found the 1st book I read in this series OK but although loving the idea of Slough House and the relegated spies was not fully committed to reading further books. In spite of my doubts I decided to carry on regardless and I am so pleased I did. For me the series has developed and the characters have become endearing. The more I read of this series the more I like it and I never anticipated when I started book 1 that I would be looking forward to more of authors Mick Herron's work. This is yet another successful novel following the adventures of the rejected spies .
I would like to thank Net Galley and John Murray Press for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. -
A very good spy story, after a bit of a slow, wordy start. When Herron is on top of his game, the book is exciting and gripping, unputdownable. However, in several cases, Herron allows the dialogue to become repetitive and quite dull. I found myself skimming in several places. I think some of this is on-purpose to build tension, but that doesn’t really work.
One thing I’ve noted is the humour and general pacing improve substantially around the half-way mark. The plot is a bit outrageous and unlikely, and Lamb is a cartoon, but the other slow horses are interesting. Flyte is good, but needs to be expanded more as a character. I suspect in some future book she will end up as a slow horse. Molly-from-Smiley-World is always good. Some other recognisable characters from real life are acceptable plot devices.
I really, really love how Boris "the dangerous clown" Johnson (Gimball) is treated in this book. Brexit fans are trashed, Tory stupidity and greed is spotlighted, and the avarice and cowardice of the rulers of the Regent's Park facility are skewered again and again, as we expect.
One thing: Slow Horses are damaged, but Ho is seriously mentally ill... psychotic, almost.
The central terror plot seems quite absurd. I’ve never heard of anything like this in any western democracy from the [evil country] Herron has chosen.
Herron has not fallen into the megalomania of "Hollywood script writing" in this book, which is very good because he's terrible at it. His best work is in the dialogues and fast-paced action. Here, many of the dialogues are wonderful: Witty and sharp and surprising, deepening his characters and making the book deeper and more complex. However, there are too many places where the dialogue and/or description bog down. I found myself skimming pages at a time. Nothing worse that dialogue that does not inform, that does not drive the pacing, that does not deepen the characters. I suspect Herron was trying to "reach a page count" for his publisher. Far too many authors do this these days.
The climax and ending were terrific (bar some overwritten, overlong passages), and the epilogue and Lady Di interaction with Lamb at the end was very satisfying.
3.5 stars
Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.
Notes and quotes:
It began to rain that morning, about the time London was coming to life; a series of showers that rolled across the city, reminding its inhabitants that summer wasn’t a promise, merely an occasional treat. The skies loomed grey and heavy, and buildings sulked beneath their weight. On the streets traffic played its wet-weather soundtrack, a symphony of hissing and slurring against a whispered backbeat of wipers ...
when you held a gun in your hands, the people around you lost definition. They became wraiths, and anything they carried of personality dropped away, no longer of consequence. If you wished to retain your human stamp, stay away from the battlefield.
‘Jackson Lamb,’ [Molly] said. ‘I hardly need to ask, do I? You’re after something.’
‘Would I be here otherwise?’
‘Pay the troll.’ He bent and kissed one over-powdered cheek.
For Welles, it felt like a moment that should have been preserved somehow, though not on a camera, not on a phone. It needed Goya, with a lump of charcoal.
Molly's lair was a long room lined with upright cabinets, set on tracks allowing them to be pushed together when not in use; like library stacks, and imbued with a similar sense that knowledge, information, words, never really died, but simply burrowed down out of the daylight and waited for curiosity to dig them up again.
Sooner or later he’d wind up swinging from it –nobody could be Jackson Lamb forever without paying the price –but the certain knowledge that aiding him would give Lady Di the screaming abdabs was good enough for Molly Doran.
17.0% ... kind of dull. Some very long-winded politics, especially concerning blow-hard clown Boris Johnson, thinly disguised as Dennis Gumball.
48.0% ... I must say I enjoy Herron's repeated trashing of all things Brexit and Tory.
61.0% ... fabulous dialogue in the office scene with Welles !
. -
Read first in January 2018 and for the second time in December 2022. I'd forgotten quite a bit about this novel so was able to enjoy it all over again. It's wonderful. Of course. The Slough House series of novels just gets better and better.
London Rules is the fifth in the series.
Mick Herron has managed to update John Le Carré's Cold War settings into a recognisable and contemporary 21st century. It's an extraordinary achievement which has breathed new life into the spying and espionage genre.
