Characters are drawn with the sharpest possible pen and, like them or not, they are compelling whether alone or in groups. The Slough House series of which Real Tigers is the third instalment, is surely among the finest British spy fiction of the past 20 years.

Real Tigers by Mick Herron | Hachette UK Real Tigers by Mick Herron | Hachette UK

While the first two books in the series laid the important groundwork, it is in Real Tigers where all the various elements come together to create a near-perfect spy novel. Real Tigers is the third book in the Slough House series by prize-winning British author, Mick Herron. Misdirection abounds as the Slow Horses work to save their fellow agent and thwart a devious government conspiracy . A week after the night she chases but fails to catch a mysterious trespasser outside her town house, some unknown party texts Tempe four images of a corpse that looks as if it’s been chewed by wild hogs, because it has been. Herron has a natural talent for creating and portraying characters that are instantly understandable, relatable, and more than occasionally despicable.He is the author of the Slough House espionage series (soon to be an Apple TV+ show starring Gary Oldman and Kristin Scott Thomas), four Oxford mysteries, and several standalone novels. His attempt inevitably fails, but not before coming to the attention of Diana ‘Lady Di’ Taverner, second desk at MI5 and head of ops.

Mick Herron Jackson Lamb Thriller Series 6 Books Collection Mick Herron Jackson Lamb Thriller Series 6 Books Collection

Rather than following protocol – he is a slow horse after all – he goes to the meet without back-up. She’s just the assistant to Jackson Lamb, who lords it over Slough House as if it weren’t the penultimate stop on the path from success in the Security Service to disgrace and oblivion. He is the author of six books in the Slough House series ( Slow Horses, Dead Lions, Real Tigers, Spook Street, London Rules, and the novella The List) and four Oxford mysteries ( Down Cemetery Road, The Last Voice You Hear, Why We Die, and Smoke and Whispers), as well as the standalone novels Reconstruction, Nobody Walksand This Is What Happened.The disgraced spies at MI5’s Slough House must try to save one of their own in CWA Gold Dagger Award–winner Herron’s outstanding third thriller . The stakes at play are extremely high and at times complex, but Herron manages to make the minutiae understandable even to those completely unfamiliar with the spy game and government structure in the United Kingdom. Written by Mick Herron — With Nobody Walks, Mick Herron did something a little different to his previous efforts, though still within the espionage genre, albeit tangentially. She used to assist Charles Partner, who was First Desk at Regents Park until his suicide – something it’s rumoured Lamb might have had a hand in arranging.

REAL TIGERS | Kirkus Reviews REAL TIGERS | Kirkus Reviews

At heart, there is solid seriousness here as the new Home Secretary unleashes a tiger team (in which your own side tests you to the limit) to expose the weaknesses of British intelligence . It’s much more like always looking for someone to blame as the action and humor continue to skyrocket. It’s a harrowing trip: they weather everything from stampeding buffalo to back-breaking work, but it proves to be worth it after they discover the teeth of what looks to be a giant dinosaur, and it could be the discovery of the century if they can only get them back home safely. Witty, urbane, filled with acute observations, endlessly quotable lines and a cast of wonderfully jaded agents who I look forward to spending time with for many more books to come.Even readers who don’t care for the endless bureaucratic infighting will have to admire this tour de force, in which virtually every single player—good guys, bad guys, all the turncoats and in-betweeners—is somehow connected to British Intelligence. As she’s the first to tell everyone, recovering alcoholic Catherine Standish has never been “a joe,” a field agent. Sizzlingly stylish, ferociously funny and fiercely intelligent, Mick Herron has managed to breathe new life into the spy novel. It brings to a close several series plots and leads to at last one emotional farewell to a series character. Peter Judd, now home secretary, has plans to use the situation for his own ends, but his Tiger Team have motives of their own which don’t necessarily ally with Judd’s.