Real Tigers

Mick Herron is three for three in his Slough House series.

Real Tigers starts off with a seemingly random prologue, which only makes sense more than half way through the novel. What Herron does best is set the scene and the world the novel inhabits.

We then watch one of Slough House's own get kidnapped and is then used as a pawn for a much larger game.

This book has such a different vibe than the previous. Since we know these characters know, we watch them deal with their own shit. Especially the after effects of Min's death in the previous book. We learn a bit more about these characters.

In this book, Lamb and River take a backseat to the events, but it doesn't affect the reading of the novel at all. It's just as thrilling and exciting as the others.

I really enjoy Herron's writing style. I will admit the first book is a bit hard to get into, but once you're used to his iconic style you're in for a treat. Herron imbues his novels with such insight and dry humour - some just so smart and well placed that it flies you, and you realise it a second later.

It's an absolute joy to read one of his novels. I loved it.

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.

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Real Tigers‘ Flap Copy

I don’t like what I’ve come up with to describe the book, so I’m just going to use the flap copy:

London: Slough House is the MI5 branch where disgraced operatives are reassigned after they’ve messed up too badly to be trusted with real intelligence work. The “Slow Horses,” as the failed spies of Slough House are called, are doomed to spend the rest of their careers pushing paper, but they all want back in on the action.

When one of their own is kidnapped and held for ransom, the agents of Slough House must defeat the odds, overturning all expectations of their competence, to breach the top-notch security of MI5’s intelligence headquarters, Regent’s Park, and steal valuable intel in exchange for their comrade’s safety. The kidnapping is only the tip of the iceberg, however—the agents uncover a larger web of intrigue that involves not only a group of private mercenaries but the highest authorities in the Secret Service. After years spent as the lowest on the totem pole, the Slow Horses suddenly find themselves caught in the midst of a conspiracy that threatens not only the future of Slough House, but of MI5 itself.

The Introduction

I absolutely love the way that Herron introduces Slough House and its denizens in each book. It reminds me of the way that Rex Stout’s Archie gives the rundown of Wolfe’s Brownstone and the routine in each book. But Herron’s unique approach to each introduction has really clicked with me and I look forward to this part of the books.

I can see just opening up one of these at random from time to time, reading the description of Slough House, and moving on with just a quick refreshing hit of Herron’s magic.

Roddy Ho

Roddy Ho is a great hacker—that’s clear. He’s probably almost as good as he thinks he is. The level of delusion he has about his desirability to women outdoes even Crais’ John Chen (and that’s saying something)—it’s a fun character trait, even if it is hard to believe that someone can be that clueless about themselves.*

* 5 minutes on social media reminded me of the power of self-delusion. Never mind.

That said…it’s easy between books to remember how fun it is to see him getting verbally smacked around by Lamb or River pressuring him to work, and how good he is at the technical stuff, etc.—but to forget just what wholly unpleasant person he is. I mentioned John Chen before, Chen is helpless and harmless (while being a misogynistic creep). Roddy doesn’t have that veneer of hapless charm that Chen carries—and is a bigger misogynistic creep. I just want to wash my hands after a scene focused on him if it shows him thinking or talking about women. He probably belongs in prison and would’ve ended up there if not for being employed by MI5.

Team Building?

I will say, for a bunch of misanthropic individualists, when it comes to one of their own, the Slow Horses are really good at teamwork. They spend so much time on their own, regretting their own mistakes that landed them in Slough House, dreaming and scheming their way back to Regent’s Park, etc. that they all have a serious bit of tunnel vision. They’re all focused on themselves to the exclusion of pretty much everyone else—but they’re becoming closer to a true team—particularly when one of them is in some sort of jeopardy.

It’s nice to see—and generally funny, because they’re so bad at teamwork. But the bits that they get right—either on the job or off—are heartwarming to see.

As heartwarming as this series gets, anyway.

So, what did I think about Real Tigers?

The way that this book deals with the Dead Lions-aftermath is the best part for me. Obviously, most of that has to do with Lousia, but it’s there for everyone to one degree or another. Yes, these books can be read as stand-alones, but there’s an impact to be felt from the previous novels. The MI5 and political machinations behind all the actions—the twists, double-twists, and triple-twists. I know that’s part-and-parcel for this series, so I’m not complaining about that. It felt off…overdone maybe? The Slow Horses doing their thing was entertaining enough. But the package as a whole felt like a letdown.

Still, I loved reading this book. Herron can put together a sentence like no one else. I can’t imagine there’s something I wouldn’t want to read him describe. Even when I didn’t really connect with the story, I couldn’t stop reading—that’s all down to Herron’s skill and the fantastic characters he fills his books with. I’m not just talking about the Horses, even the characters that you’re going to see for 1-2 chapters feel like they’ve got a depth to them that could sustain a novel.

The third of Mick Herron's Jackson Lamb/Slough House thrillers is every bit as good as the previous two, if not better.

There's a new Home Secretary, Peter Judd (a brilliant caricature of Boris Johnson at his most self-serving) who wants to stamp his authority on the Secret Service by having a “tiger team” of private operatives steal the PM's file from Regents Park. Part of the plan involves the kidnap of Catherine Standish as she leaves Slough House, so inevitably Jackson Lamb gets involved once her absence becomes clear.

But there are ulterior motives aplenty and the tiger team become the Real Tigers of the title when the plan goes pear-shaped and their boss ends up smeared across a London road, in full view of Judd. The Tigers have their own agenda, one that won't sit well with current head of the Service, Ingrid Tearney.

Jackson's gang of misfit spy rejects, the so-called Slow Horses, find themselves at the centre of the action, because they are seen as expendable. While Lamb tracks down Standish, the rest find themselves on a heist mission at the Service's new underground data storage facility. Tearney's arch rival, Diana Taverner, must try and recover the situation, saving both her job and Judd's face. As usual, things do not go to plan.

Herron writes a brilliant thriller, full of sharp one-liners (Lamb is a superb creation) and bone-crunching action scenes, mixed with almost slapstick bumbling from the Slough House crew. He's not afraid to kill off (or at least severely damage) his characters. No-one is invincible. The denizens of Slough House all have their own psychological baggage (which is why they've ended up there) but all dream of redemption, of turning their careers around and making it back to Regent's Park. That you know they won't makes them all the more tragic and believable.

Some have called Herron the heir to LeCarré but, for me, he's closer in tone to Deighton, especially in the depiction of the daily drudgery of espionage that the Slow Horses have to contend with. Real Tigers is a great read, a real page turner and I hope Herron writes many more tales of Slough House.

Recommended.