Standing by the Wall

The Collected Slough House Novellas

De: Mick Herron

Narrado por: Gerard Doyle

At last in one volume: the collected Slough House spy novellas, including the never-before-published Christmas interlude Standing by the Wall

Espionage. Blackmail. Revenge. Cunning. Slapstick. State secrets dating back to the fall of the Berlin Wall. All this and more in a tight package of five novellas by Mick Herron, CWA Gold Dagger-winning author of Slow Horses. From the troubled recruitment of a new MI5 informant to a botched information transfer, Herron’s novellas capture the drama, humor, and high stakes of everyday life in the world of spycraft, a world rife with both legends and secrets, where thrillseeking and loneliness are ubiquitous and deadly, and where the lines between friends, enemies, and lovers are perpetually blurred by circumstance and subterfuge.

For fans new and old, Standing by the Wall is an excellent introduction to the extended literary universe of Mick Herron’s Slow Horses.

©2022 Mick Herron (P)2023 Recorded Books

Characters

Generally I don’t like short stories but this collection of short stories was some better because most of them included the same characters with a story line that moved ahead from one short story to the next.

Novellas, sketches, back stories - all good

This fan of the Slough House crew and their world will happily receive whatever scrap of information Mick Herron will give me by way if the incomparable Gerard Doyle. Season 3 of Slow Horses is due out toward the end of 2023. Meanwhile, I hope Herron is cooking up more work for this set of fascinating misfits.

Short story collection gets you through

I enjoyed the collection of stories from the Jackson Lamb universe. It was good immersion and well told tales. I wish it was more a revealing look on some of the central characters to the other novels. It is the only thing I can think of to improve it.

Captivating Listen

The reader is outstanding and the novellas are excellent. All were great listens! Most highly recommended.

Review

Herron is possibly the best in the genre. Wish there were more Slough House books
But I would read anything by him

Spoiler alert

I wonder why Standing by the Wall contains such a big spoiler for The Secret Hours? I think I would have enjoyed the big twist in that book more than I enjoyed this short story.

Read Standing by the Wall (the story) after The Secret Hours, that’s my advice to you.

Nice accompaniment to previous books

I really enjoyed this. I think it would be most enjoyable for those who have already listened to the previous audiobooks as there are a lot of references to them and to their characters. As usual, the narration is excellent. I will listen to any of these books!

Excellent filling-in of details from the entire Slough House series

Gerard Doyle's mastery of subject and characters; gaps in prior stories beautifully explained; and the promise of more Slough House stories

Slough House and mix of other characters

I enjoyed the short story (Barely novellas) about Jackson's past. The Bachelor guy (mailman not a regular at SH) was very well drawn and is a character I have run into in real life a few times. Bad choices, a bit lazy, and at the end of life these habits cause a Reckoning that he still never learns from. Full of intent until the liquor train takes over.

Clever dialogue.

Up there with the best of Slaugh House, or of espionage fiction in general. Brilliant Herron. Glad she used the green stamp.