Reviews: Bad Actors (18)

Mick Herron keeps getting better and better. Part of the reason for this is that, where once his satire was very funny, now it seems that life is imitating art and he is drawing on current events without having to reach very far to find the satire.

There are many fabulous laugh-out-loud moments in this brilliantly written, sharp and incisive book that is far too close to home for comfort. Herron has his finger firmly on the pulse as this post-Brexit novel takes in Covid and the omni-shambles of a broken Britain.

As ever, there are dangers to the country from every sphere, notably this time, the Russians – and how prescient is that – but the key battle ground is of course between Jackson Lamb’s slow horses of Slough House and Diana Taverner, holder of the MI5 First Desk role at Regent’s Park.

Herron’s cast of colourful characters is sublime. The Prime Minister’s super forecaster, Sophie de Greer, has gone missing. Her role is to predict public reaction to potential Government policies. De Greer was also a member of an internal think tank looking to curb the power of M15. Who benefits is the question?

Sparrow, the PM’s right hand man (a recognisable hate figure to anyone who follows UK politics), has tasked Diana Taverner’s predecessor, Claude Whelan, to find out what has happened to her. Sparrow is no fan of M15 whose operations don’t fall under his control and he needs to be sure that she hasn’t been ‘waterproofed’ by Taverner as a way of ensuring that there’s no meddling with the Service.

Then there’s the fact that the Head of the Russian First Desk has slipped unnoticed into London…how are all these things connected?

Because no-one cares what Slough House and the slow horses are up to, they have the best chance of rooting around all this intrigue without coming under anyone’s scrutiny. In a masterpiece of brilliant plotting, superb one-liners and stunning character studies, we are one again in the madcap world of Roddy Ho, Lech Wicinski, Catherine Standish, Louisa Guy and Shirley Dander and the irascible, farting, foul mouthed Jackson Lamb.

They are joined by a new slow horse, the young and puzzled Ashley Khan. She can’t work out quite why she is at Slough House, but the truth is that on her very first mission Ashley Khan messed up a covert surveillance operation and Lamb ‘accidently on purpose’ broke her arm. She’s about to make her second mistake…

Roddy Ho – the Rodster – is unmissable in this instalment as he auditions would be Princess Leahs. Shirley’s in rehab and everyone is missing River Cartwright.

Told from multiple perspectives and using flashbacks, this tightly and expertly plotted book is crammed full of intrigue, dark moments and thrilling action.

It’s hard to do justice to such a clever, witty and entertaining novel which undoubtedly is better if you have read the preceding books in the series. And you really should, because this is one of the outstanding series of its generation.

Lamb’s slow horses may be misfits who have messed up, but they are still spies and they have skills that, because no-one cares about them, they can deploy under much less scrutiny than anyone in Regent’s Park would ever manage. Jackson Lamb knows just how to operate under the radar and as ever, he’s got a handle on the situation long before anyone knows what’s going on.

Verdict: This is Mick Herron on superb, scintillating and excoriating form. On point, topical and so very, very witty, Herron has his finger firmly on the pulse of British politics and delivers his verdict with scathing accuracy. Bad Actors is an unmissable book in an unmissable series.

Bad Actors is the latest novel in the Slough House series, focussing on the spooks (the 'slow horses') that MI5 left behind. Left behind in a decaying, seedy, London office, to be overseen by the decaying, seedy Jackson Lamb. Eight novels in (plus a few novellas) this series is still firing on cylinders - and delivering some surprises.

Slough House has recently been brought to TV (rather splendidly, I think) and in his credits in this book Herron makes clear that the title isn't directed at the actors in the series. It's true that it has been trailed in previous books, and it is also a clever pun on the overlap between 'bad', that is, malign figures - several of whom feature here - and more straightforward hopeless losers and misfits - who also appear - who are simply 'bad' at performing their roles. Not all of the latter are Slow Horses.

