The List: A Novella (Slough House) Paperback – December 8, 2015

These novellas are a treat for the reader. The writing, as always with Mick Herron, takes you into rich descriptive arcs perfectly drawn.

This short story (at 43 pages my apologies to Penguin's publicist, but this is not a novella) is the third entry in the Slough House series about an out of the way wreck of a building where British intelligence sends its embarrassments to moulder out of sight. This works both as a stand alone and as an intro to a refreshing series that brings an overdue touch of humor (droll in the Brit manner) to the genre. Sympathetic characters fit into the depth and breadth of an well crafted read. Recommended.Update (03/07/2019): I am rereading the Slough House reads which consist of five full length novels, and three works sold as novellas but only one of which is long enough to qualify as anything but a short story. I am impressed at how smoothly the words flow out of Mick Heron's imagination. This is a polished story with solid Slough House credentials-humor, eloquence, and a solid dose of London with its diverse and entertaining face in full view. Of the shorter length Slough House publications this matches the spirit of the full length novels the best-several of its regulars do walk ons, and it has the sly humor and irreverence readers of the series have come to expect. The second time through made me realize that Mick Herron has earned his way into my top handful of contemporary authors. Add to this the fact that Herron is only 52 years old and it makes me feel there may be a lot of good writing in his and our future.

Yes, I realize it's a novella, obviously setting up the next book, but having half the book be a preview for an unrelated series was a rude, unsatisfying ending. Fun to see the SH characters from an outside perspective, but that's about it.

The List is a novella in the Slough House series by British author, Mick Herron. John Bachelor does the milk run: he looks after those assets no longer active, retired spooks who have come in from the cold but might still have sensitive information in their possession. “…his role was to make sure they suffered no unwelcome intrusions, no mysterious clicks on the landline; above all, that they weren’t developing a tendency to broadcast the details of their lives to anyone who cared to listen. It sometimes amused Bachelor, sometimes depressed him, that he worked for the secret service in an era where half the population aired its private life on the web. He wasn’t sure the Cold War had been preferable, but it had been more dignified”One of his assets, Dieter Hess has died of natural causes, but now Regent’s Park has uncovered a bank account that no one knows about, and that needs a closer look. Eventually, Bachelor finds a hand-written coded list that might offer a clue as to what Hess was up to, and whether he was a double agent.Even Jackson Lamb’s almost cameo appearance in this small but excellent dose of Slough House confirms his “canny but obnoxious” description. It also introduces J K Coe, who joins the Slough House crew in a later book. The Kindle version also has a preview of another Herron book, Nobody Walks. Clever and funny and worth the cash outlay.

If you like the SLOUGH HOUSE/SLOW HORSES series, you will love this novella... and the additional background in adds to one of the novels. Read these novellas in order... they fill out some gaps and backstory in the ongoing series.

Mick Herron is truly one of the most entertaining writers of the espionage/crime genre currently active, and "The List" is every bit as good as his Slough House books and better than some that preceded that series. This small gem of writing--more like a short story than a novella--has the feel of a condensed full novel. Snappy plot and sharply drawn characters (latter will be familiar to fans of the Slough House books). And plenty of snark (Jackson Lamb and Lady Diana Taverner make appearances) and full-bodied irony adorn the story. A description of the physical characteristics of Slough House through the eyes of a visitor is only one of the story's great moments.One caveat only -- this really is a short story (67 pages), although the publisher throws in an introductory excerpt of "Real Tigers" to flesh out the paperback.

This novella does a great job of continuing the story line of the Slough House series with the workings of MI5 at Regent's Park by placing the focus on an agent who never had a shining career, just a day-to-day job. Fifty-six year old John Bachelor is assigned to keep tabs on agents who aren't working for the company any longer but who can't be allowed to just float around in the wind. Dieter Hess is an old spook who is dead in his home when Bachelor arrives for his weekly visit. Everything gets sanitized and cleaned up except for one little thing, that secret bank account Dieter had. That had slipped right by John so now he has to find out how much damage Dieter's secret might have caused.I enjoyed this story featuring so many of the characters who populate the long novels in the Slough House series by concentrating on a lower level spy. What does an organization like MI5 do with agents who never were and never will be very important? Bachelor chaffs at only being useful to babysit retired or medically impaired agents but it's better than being put out to pasture himself. If you have read some of the novels in the series you will find old acquaintances here with some added dimension. I like Molly Doran (a Regent's Park records officer) and Jackson Lamb (in charge of Slough House) and it was interesting to pick up insights into their characters.This novella also contains a preview of Nobody Walks, a stand alone novel by Herron.