Slough House is the dumping ground for MI5's misfits and failures, rather than risk unfair dismissal, the hope and expectation is that the soul destroying work at Slough House will eventually result in resignation. Needless to say this makes for a marvellous collection of eclectic and memorable characters. Jackson Lamb, the Slough House boss, being the most memorable of the lot. What a magnificent creation. Think of a brutal Falstaff in charge of a bunch of misfits and losers. Instantly dislikeable, he wears his obnoxiousness, and disgusting personal habits, as a badge of honour. Underestimate him at your peril though. And, beneath that gruff exterior perhaps he does ultimately look out for each and every slow horse? They are all his "Joes" after all.
London Rules opens with a now familiar plot idea - a terrorist atrocity in the UK - with ISIS claiming responsibility, however it then veers off into a more unexpected direction.
Although each of the Slough House books is a standalone novel, part of the pleasure (and pain) of these books is the ongoing narrative and character development. People can, and do, suffer and die during the course of these tales.
London Rules (Slough House #5) continues the now familiar combination of clever prose, memorable characters, action, humour, and deftly handled, twist-laden plots which, in this instance, includes Brexit, a Farage-esque politician, a Daily Mail columnist, a modern and moderate Muslim standing for Mayor, security alerts, Twitter, and an incessant swirl of political manoeuvring.
London Rules is funny, dramatic, tense, and awash with wonderful, believable, and all too human characters.
5/5
London Rules might not be written down, but everyone knows rule one.
Cover your arse.
Regent's Park's First Desk, Claude Whelan, is learning this the hard way. Tasked with protecting a beleaguered prime minister, he's facing attack from all directions himself: 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, and someone's trying to kill Roddy Ho.
Over at Slough House, 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 - that of making a bad situation much, much worse.
It's a good job Jackson Lamb knows the rules. Because those things aren't going to break themselves. -
Without doubt, Mick Herron has created the best, modern spy series, in his Slough House books and this, latest instalment, is a wonderful addition. It begins with what seems to be a terrorist outrage, with us readers falling into line and imagining we know who is behind it. However, this is Mick Herron, these are the Slow Horses, and plots do not go in straight lines here – they meander, double back, peer around corners and call your bluff.
So, things are not what they seem and our current batch of Slow Horses are eager to be involved with events. Except, without even realising it, they are, in fact, already involved. If not central, to what is going on. At least Roderick Ho (‘the Rodster’) is. However, so deluded is he – so blindly self assured – that he is not questioning much, including the fact that he has a beautiful new girlfriend; even if she does make excuses at the end of the evening, but too much of a good thing, right? Oh, nor does he realise that someone is trying to kill him. For Roddy Ho is up to his neck in trouble and it is up to Jackson Lamb, who, whatever his faults, will always do his best to protect his Slow Horses, to work out what is going on.
The real joy about Mick Herron is his writing. He makes all his characters human and sympathetic; even those who are doing very bad things. His books are full of deft plotting, dry one liners and bizarre events (the ‘paint’ scene will stay with me forever). Along the way, we have ambitious politicians with secrets, the wonderful Diana Taverner, longing to be in power and, central to everything, Jackson Lamb. Lamb, who rarely moves from his shadowy lair, but who everyone is wary of, and always seems to be around at the right moment – in fact we see some of his impeccable timing in this novel.
This series is a joy. The latest instalment is intelligent, witty, and will make you long to read more by Mick Herron. He is an author on top of his game and, like Jackson Lamb, he can do no wrong in my eyes. -
Brilliant as always. Apparently, it's being adapted for 📺 with Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb so get reading this series first, because no matter how good a job they make of it, it still won't be as good as the Slow Horse's novels.
I keep saying it ,but this is really a fantastic, must read series. -
4.5★
This series is truly rock solid - so reliably thrilling and darkly funny, and all-round-entertaining. London Rules, which is #5 in the series, is one of my favourites so far.
Beginning with a massacre that reads like the Balkans circa 1990s, you just have to remind yourself that this is MI5 - not 6 - and you know that something incredible has just happened. But that's not all. A string of seemingly random terror incidents, some more successful than others, PLUS an attempted hit on one of the Slow Horses, set the stage for a fast-paced, complex, contemporary (BREXIT architect angling for the top job ringing any bells...) thrillride. And you won't guess who the baddies are. What the??!
Behind all this we get what we came for; the character and long range story development, the departmental machinations, and the chance to sit awhile in the fug of Jackson Lamb's presence. I particularly liked the focus on Shirley, who's reaching the end of her anger management course following the murder of her former partner in an earlier instalment, and on JK Coe, who may or may not be a psychopath (and nobody is more curious about that than the man himself). Towards the end it seems as though Lamb may be recruiting a few new horses, so that's something to look forward to next time.
