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labeet's review
4.0
Just excellent in its genre. Having watched the first three seasons of the Apple+ TV series Slow Horses and LOVED them, I decided to check out the books on which the series is based. I shall not regret it!
Mick Herron writes in the way of the knowledgeable, witty, underplayed very British novelist and I shall never tire of it! In this one, which was the only one that appeared in my reading/listening app, Everand, upon a search for Mick Herron, he builds up a cast of characters so they are all quite recognisable and believable and the novella follows the narrative arc of a classic spy novel. All within less than a hundred pages!
When I'd finished listening (excellent narration by Gerald Doyle) quite a few more books in the series appeared as by magic in the app. The search functions in both my reading/listening apps are miserable!!
A new season of the series has recently premiered on Apple+. I think I'll have to subscribe for a month. Gary Oldman as the first of the slow horses is just spectacularly good!
Mick Herron writes in the way of the knowledgeable, witty, underplayed very British novelist and I shall never tire of it! In this one, which was the only one that appeared in my reading/listening app, Everand, upon a search for Mick Herron, he builds up a cast of characters so they are all quite recognisable and believable and the novella follows the narrative arc of a classic spy novel. All within less than a hundred pages!
When I'd finished listening (excellent narration by Gerald Doyle) quite a few more books in the series appeared as by magic in the app. The search functions in both my reading/listening apps are miserable!!
A new season of the series has recently premiered on Apple+. I think I'll have to subscribe for a month. Gary Oldman as the first of the slow horses is just spectacularly good!
coysests's review against another edition
1.0
Не разбирам идеята на тези новели, все още не са се вписали в главната поредица по някакъв начин, а евентуално когато се впишат не виждам нещо ценно в съществуването им.
dmeyer's review against another edition
2.0
I see how it is "in the same world" as the other Slough House books, but I didn't think that it added that much. I feel like a novella should cover some aspect of a character that doesn't really NEED to be in a main book, but is an interesting trip down memory lane, or gives a deeper back story.
This is neither. There is a drop. It gets botched. There is a character who is old and nearing retirement. I re-read the ending 3X to try and fully understand it, but I got lost along the way somehow. The narrative voice seemed different than the other books. Mick Herron is usually sharp-toothed and funny but this just didn't have the same sort of bite to it.
This is neither. There is a drop. It gets botched. There is a character who is old and nearing retirement. I re-read the ending 3X to try and fully understand it, but I got lost along the way somehow. The narrative voice seemed different than the other books. Mick Herron is usually sharp-toothed and funny but this just didn't have the same sort of bite to it.
kmardahl's review against another edition
4.0
Dang! The blurb tells you what this is about, but dang! that ending! On to the next book in the series!
PS I think you could read this as a stand-alone story, but it is far richer if you have read “The List”, and even better if you have read the previous books in the series.
PS I think you could read this as a stand-alone story, but it is far richer if you have read “The List”, and even better if you have read the previous books in the series.
dylanowen's review against another edition
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
artmajorese's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
An interesting glimpse into the world and side characters of Slough House, but didn’t feel fully resolved to me
m_peacock's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
It's the second novella featuring the sad sack MI5 agent John Bachelor who's trying to stay on the payroll and off of Diana Taverner's radar. Similar to The List, the first in what might be called the "Bachelor series," The Marylebone Drop distills the Slough House style down to its base elements -- the cynical careerism of MI5 (and now BND) agents and the London Rules that are, according to Jackson Lamb, "cover your arse" above everything else.
Though I do think you need to read The List first (not a big deal since it's only ~110 pages), I think The Marylebone Drop is better; the plot is more interesting, the characters are better developed, and the ending's moral ambiguity pulled at me more. And The Marylebone Drop also introduces a new Slow Horse who I assume I'll see in Joe Country.
Though I do think you need to read The List first (not a big deal since it's only ~110 pages), I think The Marylebone Drop is better; the plot is more interesting, the characters are better developed, and the ending's moral ambiguity pulled at me more. And The Marylebone Drop also introduces a new Slow Horse who I assume I'll see in Joe Country.
notablebird's review against another edition
1.0
OMG, so affected. Could just about stand the Netflix series but reading so much cynicism is painful.