I think there is a bit more to it than that, though. I do wonder whether the adaptation of the series as drama has influenced this book. In Bad Actors, Herron seems to be reflecting the drama in a running series of theatrical metaphors. For example, ''No, really, don't. Let's just workshop it, shall we?' during a meeting, or 'the street dazzle of Soho - the neon lights and mirrored windows'. A junior spook who 'wasn’t quite Oscar material' nevertheless 'had her moments' while one of the characters, Nash, is 'stepping into noir, dimming everything to a monochrome rainbow'. There are many more examples, all contributing to a sense of a stage waiting, of the streets of London as an arena, a performance space. And the sections in the book reflect this, dividing the story into 'Acts' (we actually get Act 2 first, something that itself contributes to the atmosphere at the start).

This sort of leitmotiv is very much in keeping with the earlier books, which I think each tend have a particular language or framing in a similar way. Of course the books in this series are always alive to the context and setting of a crumbling UK in the cold winds of the 21st century (indeed, Slough House itself could be the overarching metaphor for this) but, perhaps, they draw attention to it in different ways. Here, the theatricality perhaps emphasises that the current crop of 'bad actors' (perhaps in both senses) in Westminster and Whitehall are also, largely, creations, acts in fact.

But Herron also delights in a less subtle characterisation - for example, giving us a failing Prime Minister whose 'sole qualification for the job had been the widespread expectation that he'd achieve it. Having done so, he was clearly dumbstruck by the demands of office: the pay cut, the long hours, the pandemic, and the shocking degree of accountability involved. For a man who'd made a vocation out of avoidance of responsibility, this last was an ugly blow...' as well as unscrupulous unelected advisers, lurking in the shadows to reshape the hapless nation over which they exercise control. 'The PM's enforcer, Sparrow wasn't as high profile as his predecessors had been - it would have been challenging to maintain that level of unpopularity without barbecuing an infant on live television - but those in the know recognised him as a home-grown Napoleon: nasty, British and short.')

One of this doleful band - a 'superforecaster' attached to No 10, no less - has gone missing. Her boss, the Sparrow referred to above, is perturbed, and Slough House may be a convenient scapegoat. A retired spook is reactivated to investigate, and in a story perhaps showing more crossover than usual between the despairing landings of Slough House and the gleaming corridors of Regent's Park, a host of actors, good and bad, seek to take advantage of the situation; or simply to survive. So Louisa, Lech, Roddy and the rest carry their spears (in Roddy's case, a broken broom) onto the stage, pursued by a Lamb. But we also see Regent's Park on high alert as a foreign spy appears, unheralded, on their radar, with a special message for the First Desk, Diana Taverner. At the same time, she is fighting a battle to prevent her empire being absorbed into the nebulous world of the PM's Special Adviser.

It's a very full, fast-moving and exciting story (as ever) plumbing deep into the minds and motivations of the cast, but often illustrating them as much through petty office politics as through major plot developments; the consequences of pinching a colleague's lunch from the fridge, for example, or of catching somebody out on a personal Zoom call. But make no mistake that the stakes are high. The events of Slough House, the previous book, are still very much with us (especially a particular absence) and various members of the team cope with their guilt, or don't, about that: that straight-into-Act 2 structure of the book allowing the hangover from Slough House to blur with their recollections of an Act 1 which of course we haven't read, all creating a truly disorienting effect. What happened in Wimbledon? Should we know? Why is there shattered plastic all over Roddy's floor? What has Shirley done now? (And where has she gone?) Combined with the fallout from the missing adviser, there seems a distinct possibility here that somebody in Slough House really has stepped out of line - or at least that Lamb may not be able to prove that they haven't.

It's a very disquieting opening, setting up a book full of subtly shifting (or undeclared) loyalties (watch Slough House's new recruit, and the machinations of the straw men on the fringes of the Park) which nest slightly with the many enjoyable contrasts and juxtapositions. There is both sophisticated verbal fencing between senior officials ('...Regents Park string pullers knew to tread carefully around Diana. String pullers carry weight, but Diana carried scissors') and, of course, Lamb's crude put-downs. There is Roddy's absurd inner monologue and hapless pantomime shadow combat with a broomstick, but also some utterly serious violence. There is the fatuous and solipsistic world of the politicians and advisers where everything is about message and position and we don't want to hear from experts ('lying in office was no longer a career-threatening felony; the consequence of misleading Parliament was nowadays a lap of honour') and, outside in the cold, the chilling realpolitik and tradecraft of the even badder actors.

