A New York Times bestselling series THE BOOK BEHIND THE THIRD SEASON OF SLOW HORSES , THE APPLE ORIGINAL SERIES STARRING GARY OLDMAN IN HIS EMMY-NOMINATED ROLE AS JACKSON LAMB. When one of their own is kidnapped, the washed-up MI5 operatives of Slough House—the Slow Horses, as they're known—outwit rogue agents at the very highest levels of British Intelligence, and even to Downing Street itself. London: Slough House is the MI5 branch where disgraced operatives are reassigned after they’ve messed up too badly to be trusted with real intelligence work. The “Slow Horses,” as the failed spies of Slough House are called, are doomed to spend the rest of their careers pushing paper, but they all want back in on the action. When one of their own is kidnapped and held for ransom, the agents of Slough House must defeat the odds, overturning all expectations of their competence, to breach the top-notch security of MI5’s intelligence headquarters, Regent’s Park, and steal valuable intel in exchange for their comrade’s safety. The kidnapping is only the tip of the iceberg, however—the agents uncover a larger web of intrigue that involves not only a group of private mercenaries but the highest authorities in the Secret Service. 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. Praise for Real Tigers A Boston Globe Best Book of the Year A Telegraph Best Crime Novel of the Year Shortlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger Award for Best Crime Novel Shortlisted for the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award for Best Thriller “[Herron's] cleverly plotted page-turners are driven by dialogue that bristles with one-liners. Much of the humor comes from Herron’s sharp eye for the way bureaucracies, whether corporate or clandestine, function and malfunction. The world of Slough House is closer to The Office than to 007.” —The Associated Press "A pulsating spy thriller about a kidnapped fallen spy whose colleagues uncover a plot threatening the future of the security service." — The Daily Express (UK) "[Herron is the] le Carré of the future . . . The characters are brilliant." —Patrick Neale on BBC's The Oxford Book Club "Heroic struggles, less-heroic failures and a shoot-out-cum-heist . . . with no let-up in the page turning throughout." — Esquire "If you read one spy novel this year, read Real Tigers . Better still, read the whole series." — The Spectator "[Reads] like an episode of Spooks written by Ricky Gervais . . . With his poet's eye for detail, his comic timing and relish for violence, Herron fills a gap that has been yawning ever since Len Deighton retired." — The Daily Telegraph, ★★★★★ "Masterful . . . Deliciously tongue-in-cheek and with a strikingly serpentine construction, it is a thriller that moves Herron close to the class of Graham Greene." — The Daily Mail "All the action you might want from an espionage thriller is to be found in Real Tigers , with betrayal, double-dealing and a fantastically violent climax in an underground facility, but the true pleasures of Mick Herron’s Gold Dagger-winning Slough House series lie elsewhere: in the sharp wit and dry irony and elegant grace of the prose, the razor-sharp characterisation . . . Think Le Carré with fewer posh people and laugh-out-loud funny. Mick Herron is the real deal." — Irish Times "[The Slough House series is] among the finest British spy fiction of the past 20 years . . . Real Tigers sees them dragged center stage when the kidnap of Lamb's assistant sets into motion a narrative of breathtaking ingenuity. Brilliant." — London Metro "Satire, verbal sparring and gunfights are deftly combined in a excellently written novel permeated by Herron's sly, dry and very English sense of humour—rather as if Philip Larkin or Alan Bennett had had a go at spy fiction." — The Sunday Times (London) "Brilliantly twisty . . . Fun and thrilling in equal measure, Real Tigers is an absolute joy." — The Mail on Sunday "Deviously clever." —StopYou'reKillingMe.com "Herron's is the next big name in crime fiction." —The Literary Review "The labyrinthine plot takes off like a NASA rocket . . . What makes this work is top-notch writing and characterization. Thanks to crisp, clever dialogue, the reader is quickly drawn into the odd camaraderie of the Slough House team and their specific quirks." — Mystery Scene "Herron’s strength is in examining at close hand the absurdities, conflicts, and dangers of the intelligence agency as an institution at the center of some of the most central conflicts in the 21st century." — Los Angeles Review of Books "It is impossible not to be impressed by Herron’s use of language . . . A thoroughly entertaining tale." —CrimeReview.com "Misdirection abounds as the Slow Horses work to save their fellow agent and thwart a devious