*Now a major TV series starring Gary Oldman*The most exciting development in spy fiction since the Cold War The TimesTo have been lucky enough to play Smiley in ones career; and now go and play Jackson Lamb in Mick Herrons novels - the heir, in a way, to le Carré - is a terrific thing Gary Oldman***...

*Now a major TV series starring Gary Oldman*The most exciting development in spy fiction since the Cold War The TimesTo have been lucky enough to play Smiley in ones career; and now go and play Jackson Lamb in Mick Herrons novels - the heir, in a way, to le Carré - is a terrific thing Gary Oldman****Spooks are supposed to be stealthy . . . But those who make a noisy mess of their careers end up in Slough House. This is Jackson Lambs kingdom: a dumping ground for spies whove screwed up. Once high fliers, theyre now slow horses, condemned to a life of pushing paper as punishment for crimes of drugs and drunkenness, lechery and failure, politics and betrayal. In drab and mildewed offices, these highly trained spies moan and squabble, stare at the walls, and dream of better days - not one of them joined the Intelligence Service to be a slow horse, and the one thing they have in common is their desire to be back in the action. So when a young man is kidnapped and held hostage, his beheading scheduled for live broadcast on the net, the slow horses arent going to just sit quietly and watch. And unless they can prove theyre not as useless as theyre thought to be, a public execution is going to echo round the world. The most enjoyable British spy novel in years Mail on SundayThe new spy master Evening Standard