Pretty soon, realities will begin to show through the waffle and piffle...

In short this is a terrific addition to the Slough House series, as sharp and engaged as ever. (And oh, there are scenes here that I can't wait to see on the screen, though some of them may be very tricky to translate...)

Bad Actors is the 8th instalment in the incredible Slough House series, which just gets better and better.

The Prime Minister’s Special Advisor is enraptured by a new member of his team; the enigmatic Sophie, who has an uncanny knack of predicting political futures. Meanwhile shenanigans are underway to undermine Diana Taverner, in a bid to limit the independence of the Security Services. And at Slough House Louisa and Lech are keeping the mundane show on the road, a newbie is (unadvisedly) trying to outsmart Jackson Lamb and Roddy Ho continues to be ‘the man’.

The characters continue to drive this amazing series. The plot is impeccable. The writing is the best in the genre and the dry wit shines through, not least through Jackson Lamb.

This series is an automatic pre-order for me. I read this book but I have listened to some on audio and the narration is brilliant.

For those coming to them new (or via the Apple+ TV show), I would strongly recommend starting at the beginning. Mick Herron provides such a rich tapestry, it really would be a shame not to enjoy every word.

Politics is indeed a dangerous game, whether near Westminster’s centre or unceremoniously being swung by an ankle around it. ‘Bad Actors’ is the eighth novel in Mick Herron’s Slough House series; it was a delight to read. Many of the crew remain in play from earlier stories, though not all: the danger is very real, even for a failed spook consigned to the outer fringes as a ‘slow horse’. The storyline itself is every bit as convincing as the earlier novels, although the subtleties – the insider’s observations – require a passing knowledge of what went before. It’s worth the effort in my opinion: read the previous seven novels, in order, and allow yourself to become as close an observer as the bricks and grime of Slough House evidently are. (The first two are now reincarnated as TV series by one of the internet streaming services – unfortunately, one of several subscriptions that I don’t pay.) Although a work of fiction, the acerbic references to the contemporary elected and unelected political figures that haunt the story are but thinly disguised: you’ll smile or frown as you read them depending on your own persuasions; either way, they provide the warp of the plot. The Slow Horses typically approach their lives and plummeted careers with as much aplomb as they would display trying to eat a plate of oiled spaghetti using a chopstick, but that’s never been enough to define their impact. Whether by accident or by design, working together or in-fighting, they nevertheless change the direction of events and provide the colourful weft to the author’s story-weaving. On a personal note, one measure of the pleasure I have taken in reading a book is the number of page corners turned down to mark a phrase or idea I might plunder when losing myself in a bit of creative writing. In this case, there are many. I was particularly struck by the author’s use of metaphor and simile, and have already started a short exercise along similar lines …

This was a great read. I actually gave it 3.5 stars but had to round it up as it was better than a 3-star read. I listened to the audiobook book and thought the narrator was this book greatest asset. His tone of voice was a perfect fit and really brought this book to life.
I found it a little hard to keep track of the story line at times but have since reading this book noticed it was the last part of a series and therefore the rest of the books would have had to be read to understand the storyline . This is why I became confused at times while reading the book. I did really like listening to the book so my rating is true and honest I was just confused by aspects I was obviously meant to know before reading this book. It wasn't made obvious when I requested this book to review that it was part of a series. I did love the fact the book seemed more like a literary fiction mixed with blunt humour. It also felt like it was an old English tale rather than a more modern book. It was very unique in the way it was wrote and I really commend the author for his style. It was really refreshing to break that normal style of mysteries and mix it up for this unique story.
Many thanks to the author and publishers for creating this unique story with great blunt humour.