Honestly, if you like spies/thrillers and haven't dipped your toe in yet, what are you waiting for! -
After the first one or two, I fell in love with this series, and the love affair continues. This one is more of the same, with an added bonus for fans; we learn how Jackson Lamb ended up in Slough House.
Lamb is, of course, the fearless leader of the Slow Horses that everyone loves to hate. He seems like such a loser, but somehow he's always ahead of everyone else. And his behavior is so odious that it's hard to believe anyone would put up with it, but they do. One typical exchange happens when one of his minions comes into his office.“If you’re after a raise,” he said, still with his eyes closed, “just think of me as Santa Claus.”
“. . . You’re giving me a raise?”
“I’m saying ho ho ho.”
He constantly belittles his employees - well, not constantly, only when he isn't insulting them in some other way. But when one of them gets in trouble, he will usually fight tooth and nail to get them back safely. Unfortunately, even when an employee tries to resign, he does the same thing. One worked for about a year after finally giving up her attempt to resign, as he refused to sign off on it.
Too bad I've been reading the audiobooks - there are so many good quotes I could add, but it's hard to cut and paste from an audiobook.
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Another fantastic installment in this series, which is basically John le Carre for Brexit Britain. Everyone is fucked up, washed up, giving up, nobody can be trusted, and 'omnishambles' barely covers it.
The great thing about this series is, it manages to turn the bleakness up to 11 and have a totally ruthless ability to kill off characters or put them in the worst possible position, but it's also extremely funny. Jackson is a Falstaffian grotesque, his crew's mordant sense of humour and mutual backstabbery is brilliant, the marrative line is great, the satirical elements are very enjoyable. And it does manage to hang on to some small smidge of humanity by its bloodied fingernails. A terrific series. -
4.5 stars
I think Mick Herron’s Slough House series just keeps improving! Herron brings his characteristic humour to the creation of the failed spies of Slough House, with characters who all exhibit personal problems that interfere daily with their ability to function.Eight months of anger fucking management sessions, and this evening she'd officially be declared anger free. It had been hinted she might even get a badge. That could be a problem--if anyone stuck a badge on her, they'd be carrying their teeth home in a hanky.
Roderick Ho, the obnoxious computer nerd, gets to shine not-so-brightly in this installment. He’s been assigned to Slough House because of the ridiculous self-delusionary bubble that he inhabits, not because of a work screw up. And the nature of his personal fantasy life tips him into the hands of North Korean operatives, bent on showing the U.K. that the Hermit Kingdom is its superior.
Despite the fact that all the other damaged members of the House despise Rod, when a car tries to run him down while he is stalking Pokemon on his way to work, everyone decides that they need to protect one of their own. Needless to say, Ho didn’t notice the attempt on his life and remains pretty clueless throughout the book. After four other volumes, we would expect no less (or is that no more?) of the Rodster.
Jackson Lamb, the malignant supervisor of Slough House, is at his obnoxious best in this installment. He is smoking to excess, drinking to excess, not maintaining his personal hygiene, insulting everyone who crosses his path, and (still) emitting reeking farts at will. But as truly horrible as he is, he protects his own. I was particularly happy, when at the end of this book, Lamb insists
As Lamb remarks: Slough House, putting the “us” in “clusterfuck.”
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What can I say - I simply enjoy reading these!! They are so darkly funny for me. Spy stories with the twist being Slough House generally and Jackson Lamb in particular. Lamb is so far off the politically uncorrect scale that it could be embarrassing. However the writing here simply makes him a rounded character (in more than one sense!). More widely Herron's writing is actually very good indeed. The devices he uses at the start of these books and widely in this and other ones show a very high standard and provide a great foil for the rest of the narrative. I'll go on reading these definitely.
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London Rules is the fifth book in the Slough House series by prize-winning British author, Mick Herron. The audio version is narrated by Sean Barrett and, in a cute twist, Herron's text sneakily has Barret complimenting his own voice.
During a sweltering summer in Slough House, the slow horses perform, with a minimum of enthusiasm, the tasks their boss, Jackson Lamb has dreamed up: Louisa Guy scans library records for borrowers of possible terrorist texts; River Cartwright pretends to compare rate payments with the electoral roll to reveal possible terrorist safe houses, while he worries about his demented grandfather; and J.K. Coe composes fake emails for agents who need to disappear after interacting too closely with the general public.
