Slow Horses

Mick Herron was called “John le Carré of our time” and a new hope of British literature; he was compared to Raymond Chandler and Kingsley Amis, Evelyn Waugh and Graham Greene, Elmore Leonard and Joseph Heller. Herron’s novels are “a funny, bordering on farce, brilliantly cynical caricature of politicians, functionaries, internecine bickering, and the Great Game” (Booklist), and the “lame horses,” i.e., the weaklings of Slough House, are disgraced counterintelligence agents punished “for a penchant for drugs, alcohol, or debauchery; for intrigues and betrayal; for discontent and doubts; and also for the unforgivable blunder.” Jackson Lamb watches over them—“the Falstaff of our days” (Sunday Times) and “one of the most monstrous characters in contemporary literature” (Bernard Cornwell). But, as is known, there are no ex–office types: every weakling, getting bogged down in meaningless paperwork, dreams of vindicating himself and returning to operational work at Regent’s Park. And when terrorists kidnap a teenager and threaten to behead him live on YouTube, the weaklings aren’t going to sit idly by…

Based on the first books of the Slough House cycle, a TV series was put into production (two seasons at once). Filming took place in 2020–2021. The role of Jackson Lamb was played by Gary Oldman; also in the series appeared Jack Lowden, Olivia Cooke, Jonathan Pryce, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Christopher Chung. James Hawes (“Merlin,” “Black Mirror,” “Doctor Who,” “The Alienist,” “Raised by Wolves”) directed the first season.