The Secret Hours

By: Mick Herron

Narrated by: Gerard Doyle

A gripping standalone spy thriller from the #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of Slow Horses, with a riveting reveal about a disastrous MI5 mission in Cold War Berlin—an absolute must-listen for Slough House fans.

New from the author of Slow Horses, now an Apple Original series from Apple TV+, starring Gary Oldman and Kristin Scott Thomas.

Two years ago, a hostile Prime Minister launched the Monochrome inquiry, investigating "historical over-reaching" by the British Secret Service “to investigate historical over-reaching.” Monochrome’s mission was to ferret out any hint of misconduct by any MI5 officer—and allowed Griselda Fleet and Malcolm Kyle, the two civil servants seconded to the project, unfettered access to any and all confidential information in the Service archives in order to do so.

But MI5’s formidable First Desk did not become Britain’s top spy by accident, and she has successfully thwarted the inquiry at every turn. Now the administration that created Monochrome has been ousted, the investigation is a total bust—and Griselda and Malcolm are stuck watching as their career prospects are washed away by the pounding London rain.

Until the eve of Monochrome’s shuttering, when an MI5 case file appears without explanation. It is the buried history of a classified operation in 1994 Berlin—an operation that ended in tragedy and scandal, whose cover-up has rewritten thirty years of Service history.

The Secret Hours is a dazzling entry point into Mick Herron’s body of work, a standalone spy thriller that is at once unnerving, poignant, and laugh-out-loud funny. It is also the breathtaking secret history that Slough House fans have been waiting for.

©2023 Mick Herron (P)2023 Recorded Books

No Disappointment

Gerard Doyle reading Mick Herron? Perfect. This book can be read on its own, but you should really first read the Slough House Series in order. If Mr. Herron wrote 10 Slow Horse books a year, I'd buy them!

This Might Be the Best Yet

Mick Herron is becoming my favorite writer. He's managed to put characters, plot, and nearly lyrical writing together in this brilliant book. I am a very hard reader to please and this book just thrilled me.
Oh...and the narrator is absolutely amazing. 5 Stars all around ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Mick Herron at His Best

Mick Herron knows how to capture the outrageousness, intricacies, banalities and humanity of the spy business. One moment he’s got you laughing at things you know you shouldn’t, and the next he’s got rooting for people you’d never want to meet in real life. Be sure to read a couple of Slough House books first to get all the references.

Can I have some more, please?

I love Mick Herron, particularly anything in the Slow Horses world. I enjoyed this one quite a bit because it filled in some pieces of familiar characters' background and history. It felt like I was sneaking a peak into their secrets -- and I was, really, because of all of these people have secrets. As "Miles" would say, "That's what spooks do. They keep secrets."

I don't think it's really a spoiler because if you've read the other Slow Horses books, Jackson Lamb is immediately recognizable no matter what name he happens to be using at any given time. And I just adore that disgusting, inappropriate, often cruel but always very smart and very funny spook.

Link to Slow Horses

Superb story with the stamp of Mick Herron’s brilliance as a spy/mystery novelist. It’s the story and the telling. The prose flows and the intrigue deepens. Gerrard Doyle’s narration was superb. He should be the reader of all Mick Herron’s books.

I just love Herron’s work

I guess you either love him or not. I do like Herron’s work especially surrounding MI-5. Always funny, clever, and compelling. This one has a slight twist to it but no spoiler alerts here. Enjoy!

Wonderfully convoluted

I love the way he tied this all together. Ready for the next one; I can’t wait to see what it reveals.

Best yet but needs different narrator

Each novel better than last but narrator disappointing. Would love to hear Jack Loudon or Saskia Reeves re-record Slow Horses series. This and Bad Actors books easily best in the series—really, really terrific.

English idioms

Almost impossible to discern which character was which. Difficult to figure out the point of the story since the relation between the characters is murky and new characters were introduced without reason.
Not recommended.

Doesn’t disappoint!

If you’re missing the Slough House crew this is a delightful thriller that brings back fond memories of much loved characters and fills in some blanks. Enjoy!