Spy-Detective

★★★★☆ | Spy & Detective | Digital | Borrow | StoryGraph | Goodreads

The sixth volume of the wonderful Slow Horses saga by Mick Herron. Jackson Lamb is as disgusting and brilliant as ever, and the Slow Horses must work together to save one of their own. Each character in these books battles their own inner demon: an addiction, the loss of a loved one, a betrayal, or a past mistake that cannot be undone. As usual, they are continually undermined by the senior leaders of the intelligence service they serve. This one is the darkest of the books so far, with an ending that hints at even more trouble ahead for the Slow Horses. 

Joe Country by Mick HerronRead More »

★★★★☆ | Spy-Detective | Digital | Own | StoryGraph | Goodreads 

Another brilliant volume in the wonderful Slow Horses saga. Jackson Lamb is as disgusting and brilliant as ever, with the Slow Horses needing to save the day from the arrogance and pervasive politics of the intelligence service leaders.  All of the Slow Horses are fighting some inner demon: an addiction, anger issues, or a past mistake that cannot be undone. Yet, despite the odds, they manage to pull together as a unit and save the day.  Fun, funny, and suspenseful.  I love these Slow Horses!

London Rules by Mick HerronRead More »

★★★★☆ | Spy-Detective | Digital | Borrow | StoryGraph | Goodreads

The fourth Slow Horses book was fun. These books follow a formula, yet are so well written. These aren’t the kind of books you analyze for themes or highlight many passages.  They’re just good, well-written entertainment. It will be interesting to watch Season Four on TV now that I’ve read the book. Maybe there will be more departures from the book?

Spook Street by Mick HerronRead More »

★★★★☆ | Spy-Detective | Digital | Borrow | StoryGraph | Goodreads 

My third Slow Horses book. The plot of this one followed the TV series pretty closely, though there are more differences than the first two.  The allure here is the continued depth of characters that grow and develop from book to book.  Herron throws these well-established characters into tension and conflict and they respond predictably. It’s up to the author to put them into tighter and tighter binds to avoid becoming cliche. I’ll bet in later books, he has the characters become less predictable, otherwise this could feel a little too much like Star Trek novels. We’ll see.

Real Tigers by Mick HerronRead More »

★★★★☆ | Spy-Detective | Digital | Own | StoryGraph | Goodreads 

The second installment of the Slow Horses series.  This one departed enough from the TV series to keep me guessing.  Jackson Lamb is such a terrific character.  Perhaps not great literature, but engaging and fun.

Dead Lions by Mick HerronRead More »

★★★★☆ | Spy-Detective | Digital | Borrow | StoryGraph | Goodreads

A long, meandering, indulgent spy novel by an author whose prose is typically tight as a drum.  This novel felt intimate and autobiographical, as if Le Carre were explaining the abuses he endured as a child through a novel.  It wasn’t what I expected, which is OK.  I’m not sure I would consider this one of his best novels.  3.5 stars?

★★★★☆ | Spy-Detective | Digital | Borrow | StoryGraph | Goodreads

My first John D. MacDonald novel–this one with his famous protagonist Travis McGee. I liked the Florida boat setting and MacDonald’s frequent use of sharing his opinions on excess consumerism, “normal” 9 – 5 living, and the vagaries of human nature. The writing about women is so dated, but this was written in 1964. 

The Deep Blue Good-by by John D MacDonaldRead More »

★★★☆☆ | Spy-Detective | Digital | Borrow | StoryGraph | Goodreads

The third installment of the Nero Wolfe mystery series.  A muscle man who’s quite a thinker himself is the protagonist in these books.  Wolfe is the enigma that we collectively marvel at for his brilliance and idiosyncrasies.  Reading this book after just finishing Storycraft by Jack Hart forced me to look at the joinery work and finishing of the plot and how it moved along.  One of the downsides of studying the craft of writing is that some of the enthralling magic of the story fades away as you better understand what the author is doing.

The Rubber Band by Rex StoutRead More »