Current favourite post-Cold War espionage writing is this cat-and-mouse about washed-up yet woefully underestimated MI5 screwups relegated to (seemingly) minor cases. This latest one really explores how to use the power of being underestimated to one's advantage (for better or for worse).

I am a big fan of the Slough House Series by Mick Herron, and the latest title "London Rules" does not disappoint. The writing is colorful, beautiful and tight, characters are compelling and complicated. The flawed human beings comprising this story are on every side. From the denizens of Slough House, exiled agents of .of the Secret Service, to the stumbling terrorists, to the politicians and the Service's head agents, Herron doesn't let anyone off easy. The story screams along, carrying the reader to one surprise after another. And still by the end, I find myself saying "wait, what, did that just happen?", and eagerly await the next installment.

Readers of spy and intrigue stories will enjoy the antics of the agents assigned to Slough House. Sent there as the result of mishaps in their careers and personal problems (alcoholism, drug use, etc.), these agents are given tasks that would drive anyone to recreational substances to ease the boredom. Combing through the records of the public library system to see which patrons have checked out books that might signal terrorist intent, searching through tax and utility records to find houses that might be used as terrorist safe houses, and similar jobs are sure to drain whatever ambition the agents might have left to put their careers back on track. These poor souls are known as the "slow horses" and work under the rather lax guidance of Jackson Lamb, who is as lovable as the common cold.

When one of these agents, Roderick Ho, is nearly run down while he is pursuing a bulbasaur in a game of Pokemon GO, the others are unsure whether they should be relieved at his survival. He's one of them, but he is also an irritating prat. Can this attempted hit and run be part of a larger plot? There is an attack on a remote village, then a bomb at a zoo, another bomb is discovered. Who is carrying out these attacks and who is planning them? With a prime minister worried about his political career, a chief of intelligence services worried about protecting the PM as well as taking a close look at other prominent figures, and others in the service out to advance their own careers, does anyone have time for the "slow horses"? Could they pull it together long enough to neutralize the threat and possible redeem their careers? Or perhaps they should simply try to survive the latest upsetting of the apple cart when it inevitably happens.

If you enjoy intrigue, political plotting, irascible characters, and the setting of London, then you will find this book right up your alley.