Slow Horses Audiobook By Mick Herron cover art

Slow Horses

The bestselling thrillers that inspired the hit Apple TV+ show Slow Horses (Slough House Thriller 1)

 Preview

Audible Standard 30-day free trial

Try Standard free
Select 1 audiobook a month from our entire collection of titles.
Yours as long as you’re a member.
Get unlimited access to bingeable podcasts.
Standard auto renews for $8.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Slow Horses

By: Mick Herron
Narrated by: Sean Barrett
Try Standard free

$8.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $29.90

Buy for $29.90

*Now an award-winning Apple TV+ series starring Gary Oldman, Kristin Scott Thomas and Jack Lowden*

'The most exciting development in spy fiction since the Cold War' The Times

'To have been lucky enough to play Smiley in one's career; and now go and play Jackson Lamb in Mick Herron's novels - the heir, in a way, to le Carré - is a terrific thing' Gary Oldman

****

Spooks are supposed to be stealthy . . . But those who make a noisy mess of their careers end up in Slough House.

This is Jackson Lamb's kingdom: a dumping ground for spies who've screwed up. Once high fliers, they're now slow horses, condemned to a life of pushing paper as punishment for crimes of drugs and drunkenness, lechery and failure, politics and betrayal. In drab and mildewed offices, these highly trained spies moan and squabble, stare at the walls, and dream of better days - not one of them joined the Intelligence Service to be a slow horse, and the one thing they have in common is their desire to be back in the action.

So when a young man is kidnapped and held hostage, his beheading scheduled for live broadcast on the net, the slow horses aren't going to just sit quietly and watch. And unless they can prove they're not as useless as they're thought to be, a public execution is going to echo round the world.

'The most enjoyable British spy novel in years' Mail on Sunday

'The new spy master' Evening Standard Crime Thrillers Espionage Political Spies & Politics Suspense Thriller & Suspense Disappearance Exciting Witty Funny Cold War

Critic reviews

Praise for Mick Herron's Jackson Lamb series:
The new spy master
Jackson Lamb - the most fascinating and irresistible thriller series hero to emerge since Jack Reacher
As a master of wit, satire, insight . . . Herron is difficult to overpraise
The finest new crime series this Millennium
The best modern British spy series
The John le Carré of our generation
Mick Herron is the real deal
If you read one spy novel this year, read Real Tigers. Better still, read the whole series
Surely among the finest British spy fiction of the past 20 years
With his poet's eye for detail, his comic timing and relish for violence, Herron fills a gap that has been yawning ever since Len Deighton retired
The most enjoyable spy novel in years
A funny, stylish, satirical, gripping story
I was delighted to discover that this is merely the first in a captivating series
The first of his series about MI5 and a character called Jackson Lamb, one of the great monsters of modern fiction. He's a wonderfully cynical writer and there's a lot of dark humour in it. I'm not clever enough to write this sort of thing
I was delighted to discover Mick Herron's riotous Slow Horses series about the black sheep of MI5
For something really gripping, head for Mick Herron's Jackson Lamb series, in which a sidelined spook and his cohorts battle their way back to the centre of a life of espionage. Begin with Slow Horses and enjoy
Mick Herron's Slow Horses series has all the thrills of John Le Carre or Len Deighton with a black humour

People who viewed this also viewed...

Standing by the Wall Audiobook By Mick Herron cover art
Standing by the Wall By: Mick Herron
Down Cemetery Road Audiobook By Mick Herron cover art
Down Cemetery Road By: Mick Herron
Unexpected Plot Twists • Well-developed Characters • Gripping Storyline • Original Premise • Clever Writing

Highly rated for:

All stars
Most relevant

What did you love best about Slow Horses?

Perhaps it is the combination of an interesting plot development without " boy's own" shenanigans. Just as there is an audience for the representations of mega brutality and endless car chase-like scenes, there is also an audience for intelligent, persuasive story with talented, well written character development. This novel excels in the latter category. There is no sidestepping of a truth..it is quietly alluded to and left to a listener's intelligence.

What did you like best about this story?

The lack of over explanation and mindless minutiae. Instead of limiting the listener's imagination, the writer encourages the listener to imagine their own version. This very clever enabling works magnificently to draw a person into the story's machinery.

What about Sean Barrett’s performance did you like?

Ah Sean. One never tires of listening to his vocal range and restrained but emotive characterisations. But why didn't you try " doing" Joanna Lumley's voice Mr Barrett? I know. Because this actor is an exemplar when it comes to doing justice to any audiobook.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Have to admit I was hooked in when the rag tag collection of " losers" galvanise themselves into action. It is a well known device, I know, but somehow it felt better written than many others we have seen or read.even if an IT " geek" is once again the background star of the event. Here is an idea for a novel. A handsome, urbane, well dressed IT specialist, with loads of real friends, teaches everyone in the office how to hack into...whatever...and goes home to an amazing life leaving the others to tap away on their computers and save the situation. Never seen that character.

Any additional comments?

Perhaps this story has been told before. Misfits making good is not an original idea. Nor is the idea that " those higher up" made it there through no skill of their own and on the shoulders of others. What makes this novel for me is the clean, concise writing.

Intelligent, plausible and restrained.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I envisioned a marvelous flowerbed, right in that weedy corner of the yard. I wanted it, but was dreading the prospect of digging up the ground. Turning the soil, digging out the weeds and grass, adding compost and mulch, prepping the soil. My least favorite part.

So this book was chosen to keep me company. Something entertaining and light.

The story started out slow. Frankly, if I hadn't been stuck in the yard anyway, I might have stopped listening. Then about an hour in, I found myself laughing.But in that not quite funny but sort of wincing way--when the joke is on you and it's a bit painful.

And I stopped playing in the dirt. Rewound. And listened again.

That was my introduction to Slough House and Mick Herron. Underrated. Under the radar. Magnificently, awesomely human.

These are the stories of heroes who have dared greatly and failed spectacularly. And survived. Banned to a boring, mundane, useless existence. Except once or twice, they get to secretly save the world.

We're all a bit slow, aren't we?

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
First work of Mick Herron I have found. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute. Entertainingly written and Sean Barret's performance was spot on.

a pleasure to listen to

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Great interesting novel and the narrator was very good to listen to.
Highly recommend for John Le Carre fans or spy thrillers

Most Enjoyable

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
slow horses was a no brainer as far as interesting stories go - who can resist the underdog. I usually go to sleep with english narrators, but this one kept me listening without a break.

great procedural novel

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews