Praise for Slow HorsesParade Magazine 110 Best Thrillers of All Time
Longlisted, Ian Fleming Steel Dagger“The best in a generation, by some estimations, and irrefutably the funniest.”
—Jill Lepore, The New Yorker“I'll tell you what, to have been lucky enough to play Smiley in one's career; and now go and play Jackson Lamb in Mick Herron's novels—the heir, in a way, to le Carré—is a terrific thing.”
—Gary Oldman“Set in the Siberia of British intelligence, Mick Herron’s 2010 novel manages the rare feat of being comical, suspenseful and perceptive about the less-than-straight line that divides success and failure.”
—The New York Times“Compulsively readable, tightly plotted.”
—Los Angeles Times“Intricate plotting, full of twists . . . Herron can certainly write a real spy story, with all the misdirection and sleight of hand that requires. But it’s the surly Slough House mood, the eccentric characters, and Herron’s very black, very dry sense of humor that made me read one after the other without a break.”
—Laura Miller, Slate.com“It's just great fun.”
—NPR, Morning Edition“[Herron's] cleverly plotted page-turners are driven by dialogue that bristles with one-liners. Much of the humor comes from Herron’s sharp eye for the way bureaucracies, whether corporate or clandestine, function and malfunction. The world of Slough House is closer to
The Office than to 007.”
—The Associated Press“A funny, stylish, satirical, gripping story . . . Memorably seedy characters, sharp dialogue, complex plot. I’m hooked.”
—The Guardian
“This is blackly funny, tense and worryingly plausible. The most enjoyable British spy novel in years.”
—Mail on Sunday, Five-star Review
“[A] deliciously sleazy and sophisticated spy thriller.”
—The Irish Times“These are terrific novels. The writing is very good. The sense of humour is there, and there's a certain amount of skepticism as well, which keeps you wanting to read.”
—J.D. Singh, CBC's The Next Chapter
“Subtle, detailed and utterly convincing.”
—The Crime Review (UK)“
Slow Horses is a fine thriller . . . it’s also a wonderfully funny, farcical, deeply cynical skewering of politics, bureaucrats, turf wars, and the Great Game.”
—Booklist
Praise for Mick Herron
“Mick Herron never tells a suspense story in the expected way . . . In Herron's book, there is no hiding under the desk.”
—The New York Times Book Review “The sharpest spy fiction since John Le Carré.”
—NPR's Fresh Air “Stylish and engaging.”
—The Washington Post “[A] masterful thriller . . . The intricate plot, coupled with Herron's breezy writing style, results in superior entertainment that makes most other novels of suspense appear dull and slow-witted by comparison.”
—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review “Like a good movie . . . grabs the reader from the first page.”
—Booklist, Starred Review
