Theyre still getting paid but no longer formally exist and things get more sinister when Louisa Guy discovers that someone from the Service is trailing her and the other slow horses find that they are also being followed. All Rights Reserved. This series is perfect for those that want their humor dark and smart. But I think hes got too old and too thin. Constant budget constraints have left the Park unable to respond to Russian provocation. Ambitious, backslapping government toff Peter Judd (Samuel West), aka 'PJ', is definitely not supposed to be identified with any Boris Johnsons who may or may not have been Foreign Secretary at the time Slow Horses was written. Just get ready for a jaw-dropping development at the start - and a poignant ending. But there's more to the story than he reveals to Standish: we discover at the end of Slow Horses that Lamb in fact murdered Partner on the orders of David Cartwright, River's grandfather. The website's critics consensus reads, "Slow Horses refreshes the espionage genre by letting its band of snoops be bumbling, with Gary Oldman giving a masterclass in frumpy authority. But there may be a flavor of wicked humor remaining in what one does afterwardalong with great satisfaction at what Lamb and the Slow Horses pull out of their grubby, out-of-fashion hats. Jackson Lamb is the head of Slough House and a former Joe, or field agent in Slough House slang. . The team, acting on the orders of Taverner, shoots the man dead even though he was unarmed and surrendering, to prevent any . Nick Duffy 14 episodes, 2022-2023 BTW I suspect Mack who left the first comment on 12th February last year was more than happy with Garry Oldmans portrayal of Jackson Lamb. . After spiraling following the death of Min, Louisa seemed to recover and gain her footing. Want to know why? She persists with extracting a promise from first Di Taverner then Jackson Lamb that they will tell her what really happened. Leeds Uni student and aspiring stand-up comic Hassan Ahmed was kidnapped by far-right group Sons of Albion, who threatened to decapitate him live on the internet. Eventually Lamb reveals that he's guilt-stricken because he gave Partner the gun that he used to shoot himself. Partner had been selling secrets to the Russians. Charles Partner was, in fact, a double agent at the top of MI5, and had been getting away with selling Britain's secrets for years thanks to the befuddled ignorance of his alcoholic assistant, Catherine Standish. "[16] On the review aggregator Metacritic, the season has a weighted average score of 78 out of 100 based on 22 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". She and Min Harper had a brief but intense affair which ended in tragic circumstances. [17], The second season also received critical acclaim. I dunno. printed out and left in a dead drop in . Since Ashley is as paranoid as any other spy, and clueless as well, shes baffled by the interactions around her in Slough House. I love this series, but it does require starting at the beginning. His colleague Sidonie 'Sid' Baker has also been assigned to Hobden, discreetly copying the contents of his USB flash drive in a cafe. Slough House is his reward for taking care of Charles Partner for MI5. With Bad Actors just a few short days away, Im ponder what we might see. Herron IS brutal to his characters and their fans. (SH) Cartwright, River - Young, white, fair hair, grey eyes and a mole on his upper lip. But the trail leads straight back to the Park itself, with Diana Taverner as chief suspect. Someone more like Warren Clarke or Sidney Greenstreet is more in keeping with how he is portrayed. Herron also makes some sharp digs about the role of the media in shaping the political agenda courtesy of newcomer Damien Cantor whose only loyalty is to his own power and wealth. Ah yes, and that I am doing, but unfortunately not enough e-copies at the library, so have ended up in the most recent book (Bad Actors). Lamb executed him to protect MI5, and was given Slough House as a reward. Pretty much everything extreme one can imagine happens, and it is a wild ride start to finish. Thats how I interpret it. . Although River hated him, I would still imagine him being dead might be something to work through psychologically. Warning - Spoilers ahead for all books in the series! But if you've read any others, and liked them, you'll like this one. It brings to a close several series plots and leads to at last one emotional farewell to a series character. They never got any credit because all they did was unearth Di Taverner's plot, something that her boss, Ingrid Tierney, wanted brushed under the carpet. And yet the Slow Horses somehow get involved investigating schemes endangering Britain. one of the things always on the mind of any reader of the series is whether all the characters will make it out alive. They may be (they are) all failures, but still, they are his, and he doesnt allow anyone to mess with them (much). This coupled with the biting satire and basic humanity of Herrons writing are what have kept me coming back. Except as noted, each character has appeared in all seasons so far shown. Roddy Ho, Shirley Dander and Lech Wicinski round out the team. To appreciate them fully requires an understanding of what they have gone through before. The 7th in Mick Herrons SLOUGH HOUSE SERIES is another fast-paced, action packed spy thriller that adds biting satire to the temperature of the nation. Wannabe super spy/espionage royalty/screwup. He could see one of either breed breaking a lock, finessing a window; could see them working round the study, looking for clues. However, one of the business men behind the deal, looking to make contacts in Russia, passes on sensitive information to the GRU who are looking to escalate matters. This one seemed like the best so far, but maybe it was the wait for it to come out, or just that I'm getting to know the characters better. He took on Standish as his office manager unknown to her to protect her from being imprisoned as a traitor. So they all get to stay put at Slough House, no prizes, no pats on the back, just a dismal career under Jackson Lamb's nicotine-stained thumb. The book ends with what was for me, a truly devastating development and even though you know what no one in Slough House is safe, I wasnt expecting it to hit that character. edit descriptions of this character River Cartwright's photo gallery No photos have been uploaded yet. River Cartwright aliases River Cartwright MI-5 agent in London, in his early 30s; grandson of MI-5 legend David Cartwright. Its not universally true no-one likes the character Roddy Ho, for example but River Cartwright and Catherine Standish form a bond, as do Louisa Guy and Min Harper, and Shirley Dander and Marcus Longridge. Reviewing and collecting spy fiction and nonfiction. River Cartwright was sent to Slough House after a training exercise left King's Cross crashed. The Russians cut the session when a friend visits, and afterwards Min is killed when supposedly struck accidentally by a car as he is cycling home drunk. Catherine Standish is Lambs assistant, and a recovering alcoholic. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. He alleges when stationed in East Berlin he overheard Popov demanding the cicada program remain funded after the fall of the Soviet Union. The title track "Strange Game" was performed by Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger, who wrote the song exclusively for the show[15] together with the shows composer Daniel Pemberton. - The most shocking thing coming out of Slough House was the poisoning and apparent death of River Cartwright in the final moments of the novel. This season is based on the second of the best-selling Slough House novels by Mick Herron, Dead Lions, and once again stars the dynamic duo of Gary Oldman and Jack Lowden as Jackson Lamb and River . Its the kind of humor that catches you unaware, in a did he really just say that? style. All in all and nitpicks aside, I thought this was a great read in a series where theres been no let up in quality and I genuinely cannot wait to see what Herron does next with these characters. But in the end, he takes the high road and lies to him, saying that according to his grandfather, Ho was just so awesome that he was making everyone else look bad, so had to be disposed of. I've long been a fan of this series and Mick Herron's writing generally. However, they cant afford to ignore the assassination, on UK soil, of a Russian defector. We left her severely injured and MIA until a shocking phone call at the end of Spook . River is tempted to reveal that it's really very obviously because he's "an insufferable prick". Bye, Struan. Warning Spoilers ahead for all books in the series! English crime author Mick Herron didnt begin his writing career with the Slough House series, but theres no doubt these novels represent his most successful work. Cant think of any current heavy actors. The seventh entry to the Slough House series is as thrilling and bleeding-edge relevant as ever. Apple liked it so much that it made two seasons back-to-back. Louisa Guy, another member of the team who has been there from the beginning, is probably the safest pair of hands at Slough House. It is difficult to elaborate more without any spoilers, but. Ho is the computer nerd, a legend in his own mind; Dander is a brash cokehead; and Wicinski a desk analyst who was framed for paedophilia. Both are excellent books and reviewed on our site. I like the way events of previous novels continue to effect the narrative. And true, River even tracked the remaining thug to a remote folly and had a real-life James Bond gunfight with him. He confronts Webb, alleging Taverner had him purposefully feed him incorrect intel during the Stansted exercise so he would fail and be demoted, as he had the photograph of her meeting with Black. Those consigned there are known as "Slow Horses". Taverner is dealing with intelligence and now Home Secretary Peter Judd MP regarding a large upcoming anti-capitalist protest in London. Fans will scour Bad Actors for news of River Cartwright, . I agree. So it's "the f**king wilderness" for him. The only slight nagging doubt is whether it will maintain the sky high quality standards. (LogOut/ River Cartwright who took centre stage in Slow Horses drops out of the limelight in this one, and no one really fills that centre stage position. He wants a tame intelligence service ready to do the PMs bidding and leaks rumours that a government advisor has been subject to extraordinary rendition by an MI5 gone rogue. You probably do need to have read the earlier books to understand the character dynamics, and previous events are referenced throughout - we listened to the audiobook and The Cats Father, who hasnt read the previous books, was able to follow but missed a lot of the jokes & plot points. It wasnt really him, he knew that. Taverner meets with Lamb and reveals Ahmed is the nephew of the second in command of Pakistani Military Intelligence. . Taverner confronts Judd at his home, revealing that calls he made to his far-right contacts after Hobden visited resulted in the mission being compromised and Black's death. EXCERPT: The study remained like a showroom in a vacant property - books, chairs, curtains; the shelf with its odd collection of trophies: a glass globe, a hunk of concrete, a lump of metal that had been a Luger; the desk with its sheet of blotting paper, like something out of Dickens, and the letter opener, which was an actual stiletto, and had once belonged to Beria - and if David Cartwright had left secrets in his wake they'd be somewhere in that room, on those shelves, among a billion other words. River goes undercover in France to try to find the source while the other slow horses try to work the angle from London. Things get pretty close, and Curly is stopped right in the nick of time before he murders the young student. Spook Street is one of the darker novels and what little comic relief there is, is provided by Roddy Ho getting a girlfriend, a plot thread which is pulled in the follow up novel, London Rules. The way Herron skewers Boris Johnson through Judd (especially through his speeches) is just beautifully done but he also does well at showing the artifice and the naked desire for power, whatever it takes. *Puts feet up on desk, lights ciggie, farts*. And not just one cliff either; each thread I wanted wrapped up just stops. More interesting is the introduction of Desmond Flint and his Yellow Vest movement and the way that Judd is latching onto them. Lamb suggests that Krymov lied about Pashkin being Nevskys representative, with the younger Russian likely being his competitor. I would also love to know whats happening with Sid as well as how River is dealing with his fathers death! Slow Horses is available to watch on Apple TV+. It also lays the ground for the events of Joe Country, and at the same time introduces a series villain, ex-CIA operative Frank Harkness. When a Russian operative is killed, they think the slow horses who now appear to be off-the-books were responsible. When River Cartwright was relegated to Slough House, he was too young to have developed the legendary skill set of which Jackson Lamb can boast. Such events, on home turf, require a response and Taverner is keen enough to make that happen to allow Judds involvement. Novels continue to effect the narrative Taverner as chief suspect investigating schemes endangering Britain development at the start and... Catches you unaware, in a did he really just say that far... Until a shocking phone call at the beginning kept me coming back killed, they think the Horses. On his upper lip consigned there are known as `` slow Horses who now appear to be off-the-books were.! 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