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The Resource Slow horses, Mick Herron

Slow horses, Mick Herron

Creator
Author
Summary
  • London, England: Slough House is where the washed-up MI5 spies go to while away what's left of their failed careers. The "slow horses," as they're called, have all disgraced themselves in some way to get relegated here. Maybe they messed up an op badly and can't be trusted anymore. Maybe they got in the way of an ambitious colleague and had the rug yanked out from under them. Maybe they just got too dependent on the bottle--not unusual in this line of work. One thing they all have in common, though, is they all want to be back in the action. And most of them would do anything to get there-even if it means having to collaborate with one another. River Cartwright, one such "slow horse," is bitter about his failure and about his tedious assignment transcribing cell phone conversations. When a young man is abducted and his kidnappers threaten to broadcast his beheading live on the Internet, River sees an opportunity to redeem himself. But is the victim who he first appears to beAnd what's the kidnappers' connection with a disgraced journalistAs the clock ticks on the execution, River finds that everyone has his own agenda
  • Intelligence agent River Cartwright, after being banished from high-profile work for incompetence, suspects a prominant British journalist with ties to an extremist party of being behind the kidnapping of a Muslim teenager
Language
eng
Work
Publication
Edition
First U.S. edition.
Extent
329 pages
Note
"First published in the UK by Constable, an imprint of Contstable & Robinson, 2010"--Title page verso
Isbn
9781616954161
Instance
Label
Slow horses
Title
Slow horses
Statement of responsibility
Mick Herron
Creator
Author
Subject
Genre
Language
eng
Summary
  • London, England: Slough House is where the washed-up MI5 spies go to while away what's left of their failed careers. The "slow horses," as they're called, have all disgraced themselves in some way to get relegated here. Maybe they messed up an op badly and can't be trusted anymore. Maybe they got in the way of an ambitious colleague and had the rug yanked out from under them. Maybe they just got too dependent on the bottle--not unusual in this line of work. One thing they all have in common, though, is they all want to be back in the action. And most of them would do anything to get there-even if it means having to collaborate with one another. River Cartwright, one such "slow horse," is bitter about his failure and about his tedious assignment transcribing cell phone conversations. When a young man is abducted and his kidnappers threaten to broadcast his beheading live on the Internet, River sees an opportunity to redeem himself. But is the victim who he first appears to beAnd what's the kidnappers' connection with a disgraced journalistAs the clock ticks on the execution, River finds that everyone has his own agenda
  • Intelligence agent River Cartwright, after being banished from high-profile work for incompetence, suspects a prominant British journalist with ties to an extremist party of being behind the kidnapping of a Muslim teenager
Member of
Storyline
Tone
Writing style
Character
Review
  • Slough House is an “administrative oubliette” for British intelligence. Spooks who have screwed up in a big way are assigned there, and no one has ever been returned to real service. In spook speak, the denizens of Slough House are Slow Horses, objects of scorn, “fridge magnets.” River Cartwright, the ostensible protagonist of this crackling good spy thriller-farce, wants to be the first Slow Horse to force his own resurrection to MI5, and he sees his chance when an apparently inept right-wing group kidnaps a Pakistani youth and threatens to behead him on a live webcast. Saying more about the plot might spoil the fun. Herron’s sixth novel is filled with acidic wit and engaging misdirection, and readers will need to adjust to his narrative style; but the rewards are great. Slow Horses is a fine thriller with enough suspense, double-dealing, and mayhem for thriller devotees; but it’s also a wonderfully funny, farcical, deeply cynical skewering of politics, bureaucrats, turf wars, and the Great Game. -- Gaughan, Thomas (Reviewed 05-01-2010) (Booklist, vol 106, number 17, p44)
  • Banished to London’s Slough House—the junkyard for disgraced MI5 agents—for botching a high-profile training exercise, River Cartwright spends his days sifting through garbage and transcribing phone conversations in Herron’s riveting spy thriller. His boss, Jackson Lamb, who governs Slough House as if it’s his own kingdom, makes sure the “slow horses” know they’ll never get back to high-profile work at Regent’s Park. River, bored with his tedious assignments, discovers that one of his fellow agents has been lifting information from Robert Hobden, a well-known journalist. When a Muslim teenager is kidnapped and a video promising to decapitate him appears online, River wonders if it’s connected to Hobden, who has ties to the extremist British Patriotic Party. Herron (Smoke & Whispers ) avoids the easy cliché of misfits banding together to right a wrong, instead painting his slow horses as complex characters who are just as fallible as their “faster” counterparts. (June) --Staff (Reviewed April 26, 2010) (Publishers Weekly, vol 257, issue 17, p86)
http://library.link/vocab/ext/novelist/bookUI
358162
Cataloging source
DLC
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Herron, Mick
Dewey number
823/.92
Index
no index present
LC call number
PR6108.E77
LC item number
S57 2010
Literary form
novels
http://library.link/vocab/resourcePreferred
True
Series statement
Slough House
Series volume
1
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Intelligence service
  • Intelligence service
  • Great Britain
Label
Slow horses, Mick Herron
Instantiates
Publication
Copyright
Note
"First published in the UK by Constable, an imprint of Contstable & Robinson, 2010"--Title page verso
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Control code
ocn503594786
Dimensions
23 cm
Edition
First U.S. edition.
Extent
329 pages
Isbn
9781616954161
Lccn
2010002459
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
System control number
(OCoLC)503594786
Label
Slow horses, Mick Herron
Publication
Copyright
Note
"First published in the UK by Constable, an imprint of Contstable & Robinson, 2010"--Title page verso
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Control code
ocn503594786
Dimensions
23 cm
Edition
First U.S. edition.
Extent
329 pages
Isbn
9781616954161
Lccn
2010002459
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
System control number
(OCoLC)503594786

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