Lame Horses

Mick Herron has been called the "John le Carré of our time" and the 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, almost farcical, astonishingly cynical caricature of politicians, bureaucrats, infighting, and the Great Game" (Booklist), and the "lame horses," also known as weaklings from Slough House, are disgraced intelligence officers punished "for their addiction to drugs, alcohol or debauchery; for intrigue and betrayal; for dissatisfaction and doubts; as well as for unforgivable folly." Overseeing them is Jackson Lamb - "the Falstaff of our days" (Sunday Times) and "one of the most monstrous characters in contemporary literature" (Bernard Cornwell). But, as is well known, there are no former "Service" members, and every weakling, engaged in meaningless bureaucratic work, dreams of justifying themselves and returning to operational work in Regent's 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" series was adapted for television: Apple TV+ launched a series known in Russian as "Slow Horses." Three seasons have already been released, with at least five in total planned. Gary Oldman played the role of Jackson Lamb, and the series also starred Jack Loudon, Olivia Cooke, Jonathan Pryce, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Christopher Chung. The director of the first season was James Hawes ("Merlin," "Black Mirror," "Doctor Who," "The Alienist," "Raised by Wolves").