Still on the wagon, Catherine Standish mops up after Lamb while also monitoring the psychological temperature of their reduced number, in particular: grief over those recently lost, the effect of (now-drug-free for 62 days!) Shirley Dander’s anger management course, the stability of the ever-silent, traumatised Coe, River’s concerns for the O.B., and Roddy Ho’s continuing over-inflated belief in his own popularity.
Meanwhile, in the real world, a terrorist attack on a Derbyshire village leaves twelve dead, a pipe bomb at a zoo has a similar death toll, and the discovery of a bomb on a train averts another potential disaster. As Regent’s Park searches for terrorists, First Desk Claude Whelan also has to cope with the PM’s demands for certain background checks, an MP with PM ambitions, the MP’s tabloid journalist wife and of course, his Second Desk, Lady Di Taverner, who has designs on his job.
When there’s an attempt on Roddy Ho’s life, the slow horses are at first incredulous, then puzzled. Coe seldom contributes, but when he does open his mouth, it’s worth listening, even if Lamb’s sharp mind is already a long way towards figuring it out. And once again, the slow horses are out on an op. Apart from a generous helping of snappy dialogue, fists, knees, elbows, a wrench, a knife, a coat-hanger, guns, a bottle of bleach, and a tin of paint come into play.
As always, Jackson Lamb is rude, inappropriate, sharp and sly. He has a lot of fun with addressing the unfortunately-named Devon Welles. This instalment sees the first of the London Rules, “cover your arse” adhered to by many players, and ultimately, Ho maintains his oblivion regards the general opinion of his appeal. The idea that “…Lamb will go to any lengths to protect a joe, but would watch in mild amusement if the rest of the world hanged itself�� is soundly reinforced.
Herron’s plot is imaginative but easily believable, with the odd twist to keep it interesting; there’s plenty of humour, much of it black, that will have readers snickering, giggling and laughing out loud. This fifth instalment of the series, while it contains some spoilers for earlier books, can easily be read as a stand-alone, but with a series as entertaining as this one, why would you? Another excellent dose of British spy fiction. -
London Rules is the fifth book in the Slough House series by prize-winning British author, Mick Herron. During a sweltering summer in Slough House, the slow horses perform, with a minimum of enthusiasm, the tasks their boss, Jackson Lamb has dreamed up: Louisa Guy scans library records for borrowers of possible terrorist texts; River Cartwright pretends to compare rate payments with the electoral roll to reveal possible terrorist safe houses, while he worries about his demented grandfather; and J.K. Coe composes fake emails for agents who need to disappear after interacting too closely with the general public.
Still on the wagon, Catherine Standish mops up after Lamb while also monitoring the psychological temperature of their reduced number, in particular: grief over those recently lost, the effect of (now-drug-free for 62 days!) Shirley Dander’s anger management course, the stability of the ever-silent, traumatised Coe, River’s concerns for the O.B., and Roddy Ho’s continuing over-inflated belief in his own popularity.
Meanwhile, in the real world, a terrorist attack on a Derbyshire village leaves twelve dead, a pipe bomb at a zoo has a similar death toll, and the discovery of a bomb on a train averts another potential disaster. As Regent’s Park searches for terrorists, First Desk Claude Whelan also has to cope with the PM’s demands for certain background checks, an MP with PM ambitions, the MP’s tabloid journalist wife and of course, his Second Desk, Lady Di Taverner, who has designs on his job.
When there’s an attempt on Roddy Ho’s life, the slow horses are at first incredulous, then puzzled. Coe seldom contributes, but when he does open his mouth, it’s worth listening, even if Lamb’s sharp mind is already a long way towards figuring it out. And once again, the slow horses are out on an op. Apart from a generous helping of snappy dialogue, fists, knees, elbows, a wrench, a knife, a coat-hanger, guns, a bottle of bleach, and a tin of paint come into play.
As always, Jackson Lamb is rude, inappropriate, sharp and sly. He has a lot of fun with addressing the unfortunately-named Devon Welles. This instalment sees the first of the London Rules, “cover your arse” adhered to by many players, and ultimately, Ho maintains his oblivion regards the general opinion of his appeal. The idea that “…Lamb will go to any lengths to protect a joe, but would watch in mild amusement if the rest of the world hanged itself” is soundly reinforced.
Herron’s plot is imaginative but easily believable, with the odd twist to keep it interesting; there’s plenty of humour, much of it black, that will have readers snickering, giggling and laughing out loud. This fifth instalment of the series, while it contains some spoilers for earlier books, can easily be read as a stand-alone, but with a series as entertaining as this one, why would you? Another excellent dose of British spy fiction. -
'We're talking about a bunch of mindless bottom-feeders whose general ignorance of our way of life is tempered only by their indifference to human suffering, we're all agreed on that?'
