Slough House book 1 · 2010
Slow Horses
River Cartwright, a promising young MI5 agent, botched a training exercise at King’s Cross and was banished to Slough House. When a young man is kidnapped and threatened with a live execution online, the slow horses see a chance to get back in the game, whether Jackson Lamb likes it or not.
Spoiler-free summary written for The Recurring Cast.
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Book facts
- Author
- Mick Herron
- Series
- Slough House, book 1 of 9
- Published
- 2010
- Setting
- Set in London
- Characters charted
- 8
- Chart confidence
- High
Slow Horses on screen
- Slow Horses (2022–, series, Apple TV). Gary Oldman plays the slovenly, brilliant Jackson Lamb, who runs Slough House, the MI5 office where disgraced spies are sent to see out their careers.
Who is in Slow Horses
8 recurring or key characters from Mick Herron’s chart. Introduces Jackson Lamb, River Cartwright, Catherine Standish, Roddy Ho and 4 more.
Lead 2
- Jackson LambFirst appearanceHead of Slough House, a former Cold War field agent
- River CartwrightFirst appearanceAgent exiled to Slough House after a training exercise goes wrong
Major 4
- Catherine StandishFirst appearanceSlough House’s administrator, a recovering alcoholic
- Louisa GuyFirst appearanceSlow horse
- Min HarperFirst appearanceSlow horse, Louisa’s partner
- Diana TavernerFirst appearanceSecond desk at MI5, later First Desk
Minor and cameo 2
- Roddy HoFirst appearanceSlough House’s self-regarding computer expert
- David CartwrightFirst appearanceRiver’s grandfather, a retired spymaster known as the O.B.
Also featuring these characters
Other Mick Herron books that share the most characters with Slow Horses.
- Spook Street2017 · Slough House · 7 shared charactersBuy on Amazon
- Real Tigers2016 · Slough House · 6 shared charactersBuy on Amazon
- London Rules2018 · Slough House · 6 shared charactersBuy on Amazon
- Joe Country2019 · Slough House · 6 shared charactersBuy on Amazon