Hardcover, 352 pages
Published June 13, 2019 by John Murray.
If Spook Street is where spies live, Joe Country is where they go to die.
In Slough House, the London outpost for disgraced MI5 spies, memories are stirring, all of them bad. Catherine Standish is buying booze again, Louisa Guy is raking over the ashes of lost love, and new recruit Lech Wicinski, whose sins make him an outcast even among the slow horses, is determined to discover who destroyed his career, even if he tears his life apart in the process.
Meanwhile, in Regent’s Park, Diana Taverner’s tenure as First Desk is running into difficulties. If she’s going to make the Service fit for purpose, she might have to make deals with a familiar old devil . . .
And with winter taking its grip, Jackson Lamb would sooner be left brooding in peace, but even he can’t ignore the dried blood on his carpets. So when the man …
If Spook Street is where spies live, Joe Country is where they go to die.
In Slough House, the London outpost for disgraced MI5 spies, memories are stirring, all of them bad. Catherine Standish is buying booze again, Louisa Guy is raking over the ashes of lost love, and new recruit Lech Wicinski, whose sins make him an outcast even among the slow horses, is determined to discover who destroyed his career, even if he tears his life apart in the process.
Meanwhile, in Regent’s Park, Diana Taverner’s tenure as First Desk is running into difficulties. If she’s going to make the Service fit for purpose, she might have to make deals with a familiar old devil . . .
And with winter taking its grip, Jackson Lamb would sooner be left brooding in peace, but even he can’t ignore the dried blood on his carpets. So when the man responsible for killing a slow horse breaks cover at last, Lamb sends the slow horses out to even the score.
I was relieved to have this "Slow Horses" installment find steadier footing. The dialogue was much better than the last outing (and funnier lines). The plot was a bit thin, but not too far beyond belief. Quite a body count racking up, however.
As the complex characters fumble their way through the 'cock-ups' of the Security Services....we, the readers, baulk at the probable realism portrayed and 'thank the stars' for these fictional rouges!
I wonder if this is running out of steam or coming too close to current day. A disappointment compared to the previous ones. There are still the great info liners, still the barbed references to current events, but there is a casualness about the treatment of the characters and a rather desperate coincidental plotting
I was sooo excited to score an advance copy of Joe Country and it did not disappoint. A thriller with a great sense of humor. A must for fans of the series. If you are new to the series, please start with Slow Horses, you have 7 lovely books to read through.<br/><br/>this review may have posted twice as I had both the Kindle & hardback editions in my library; trying to get this switched to the physical book without deleting the review
