by Mick Herron, 2010, Soho Press, New York

This book was enjoyable, but it was a bit hard to follow at first. There are a lot of references to British things and persons that I’m not familiar with. Also, the author throws the reader into a situation that is, at first, hard to understand.

The plot centers around a building called Slough House which is a building on the outskirts of London where the MI5 service sends its agents who have committed some kind of error in their careers. The novel starts in the middle of a situation where River Cartwright is chasing a suspected terrorist at a train platform. Once he captures the suspect, he realizes that he was chasing the wrong person and then a bomb goes off killing several innocent bystanders. This is the mistake that sends him to Sough House. The agents who inhabit Slough House are called Slow Horses because their capabilities are viewed as less than adequate.

The plot then centers around the activities of the agents in Slough House. Things are not what they seem to be, and the real story gradually comes to light.

Once I got used to the author’s style and sorted out the various characters, I enjoyed reading the book. It is quite different from anything about MI5 portrayed in a James Bond novel as these agents tend to be real slugs rather than a polished agent like 007.

The ending left with some unanswered questions, so I assume the answers will be revealed in subsequent novels in the series.