Dark matters of life and death
The latest batch of page-turning thrillers lift the lid on the darkest side of living
LONDON RULES by Mick Herron John Murray, £12.99
BRITAIN has been rocked by a series of seemingly random terror attacks so the head of MI5 Claude Whelan is trying to protect a beleaguered prime minister from criticism over his handling of the crisis.
This puts the security chief in the crosshairs of a showboating MP who orchestrated the Brexit vote and has his sights set on Number 10 Downing Street. Meanwhile, the politician’s tabloid columnist wife is crucifying Whelan in print.
So the last thing he needs is the failed spies of Slough House trying to stop another terror attack but making the situation much, much worse.
When agents with drink, drug and gambling addictions or severe psychological problems commit major blunders, they are transferred to Slough House as punishment and to protect society from further harm. There they compile reports that no one will ever read.
These spies land in the domain of the wonderfully inappropriate Jackson Lamb, a fat, flatulent, chain-smoking drunkard of a boss who revels in making their personal problems worse.
However he also zealously protects his realm from outside interference. So when someone tries to kill his tech geek Roddy Ho and a link to his unwitting involvement in the terror attacks emerges, Lamb knows he must obey the first and most important of the London Rules: “cover your a***”.
The fifth instalment of the award-winning Jackson Lamb series is witty, sardonic and laugh-out-loud funny yet also thrilling and thought-provoking.
Not many people can turn a terror attack into a farce but Herron achieves it with a cleverly constructed story, well-rounded characters and poetic prose.
Herron has often been compared with spy thriller greats John le Carré and Len Deighton but it is time he was recognised in his own right as the best thriller writer in Britain today. In a series that never lets its fans down, London Rules is the best instalment yet.