The eighth outing for Jackson Lamb and his slow horses. I won't be giving away any spoilers here, so there isn't a huge amount I can share, plot wise. This, like its predecessors, begins as the last book in the series ends. It follows the characters and their doings and winds them in a plot involving Russian spies, the corridors of Westminster and the power struggle between the PM and MI5 and Diana Taverner's determination to stay at the top of the heap as she weaves between the parties that are trying to bring her down. As ever, on the money when it comes to writing about modern British politics and very funny in a macabre way. Lamb is a classic, gloriously written anti-hero. The more revolting he is, the more I enjoy him.

Every time I start a new Slough House book with the scare that it will be the one to eventually suck, and every time I'm happy to realize that the trend is still upward! :)

It’s 6 months after SLOUGH HOUSE.

River Cartwright’s presence is missed in Slough House, his desk taken by Ashley Khan (a bit player in SLOUGH HOUSE who got her arm broken by Jackson Lamb and has been made a slow horse in punishment). Khan, the daughter of parents with high aspirations, is furious that her promising career has been curtailed and like every new arrival to Slough House, is plotting her return back to Regent’s Park while also running a personal vendetta against Lamb himself.

Shirley Dander’s drug use and anger issues have caught up with her and as a result of Catherine’s concerns over all the recent team losses, has been sent to the San (a Service facility for those with rehabilitation and mental illness needs). Needless to say, she is not happy to be forced into a period of self-reflection and even less impressed by the detox. Lech Wicinski is still recovering mentally and physically from a bout of COVID during the lock-down that was so bad, he only survived because hapless milkman John Bachelor (who was staying with him for a new nights) cared for him. Not that he’s so grateful that he’s prepared to let the homeless Bachelor stay with him again.

Meanwhile Claude Wheelan (the former First Desk who was ousted by Diana Taverner at the end of LONDON RULES) is summoned back from a somewhat dull retirement by Oliver Nash (head of the Limitations Committee). Dr Sophie de Greer (a Swiss national “super forecaster” and special adviser to Downing Street) has gone missing and Anthony Sparrow (the Prime Minister’s Svengali lead adviser who’s taken to pulling all the strings in Whitehall) thinks that MI5 is responsible. Nash believes that Wheelan can find her because Sparrow suspects that Taverner used a top secret protocol called Waterproof to disappear her and Wheelan is one of the few people who know who it worked and where to look.

Keen to get revenge on Taverner, Wheeler is nevertheless wary of getting caught in the middle of a political power play. He recognises the sensitivities of the situation and the need to be careful around operators as ruthless and brutal as Sparrow and Taverner and the last thing he needs is the slow horses messing everything up for him …

The 8th in Mick Herron’s SLOUGH HOUSE SERIES uses a missing person case to incorporate a savage commentary on UK politics. Like SLOUGH HOUSE there’s a strong set-up feel with Herron manoeuvring characters and motivation for Book 9 but Wheelan’s return, Taverner’s tribulations and Shirley’s rage issues are all a lot of fun, I enjoyed seeing John Bachelor from the novellas and there are some hilarious lines such that I can’t wait for Book 9.

The first thing I’m going to say is that you need to read the preceding books in this series in order to get the most out of this one. Claude Wheelan (last seen in LONDON RULES) has a prominent return in this book while John Bachelor (from the side novellas THE LIST, THE DROP and THE CATCH) is featured due to his history with Lech Wicinski while Diana Taverner is also dealing with the fall out of her deal with Peter Judd from SLOUGH HOUSE. These previous books all feed into what happens here so understanding the history will help you to understand the interactions.

The main plot line is fairly simple. Anthony Sparrow (the Prime Minister’s main adviser) wants to use Sophie de Greer’s disappearance to air some of MI5’s dirtiest secrets and thereby bring it under his control. Taverner is more focused on the arrival in the UK of Russia’s First Desk Vassily Rasnakov and wants to find out what he’s up to. Wheeler knows he’s stuck between two competing agendas but still wants to get involved, partly out of boredom but also because he is not above getting some revenge on Taverner for her role in ousting him. Herron makes the most out of his theme of people being bad actors because everyone here has their own agenda and their own little game in play and of course, Slough House gets drawn into the mix when one of those games goes awry.

