Joe Country by Mick HerronMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
(4 1/2 stars!) The Slow Horse gang is trying to recover from their latest case with Roddy Ho's "girlfriend" and the attempts made on his life. River Cartwright's grandfather has passed away, and who should show up at the funeral but his father. Jackson Lamb and Catherine Standish are bickering as usual. There's a new Slow Horse who doesn't seem to fit in with the group (big surprise). And Diana Taverner is now working as First Desk, but Peter Judd is back in the private sector, and making her life a living hell as usual.
Thus begins the action packed escapade, set in Wales during the midst of a huge snowstorm. I read the book during our summer's heat wave, yet I felt like I was there shivering with the Slow Horses team. Be prepared for some violence and gruesome deaths, more than usual for this series of books. Luckily, there's always the dark humor to balance our the violence.
The Slough House building is the primary character that appears in each of the books in this series with absolutely moody descriptions by Mick Herron. It's downtrodden, forgotten, falling apart and shabby, just like the Slow Horses that work there. Each of his books definitely have literary fiction overtones, and I just want to read slowly so I'm immersed in the language.
This is the 6th in the Slow Horses series, and in my opinion they just keep getting better! I've watched the previous five seasons on Apple TV+ and am anxiously awaiting the 6th season which is scheduled to premier on 9/16/2026 (based on this book).
"If Spook Street is where spies live, Joe Country is where they go to die."
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