Reviews

Dead Lions by Mick Herron

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pwilliams's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

steinbachw11's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced

3.25

ptstewart's review against another edition

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3.0

River said, “We were wondering what’s going on.”
Puzzled, Lamb stared at River, then plucked the cigarette from his lips and stared at that instead, then returned it to his mouth and stared at River again.
“Eh?”
“We were—“
“Yeah, I got that. I was having a what-the-fuck moment.” He looked at Katherine. “You’re a drunk, so wondering what’s happening is a daily experience. What’s his excuse?”

Dead Lions lacks some of the thrill of Slow Horses. Without the 48 hour deadline, we feel less rushed, less pressured, and slightly less engaged. However, forgoing this timeframe gives us greater opportunity to take a peak at the scenery, so to speak, and it’s looking pretty good. Herron has yet to make a character particularly likable; in truth, I don’t really care for any of them, least of all River, but the characters have an uncanny ability to speak to the reader. Be it their blind determination, their grief, their snark and humor, or their sporadic and surprising displays of cunning, we can’t help but be at least a little interested. Chief among my lauds of Herron is his structure, which begs the reader to pay a-fucking-ttention, or you’ll miss something as he weaves between characters, settings, and intel. Sure, Dead Lions misses some of the sexy quality that Slow Horses had in the form of more than one beheading, but it steps up to the plate with the same intelligence and wit that tells the reader to strap in: something good is coming.

theogb451's review against another edition

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5.0

Good spy thriller

Enjoyed this as much as book 1. Herron's way with writing is really excellent, the characters strong and bright.

As before, the TV adaptation brings in more action as well as pulling back a little on all the spy layers but broadening the plot.

Looking forward to watching S3 and then being able to compare.