There is a lot of set up going here. We have new character Ashley Khan who is particularly bitter about her move to the slow horses and although there’s a lot of promise in her desire to get revenge on Jackson Lamb, she does fade out after the first quarter and doesn’t pay much of a role until the final few chapters. There’s also the continuing fall out of Taverner realising how bad a deal she made with Peter Judd and with Herron hinting that Wheelan may be hanging around, there’s some intriguing possibilities with that storyline. Into this, Herron throws a new storyline involving Rasnakov and his machinations, which Lamb and Taverner are both clearly worried about.

Of the original slow horses, there’s a particular focus on Shirley who is forced into rehab for her drug issues. I’ve always liked Shirley and Herron uses the opportunity to force her into some begrudging introspection (although Shirley being Shirley, she’s damned if she’s going to admit to any problems). Her team up with Wheelan holds intriguing possibilities for book 9 and given Wheelan’s misreading of the situation, a lot of comic potential.

Lech also gets more of a role here as he continues to come to terms with the scars on his face but is also dealing with the ramifications of having had COVID. I appreciated his conflicted emotions over how Bachelor basically kept him alive but at the same time has zero intention of letting Bachelor hold that over him. Having read all the side novellas, I was pleased to see Bachelor turn up in the main event and he remains a pitiful sad sack who is all too aware of his own foibles but his actions in the last quarter of the book make absolute sense and are completely true to his character and I liked the fact that Lamb knows exactly who he is and what he’ll do.

As for Lamb himself, there’s a hint of a resolution to his ill health story and he’s clearly got the bit between his teeth with Rasnakov such that you get a sense of the kind of spook he was when the Iron Curtain was still in place. The dismissive way he deals with Khan leads to some funny moments but much of the humour comes from Roddy who is auditioning potential candidates to accompany him to Comic Con and it goes about as well as you’d expect. I’m a bit torn about the Roddy scenes because they are funny but of all the characters in the book, he doesn’t have much depth to him and I do kinda wish he was humanised a bit more (but that is a minor complaint). Catherine, meanwhile, is worried about the losses the team have taken recently and really just doesn’t want to lose anyone else while Louisa is craving a bit of excitement.

I did find the beginning of the book to be a little leisurely but Herron’s really good at pacing and knows how to use his set piece scenes. There are a number of action scenes in the book, which work really well and I would love to read a side novella set among the inhabitants of the San should Herron ever decide to write one.

I read a special edition of the book, which has Herron’s thoughts on the Apple TV series released in 2022 and does give you an additional perspective on the book. Given the way Herron ends BAD ACTORS, I get the feeling that there are going to be some pretty major changes in book 9 and I really can’t wait to read it.

"Slow Horses" was one of my favourite finds of the lockdown. A novel that was enigmatic and characters with light and dark shade involved in a plot that moved with a confident pace. I thought I had found a series to bathe in. "Bad Actors" is dark. It is full of cynical poison. But it has no light, and the depth of the shade makes it almost impossible to be bothered to see the plot struggling in the darkness. The characters are hated, and hate filled. I decided halfway through that I don't need a lens into a world populated by characters with no redeeming features. If you revel in this kind of putrid stuff, you'll enjoy it. I don't, so, I gave up and moved on.

The "slow horses" are let loose once again under the unmatched ringmastership of the inimitable, all-knowing, all-seeing Jackson Lamb who, fortunately, has changed none of his unique habits or management style. As always when the denizens of Slough House are involved, chaos ensues. Here we have a special advisor to the PM who is abrasive, devious, bullying and determined to take over the world. There is very little brainpower needed to guess who this is based on! He wants to get rid of "Lady Di" so he can rule the intelligence service. We also have a Russian agent working for him. Shirley has been sent to a spook sanatorium for treatment for her substance abuse and anger management issues. Somehow it is believed that the Russian agent is being hidden in this facility under Shirley's name and said advisor gets a group of right wing extremist football hooligans to attack the facility to grab the supposed Russian. The ensuing mayhem is absolutely hysterical and the thugs stand absolutely no chance against Shirley and assorted in-patient spooks. Needless to say, Jackson saves Lady Di yet again and evil advisor gets due comeuppance. And Roddy Ho has dates with an actual woman. Dates 1 and 2 go really well but date 3...............!
Mick Herron has done it again and produced another gem that you just can't put down.