'Is this the politicians or the killers?'
'Good point, but I meant the killers.'
Opening with a terrorist atrocity claimed by ISIS, we think we're on what has become increasingly familiar fictional territory - but, ah, this is Mick Herron, so nothing is ever what it seems...
This whole series is fabulous but I think this is my favourite to date: a contemporary plot that involves terrorism, Brexit, a Nigel Farage-alike politician, a Muslim almost-mayor, the usual Machiavellian maneuverings amongst the security service apparatchiks - and Roddy Ho seems to be the target of an assassination squad.
With all the plot complexity and political astuteness of le Carré, what really makes this series so outstanding is Herron's brilliant writing and the ensemble of wonderful characters. J.K. Coe, the 'slow horse' introduced in the last book, takes more of a central role (*that* paint can scene - oh my!) and has become one of my favourites (" Shirley said, 'It's true, isn't it?' 'What is?' 'You get a lot perkier after killing someone.' ")
But Herron should win some kind of prize for Jackson Lamb who brings Dickensian characterisation slap-bang into the 21st century. No-one is sharper, snarkier, fouler, more protective or quicker than Lamb - and in this book we find out how he ended up in Slough House.
If someone had told me that a novel about terrorism, killings, death and fear could also be outrageously, genuinely laugh-out-loud funny, I'd never have believed them - but that's what Herron achieves. And he's one of the most biting, incisive political commentators writing today - another excellent entry in a must-read-now series.
Many thanks to John Murray Press for an ARC via NetGalley. -
These days, one of the highlights of my life is getting to read the latest in Mick Herron's "Slow Horses" series. This is Number 5 and it's the best yet. At times, Herron's writing is almost poetic and then he fires in a smart-ass one liner that just nails it. He can veer from a beautiful description of dawn breaking over London to incisive analysis of Britain's current political woes and the evils of terrorism.
I lost count of the laugh-out-loud moments in "London Rules" and there's a line about BBC TV chat show host, Graham Norton, which on its own is worth the price of this book. Luckily for me and all other fans of Jackson Lamb & Co, it seems another "Slow Horses" story is headed our way. Can't wait! -
London Rules is the fifth in the series featuring Slough House - the offshoot of MI5’s Regent Park, where disgraced spooks while away their days in administrative obscurity, headed by former cold war joe, Jackson Lamb - and the best yet. The team are in lock-down, following seemingly random terrorist attacks on British soil, and two foiled attempts to kill Roderick Ho, Slough House’s cyber-idiot in residence. J K Coe establishes a link, which suggests the acts follow a blueprint for destabilising a small country: an own goal. With that in mind everyone is scrambling to halt the train of events and more importantly “cover your arse”.
While Ho is under “protection” in the bowels of ‘the Park’ the others split into squabbling pairs of River Cartwright wanting out, placed with J K Coe seeking some kind of acceptance, and retail junkie Louisa Guy with Shirley Dander, a coke-addict and recently released from Anger f..kin’ Management sessions, all normally desk-bound but let loose in the outside world. Memories of Sid and Marcus are revived through a gun and a set of universal keys.
In Jackson Lamb, Herron mines a vein rich in seediness, sloth and rat-cunning, master of the innuendo, and more than a match for Five’s Second Desk, Diana Taverner and the ‘Dogs’ at MI5.
‘How unpleasant do you want this to be, Mr Lamb?’
‘The last person who asked me that charged eighty quid.’
Part spy spoof, part social commentary, aside from laugh out loud lines, Herron produces some visual gems, especially in the deluded ‘Rodster’’s house with it’s first floor glass wall.
There was little point in adding features to London houses. If you wanted to increase the value of a property, you only had to wait five minutes.
Characters from earlier books put in a cameo appearance, notably wheelchair-bound Molly Doran. Here was where she felt alive, especially now, on the late shift, when night was out of its basket and prowling behind her as she propelled herself along the aisles.
Herron gifts personalities to ‘dusk, dawn, night and day’ and time itself seems elastic as events reach their climax and hint at another book to follow. I'm sure celebs will be lining up to get their names mentioned. But for me I savoured his descriptions of the everyday.
The origins of the killers’ odyssey were shrouded in static. Their jeep first appeared on CCTV eight miles north of Sheffield; backtracking took it to the outskirts of that city, where it disappeared in an electrical storm: the jerky whirr and buzz of too many cameras watching too much traffic, and skipping too quickly between too many points of view. Even a jeep could disappear in the stillness between digital breaths.
Verdict: a welcome addition to any bookshelf. -
There are so many excellent reviews already posted that I’m not going to go into a lot of detail here. What I do want to say is that this is my favorite of the Slough House series since the first book—and none of them is a dud.
Where le Carré was the master of the Cold War espionage story and nailed that sense of betrayal lurking around every corner, Mick Herron writes for our era, when there is no defined enemy state, but there are mindless agents of all kinds of screwed-up organizations who could plant a bomb on your subway car or shoot up your neighborhood. “Terrorbots,” as MI5’s people like to call them.
And if you thought le Carré’s characters were cynical, well, they were babes in the woods compared to Herron’s. As the book says, #1 in the London Rules is “cover your arse.” Every politician and every security agent has that rule firmly in mind and can pivot from one position to its opposite without effort or qualm as long as CYA is involved.
Correction: not quite every security agent. Jackson Lamb is not a CYA kind of guy. The opposite, really. Sure, he likes to keep what goes on in Slough House on the down low, but he doesn’t care about protecting his position or maneuvering to move up. Slough House may be everyone else’s idea of a pit of misery, but Lamb is where he wants to be and he only connives against security service colleagues if necessary—or when it’s too entertaining to resist.
In London Rules, the Slow Horses get involved in a terrorbot spree, as usual defying HQ in the process. We learn some more back story, including exactly how Jackson Lamb got to Slough House. And there are so many great lines that I kind of regretted getting this on audiobook and not being able to highlight them. But if you are tempted to get the audiobook, go ahead, the reader is good.
If you’ve never read any of the books in the series, you could still jump in with this one. Ideally, though, you’d at least read Slow Horses first. -
This is another absolutely brilliant book from Mick Herron. It is rare for me to rave so unreservedly about a book, never mind a series, but Herron's Slough House series has been outstanding. London Rules is the fifth; its predecessor, Spook Street, was perhaps not quite as good as the others (which still meant it was at least as good as anything else I read last year), but this is possibly the best so far. It can be read as a stand alone book, but for maximum enjoyment I would recommend reading the books in order, beginning with Slow Horses.
In London Rules, the Slow Horses become semi-officially involved in trying to track down a terrorist cell on the loose following a number of outrages committed by them. Slough House is recovering from its own bloodbath, including Lamb's expense returns for repairs: "Catherine waded through the day's work…replacing his justifications ("because I blanking say so") with her own more diplomatic phrasing." (I have substituted the word "blanking" for a considerably more robust copulatory term which would be unacceptable in an review here.) This sets the tone for the first half of the book, with Jackson Lamb in magnificently offensive, repellent form. I highlighted lots of gems; this is one of the more printable ones:
Flyte looked at Lamb. 'Ever consider disciplining your staff?
'All the time. I favour the carrot and stick approach.'
'Carrot or stick'
'Nope. I use the stick to ram the carrot up their arses. That generally gets results.'
It is truly laugh-out-loud funny in lots and lots of places; I read some of it over breakfast and nearly did myself some serious internal damage trying not to spray mouthfuls of muesli over my Kindle. Herron also creates a very good, tense story which he develops with skill, wit and real tension in the second half.
What makes Herron's books so good is this brilliant combination of excellent storytelling, a lot of genuinely hilarious moments and a very shrewd skewering of many of the absurdities and hypocrisies of our time. The tense internal politics of MI5, political opportunism, ludicrous Twitter theories based on no knowledge and so on all come in for excoriating comment, often from Jackson Lamb whom I regard as one of the truly great creations of 21st-Century literature.
I don't think I can give London Rules any higher praise than to say it is one of Herron's best. Very, very warmly recommended.
(I received an ARC via NetGalley.) -
Mick Herron can't write enough of his Slough House series; each of the books in the series is a gem with quirky characters and serpentine plots. The author's use of humor makes what could be just a good tale into a thoroughly enjoyable spy story.
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[Rezension bezieht sich auf die deutsche Ausgabe, erschienen bei Diogenes]
Schwierig, irgendwann noch etwas über den soundsovielten Band einer Serie zu schreiben. Mehr vom selben, diesmal eine 3 auf einer Skala von 5 – so oder ähnlich fallen meist Bewertungen zu Teil drei oder fünf oder acht einer Reihe aus. Aber man kann ja versuchen, etwas mehr über einen Roman zu sagen, auch, wenn das Personal bereits bekannt ist und sich die Stories meist eines ähnlichen Aufbaus bedienen.
Mick Herron legt also mit LONDON RULES (Original 2018; Dt. 2022) den fünften Band seiner Reihe um den Agenten Jackson Lamb vor. Der ist bekanntlich Chef des Slough House, steht dort einer Einheit vor, die sich Slow Horses nennt: Lahme Gäule. Denn seine Untergebenen sind Parias, Gefallene des Regent´s Park, wo die Hauptzentrale des MI5, des britischen Inlandsgeheimdienstes, sitzt. Alle Slow Horses haben irgendwann in ihrer Karriere Mist gebaut und sind auf dem Abstellgleis gelandet, eben im Slough House, wo man sie mit minderen Arbeiten, Statistikaufbereitung bspw., in der Hoffnung quält, daß sie kündigen und damit ihre Pensionsansprüche verfallen. Lamb seinerseits ist ein Dinosaurier aus den alten Tagen des Kalten Krieges, der zu viele Details über zu viele Leute kennt, als daß man ihn einfach fallen lassen oder gar entlassen könnte. Lediglich ein stilles Verschwindenlassen wäre eine Option – doch dafür erweisen sich er und seine Leute dann doch immer wieder als zu nützlich.
Das ist dann auch in Band fünf eine der Fragen, die sich dem Leser stellen: Wieso ist niemand im Regent´s Park nach den Vorkommnissen der letzten Bände auf die Idee gekommen, die armen Teufel zu begnadigen? Immerhin wurden sie Ziel eines regelrechten Mordanschlags und nicht zuletzt waren sie an der Aufdeckung und Lösung einiger äußerst beunruhigender Intrigen und interner Verschwörungen beteiligt. Doch reagiert „der Park“ da ähnlich schnell, wie es der Vatikan tut, wenn ihm mal wieder ein Priester auf Abwegen gemeldet wird. Man weiß sich mit der Ewigkeit im Bunde, weshalb Eile nicht geboten scheint. Außerdem hätte der Leser dann nicht mehr das Vergnügen, den immer schärfer werdenden Dialogen zwischen Lamb und seinen langsam doch selbstbewusster werdenden Untergebenen folgen zu dürfen. Und die haben es diesmal in sich.
War Lamb bisher zwar ein ausgesprochen gegenwärtiger, doch als konkreter Charakter oft erstaunlich abwesender Vorgesetzter, so führt uns Herron diesmal direkt in eine Reihe von Auseinandersetzungen zwischen dem Chef und Catherine Standish, seiner Sekretärin, die zugleich sein Menetekel, seine Nemesis und der gute Geist in seinem Leben zu sein scheint. Und auch die führenden Figuren der Vorgängerbände sind wieder dabei und müssen sich mit ihrem Chef auseinandersetzen: River Cartwright, Louisa Guy, Shirley Dander und natürlich Roderick Ho, jener IT-Spezialist, der sich in der virtuellen Welt hervorragend auskennt, von der realen Welt jedoch keinen Schimmer hat, und obdessen beunruhigend falschen Selbsteinschätzungen unterliegt. Die bringen ihn diesmal in echte Schwierigkeiten. Denn es stellt sich heraus, daß seine schon in einigen Vorgängerbänden erwähnte Freundin Kim (wir wollten, ähnlich wie Rodericks Kollegen, kaum glauben, daß dieser Mann, der sich selbst den Rodster nennt, wirklich bei einem weiblichen Wesen gelandet sein könnte) exakt das ist, was alle erwartet haben: Ein Luder, das sich von ihm aushalten ließ, ohne sich ihm je wirklich hinzugeben. Und dieses Luder ihrerseits – nordkoreanischer Herkunft – wurde nun erpresst und hat ihrerseits Ho überredet, ihr einen uralten Plan der Briten, wie sich ein Land destabilisieren lässt, auszugraben und auszuhändigen. Und eben dieses Script hatte in der Realität fürchterliche Folgen. Denn ein Kommando hat ein Dorf in Derbyshire überfallen und dort ein Massaker angerichtet. Und dies war erst der Auftakt.
