The List

The List (Slough House) by Mick Herron

This is a short story/novella set in the spy world of Mick Herron's “Slough House” - where the failed spies are sent to rusticate. This story clicks along to just the proper surprise that we expect in a well-crafted short story.

My exposure to Herron's “Slow Horses” spy world is this story and “Slow Horses.” Herron as the same facility that John LeCarre had to give his spy world a depth that suggests that it actually happens. Herron's spy world is perhaps a bit more about internal bureaucratic in-fighting that LeCarre's world of lamplighters and headhunters. LeCarre had the tension of the Cold War going for him, whereas Herron has to find the tension where he can, which seems to open up far more space for humor and irony.

The writing is well-done. The plot is tight. I recommend it.