Lame Horses

Mick Herron has been called «the John le Carré of our time» and a new hope of British literature, compared to Raymond Chandler and Kingsley Amis, Evelyn Waugh and Graham Greene, Elmore Leonard and Joseph Heller. Herron's novels are —... a «funny, bordering on farce, astonishingly cynical caricature of politicians, bureaucrats, internecine squabbles, and the Great Game» (Booklist), and the «lame horses», also known as the weaklings from Slough House — are disgraced intelligence agents punished «for addiction to drugs, alcohol, or debauchery; for intrigues and betrayal; for discontent and doubt; as well as for unpardonable blunders». They are overseen by Jackson Lamb — «the Falstaff of our days» (Sunday Times) and «one of the most monstrous characters in contemporary literature» (Bernard Cornwell). But, as is known, there are no former «Office» agents, and every weakling, engaged in pointless paperwork, dreams of justifying themselves, returning to operational work in Regents Park. And when terrorists kidnap a teenager and threaten to behead him live on «YouTube», the weaklings are not going to sit idly by... In 2022, the «Slough House» cycle was adapted for television: the Apple TV+ channel launched a series known in Russian as «Slow Horses». Three seasons have already been released, with at least five in total planned. The role of Jackson Lamb was played by Gary Oldman, and the series also stars Jack Lowden, Olivia Cooke, Jonathan Pryce, Kristin Scott Thomas, Christopher Chung. The director of the first season was James Hawes («Merlin», «Black Mirror», «Doctor Who», «The Alienist», «Raised by Wolves»).