I had meant to read the second instalment in Mick Herron’s Slough House series much earlier than I actually did, but my to-be-read list is so extensive (with other equally exciting titles in there) that I got swept up in my own self-imposed book waterfall. But in time with Apple TV+’s season 5 release of the show, I finally got round to reading the second book, Dead Lions. I feel that I probably should have read the books closer to each other, if not consecutively, and I will try and not leave such long gaps between each one from now on.

When I read the first book in the series, Slow Horses, I was worried that watching the correlating season long before I ever picked up the book from my shelf would spoil the story for me. Luckily, there was no need to worry then, and it turned out to be an unfounded worry this time as well.

The events of the television show, while generally similar and reaching the same conclusions as their book counterpart, were different enough that finally coming to the book felt still fresh and new. Characters that we are familiar with, and others that we are introduced to, aren’t directly and exactly copied across from book to screen, so entertaining both mediums becomes all the more enjoyable.

Things in this book start pretty slow and we aren’t thrown immediately into the action like we were with River’s chaotic entrance in book one. The storytelling is gradual and the pace doesn’t rush. Instead it takes its time to flesh out everything and everyone. This book really was more about the ensemble cast than it was about any one character (and just as an aside, I found that I really missed River! He’s my favourite for sure! A detail that is helped in no small part due to Jack Lowden’s excellent portrayal of him in the television show. I’m always eager to see more of him on both the page and the screen.)

Spider Webb – a character I truly dislike in both the books and the show – has seconded Min Harper and Louisa Guy and sends them on their own little side mission as security detail for a Russian oligarch. We’re introduced to Marcus Longridge and Shirley Dander, two great additions to Slough House that I’m very eager to get into the heads of. Catherine Standish shows off her innate intelligence, while Roddy Ho is just as delightfully delusional as usual. River Cartwright continues to bite at the bit, anxious to get out of Slough House and back in the field. He is all too eager to accept the undercover mission that comes his way, even if it is only to a quaint little English town.

Lamb is so much worse on page than he is on screen, seemingly more heartless and uncaring. Book-Lamb has a distinct lack of sensitivity that is – almost incredibly – inhuman. Not being able to see facial expressions or body language when reading a book makes his actions, tone and the things he says seem all the more brutal. It’s almost hard to believe that someone this nasty could actually exist.

But I do adore Lamb despite his mean streak. And it cannot be denied that he cares about his Joes. I think Lamb is a clear case of trying to hide the fact that he cares (and cares deeply) about things. Having already seen the show and seen how he looks after the Slow Horses in his own way, I’m eager to read more about him in the books.

For Harper and Guy, I found that I really enjoyed seeing these two in action together, using the skills that they were trained in before their demotion to Slough House. With the ability to get inside each character’s head in the books, I felt that certain aspects of the story and of the characters were more in depth. In the book, Harper comes across as far more conniving and sly than I initially thought. He’s less the bumbling fool that the show makes him out to be. Likewise Guy, who takes on a more central role this time round and who flexes her surveillance skills, comes across as quite a bit less besotted than her television portrayal, and quite a bit more the calculating spy. I wonder if I feel this way because the book details so much about the way a character feels and how they think. As audience members, we are reading their minds.

Dead Lions also gives us a greater insight into the politics happening at Regents Park, MI5’s headquarters, and we are privy to the underhanded machinations being planned behind the scenes by those in power. It’s a dog eat dog world, quite like most corporate establishments, and the Slow Horses always find themselves with the shorter end of the stick.

The writing continued to be clever and witty, humorous and masterfully intelligent. The book is easily readable and engaging and everything just flows so very smoothly together. Herron’s knack for breathing new life into the fairly old, and historically very well done, spy genre is exciting and captivating. I love the way that he plays with and turns the many cliches often seen in spy novels on their heads.

Where some moments didn’t initially seem so clear and understandable, perhaps because of the amount of characters and perspectives needing to be juggled, everything came together in the end so neat and tidy, delivered all nicely wrapped in a little bow. So well done was the pay off that I sat back when I read the final words on the last page and felt so incredibly satisfied about the whole thing.

I’ll be reading the third book, Real Tigers, much sooner rather than later now!