Herron bietet eigentlich in jedem Band eine Katastrophe biblischen Ausmaßes – Anschläge, Massaker, Mord und Totschlag – und fast immer endet es mit einer Verschwörung innerhalb des Dienstes. Billy Wilder soll gesagt haben, es sei immer gut, eine Story mit einer Explosion zu beginnen und sich dann langsam zu steigern. Herron scheint diesen Vorsatz zu beherzigen. Da seine Geschichten so oder so immer ganz hart am Rand der Parodie, zumindest der Satire entlangsegeln, kann er sich eine solche Haltung leisten. Folgt man seiner Beschreibung des MI5, kann man sich eh nur wundern, daß sich ein Land wie Großbritannien überhaupt noch einen solchen Dienst leistet, scheint der doch nur um seiner selbst willen zu existieren und im Zweifelsfall vor allem gegen die eigenen Landsleute vorzugehen. In Herrons Welt herrscht im Land längst eine geheime Macht, die sich einen Dreck um die Demokratie und der ihr innewohnenden Transparenz kümmert.
Meist führt Herrons Erzählstil aber auch dazu, daß man alle Zusammenhänge und Querverweise eh nicht mehr versteht, so verwickelt sind die Stories meist. Und meist ist das auch ganz egal, da es auf die einzelnen Situationen, ihre Auflösungen und mehr noch auf die Dialoge ankommt. Herron hat sich – vor allem mit Lamb und seiner Gegenspielerin Diana Taverner, stellvertretende Chefin im Park, sowie deren neuem Chef, Claude Whelan – ein Stammpersonal geschaffen, das sich an Durchtriebenheit in nichts nachsteht, sie sind alle schlagfertig und zynisch genug, auch noch den abwegigsten Spruch (und derer gibt es viele – es sei gewarnt, wer Wert auf political correctness legt) zu parieren. Und Herron kennt seine Figuren nun gut genug, um zu wissen, wie sie wann reagieren werden. Dadurch werden die Dialoge noch geschliffener, noch treffender, noch böser, noch hinterhältiger – und noch witziger. Und zu gleich, das ist seine eigentliche Kunst, gelingt es dem Autor doch auch (fast) immer, der Tragik gerecht zu werden, die seinen Geschichten eingeschrieben ist.
Doch gelingt es ihm in diesem Band, auch die Slow Horses selbst, zumindest die Überlebenden der letzten Bände, noch genauer und differenzierter zu charakterisieren. Beschädigte Persönlichkeiten sind das, in ihrem Selbstwertgefühl gekränkt, mit ihren je eigenen Eigenheiten und Manierismen und ihrer Trauer und ihrem Schmerz. River, der um seinen Großvater, ehemals ein hohes Tier im Dienst, trauert, obwohl dieser noch lebt, doch langsam in der Demenz versinkt; Louisa, deren Partner Marcus in einem der vergangenen Bände den Tod fand und um den sie heimlich immer noch trauert; Shirley, die extrem aggressiv ist, ein Problem mit dem Koks hat, nun mittlerweile seit 63 Tagen clean ist und ununterbrochen darüber nachdenkt, ob sie sich eine Auszeit von der Auszeit nehmen soll; Catherine Standish, trockene Alkoholikerin und guter Geist im Slough House – und die einzige, die offenbar weder Angst vor Lamb hat und ihm zudem bei all seinen Frechheiten und Beleidigungen Paroli bieten kann. Und dann ist da J.K. Coe, jüngster Zugang der Slow Horses, der unter einem posttraumatischen Stresssyndrom leidet und, wie wir im Vorgängerband erfahren haben, vor allem ganz bei sich ist, wenn er jemanden ungestraft töten kann. Coe ist derjenige, dessen Profil in diesem Band am deutlichsten hervortritt und geschärft wird. Eine Zeitbombe, die sowohl Lamb als auch Taverner sich zu Nutze machen. Aber auch ausnahmsweise der Einzige, der sehr früh begreift, womit man es bei dem Massaker in dem Dorf und den folgenden Attentaten eigentlich zu tun hat.
Manchmal braucht es eine Weile, bis ein Autor sein Personal gut genug kennt und so in Position gebracht hat, daß ihm Großes gelingen kann. Folgt man Ian Rankins Romanen um den Edinburgher Ermittler John Rebus chronologisch, fällt genau das auf: Die ersten Bände sind nicht schlecht, doch die wirklich guten Bände kommen später in der Reihe, ab Band sechs etwa wurde Rebus eine echte eigenständige Figur. Herron allerdings hat schon mit seinem Einstiegsband SLOW HORSES von 2010 ein hohes Niveau erreicht. Da könnte man befürchten, daß es ihm kaum gelingt, dieses zu halten – doch Folge für Folge wird er besser, mit geringen Schwankungen. Und dieser Band, LONDON RULES, gehört sicherlich zu den besten der bisher auf Deutsch erschienenen Bücher der Reihe.
