Real Tigers by Mick Herron

Real Tigers by Mick Herron

• ISBN-10: 1616956127 - Hardcover $26.95
• Publisher: Soho Crime (January 19, 2016), 352 pages.
• Review copy courtesy of the publisher and the Amazon Vine Reviewers Program.

The blurb:
London's Slough House is where disgraced MI5 operatives are reassigned to spend the rest of their spy careers pushing paper.  But when one of these "slow horses" is kidnapped by a former soldier bent on revenge, the agents must breach the defenses of Regent's Park to steal valuable intel in exchange for their comrade's safety.  The kidnapping is only the tip of the iceberg, however, as the agents uncover a larger web of intrigue that involves not only a group of private mercenaries but also the highest authorities in the Security Services.  After years spent as the lowest on the totem pole, the slow horses suddenly find themselves caught in the midst of a conspiracy that threatens not only the future of Slough House, but of MI5 itself.

Review:
I'm new to the Slough House series, Real Tigers was my first exposure to Slough House and its operatives, but I enjoy espionage novels and thrillers.

Set in present day London, Real Tigers focuses on the operatives of Slough House the day that one of their own is kidnapped by a private security firm. It's not clear why Catherine is taken as she doesn't deal with confidential information or active files. The entire group of Slough House is relegated to projects that no one is interested in and have little actual intelligence value. Their members are MI5 operatives who can't be dismissed but are being bored/worked until they're ready to quit. The members are each aware of their fall from grace and carry their penance in different ways. Catherine's capture brings Slough House together as the members work to bring her home, tapping into skills long left dormant. Jackson Lamb leads Slough House which is staffed with recovering alcoholic Catherine Standish, Marcus Longworth who is a gambler but the only one of the group with strong fighting skills, Rodney Ho who is an obnoxious computer hacker/genius, drug dependent and equally obnoxious Shirley, gorgeous Louisa recovering from the loss of her partner, and River Cartwright whose last disastrous operation still haunts him.

Real Tigers delivers political intrigue, espionage, and excitement as the Slough House team work together facing plots within plots.

About the Author:
Mick Herron was born in Newcastle and has a degree in English from Balliol College, Oxford.  He is the author of eight other novels, Down Cemetery Road, The Last Voice You'll Hear, Why We Die, Smoke and Whispers, Reconstruction, Slow Horses, Dead Lions, and Nobody Walks, as well as the novella The List.  His work has been nominated for the Macavity, Barry and Shamus Awards, and he won the Gold Dagger for Best Crime Novel.  He lives in Oxford and works in London.