Not the book to start with, obviously, but as the eighth in a series this doesn’t disappoint.

Apart from Lamb, it doesn’t really do to have a favourite among the slow horses, as Herron varies the focus across the series and “your one” might be sidelined somewhat for a while - but I’m beginning to suspect that Herron himself has a great fondness for the absurdity that is Roddy Ho - here on great form again. This time, Shirley gets more of a central role and the plot is nicely done - with links to earlier books and hints for the future built-in - but as usual the nastiest characters on show are the political types.

With a deft use of multiple viewpoints, flashbacks and short interludes, this is very nicely constructed and a great addition to the series. Recommended.

“… the role of the slow horses is to embrace unfulfillment and boredom, to look back in disappointment, stare round in dismay, and understand that life is not an audition, except for the parts that are, and those are the parts they’ve failed.”

Bad Actors is the eighth book in the Slough House/Jackson Lamb series by award-winning British author, Mick Herron. Dr Sophie de Greer, hand-picked by the PM’s trusted right-hand man, Anthony Sparrow for an important role, is missing, and the word is that First Desk Di Taverner’s people at Regent’s Park are involved.

Chair of Limitations, Oliver Nash has been tasked by Sparrow with finding out, but he’s sure that Sparrow has an agenda. Semi-retired former First Desk, Claude Whelan is sent to look for her and, when he chats with Catherine Standish about it, he gets an idea of where she might be.

Days earlier though, milkman John Bachelor had spotted the young lady, and is sure she’s not quite whom she purports to be, something he shared with his friend, Lech Wicinski. So the slow horses, minus River Cartwright but ever eager for action, decide a bit of covert surveillance is in order.

Tightly plotted as always, and close-to-the-bone topical, this installment has the slow horses, and a few others, seeing plenty of action. Apart from guns, knives and fists, weapons brandished include a baseball bat, a hot chilli, a guide book, a table lamp, a spork, a head-lamp, an iron and a broom.

The Russian GRU’s First Desk makes an appearance, along with a gang of soccer hooligans, and a certain young man on the hub looks a likely candidate for Slough House after an encounter with Lady Di.

We can rely on Herron to unfailingly raise Lamb to new levels of obnoxiousness (yes, it is actually possible) while, outside of his IT prowess, Roddy Ho is no less deluded about his ability and appeal. The manifestation of the newly arrived Ashley Khan’s anger with Lamb almost backfires on her, but she does gets Ho a date, and Ho’s unlikely teamwork with Shirley Dander surprises them both.

Later, tucked away in an exclusive rehab facility to deal with her anger management issues, Shirley manages to engage in even more violence than usual, and finds an unexpected rapport with Claude Whelan.

The dialogue is always a source of humour and one might wonder if there is a forum where readers can offer Herron increasingly objectionable insults for Lamb’s use.

His description of characters is original and inventive: Sparrow is “nasty, British and short” and “the weasel under the Cabinet table, teeth bared and dripping” while, of Diana Taverner, “Even Nash, technically one of Regent’s Park’s string-pullers, knew to tread carefully around Diana. String-pullers carry weight, but Diana carried scissors.”

Fans f the series always look forward to an outing with the slow horses, while a reread fills the reader with anticipatory glee at the prospect of so many delicious and darkly funny moments set within the clever plot. Due to the guaranteed but unpredictable laugh-out-loud nature of the story, a warning must be issued: best not read on public transport, if you have continence issues, or whilst eating/drinking. Mick Herron never disappoints.