Select one of the keywords
Real Tigers: Slough House #3    by Mick Herron Amazon.com order for
Real Tigers
by Mick Herron
Order:  USA  Can
Soho, 2016 (2016)
Hardcover, CD, e-Book
* *   Reviewed by Bob Walch

Admittedly this third installment of the Slough House series featuring a group of misfit and disgraced MI5 operatives takes a while to get into, but once the story takes hold, it does become an entertaining read.

Dubbed the slow horses by their colleagues in the spy business, the folks at Slough House find that when one of their own is kidnapped they still have enough giddy-up left to launch an effort to find the missing woman and get her back to safety.

This is rather a convoluted and multi-layered plot that demands a bit of patience at the outset as you sift through the various characters and relationships to try to understand the nature of the conspiracy that is unfolding here.

Although they are a rather motley crew with plenty of idiosyncrasies, the agents banished to this unit can still function professionally and even with their sardonic leader, they can be a force to be reckoned with.

It appears that Mark Herron with his MI5 eccentrics has taken a page from Christopher Fowler's popular series featuring the maverick Peculiar Crimes Unit which handles bizarre crimes in London. Although I think Fowler's characters are more likable and his plots more interesting, Herron is also able to mine the character eccentricities that make both series so enticing.

Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons.

Find more Mystery books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews