Mick Herron: The Secret Hours and Bad Actors

THE SECRET HOURS by Mick Herron is a stand-alone spy thriller from a master of his craft; Herron has won numerous awards and is often compared to John LeCarré or even Ian Fleming. In this novel, spies are investigating spies due to the establishment of the politically motivated Monochrome inquiry, staffed by Griselda Fleet and Malcolm Kyle, two civil servants without stellar pasts. The much more exciting parts of the book involve Max, a retired spy suddenly forced to go on the run. All leads back to events in 1990s Berlin. Called “gripping, cryptic, tragic, and suspenseful,” THE SECRET HOURS received starred reviews from Booklist, Library Journal, and Publishers Weekly and is an ABA Indie Next Pick for September 2023. The audiobook has an excellent beginning – quite vividly describing a dead badger and Max’s escape from his rural cottage. Sadly, it then shifts to bureaucratic politics with little differentiation between characters and is therefore less compelling for a stretch. Overall, though, the text combines Herron’s talent for writing action-adventure and amusing, witty satire. Definitely a title that will be enjoyed by readers of spy fiction. 

BAD ACTORS by Mick Herron (released last Spring) is book eight in the Slough House Series which is not one to be missed in print; plus, two seasons, (titled Slow Horses) are available with more planned through Apple TV+. The series titles are best read in order, but can function as stand-alones. After all, few can resist a spy story like BAD ACTORS that begins: “The woods were lovely, dark, and deep, and full of noisy bastards.” That encapsulates Herron’s snarky commentary, often expressed by his main character, Jackson Lamb, who heads a group of misfit spies (MI5 rejects), bending normal rules, and subtly (OK, sometimes, not so subtly) pushing them to the edge of their abilities. While after bad guys, Lamb is also out to get revenge on a manipulative former colleague, Diana Taverner, and the way they dance around each other is fascinating. Herron has crafted an exciting, fast-paced thriller series that includes a large dose of crude comic moments. This latest entry has been widely praised: BAD ACTORS received starred reviews from Booklist and Publishers Weekly (“an outstanding mix of arch humor, superb characterizations, and trenchant political observations”).