Taking up as one of the best all time espionage writers, Heron once again does not disappoint. The griitiness we have known to come and love is there as well as all the characters we secretly root for.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this eARC.

Bad Actors is the eighth and latest installment in the Slough House series by Mick Herron, a master of spy thrillers and dark humor. The novel follows the misadventures of a group of disgraced MI5 agents, known as the slow horses, who are assigned to the most mundane and humiliating tasks in the intelligence service. But when a scandal erupts in the heart of the British government, involving a missing superforecaster, a rogue Russian spy, and a shady think-tank, the slow horses find themselves in the middle of a dangerous and complex web of deception, manipulation, and betrayal.

Herron's novel is a brilliant satire of the contemporary political landscape, where truth is relative, facts are negotiable, and lies are the currency of power. He exposes the hypocrisy, corruption, and incompetence of the elites who shape the policies and narratives that affect the lives of millions of people. He also creates a cast of memorable and flawed characters, who are witty, cynical, and sometimes sympathetic, despite their many faults and failures. The dialogue is sharp, the plot is fast-paced, and the twists are surprising and satisfying.

Bad Actors is a highly entertaining and intelligent novel that will appeal to fans of John le Carré, Ian Rankin, and David Baldacci. It is a must-read for anyone who enjoys a good spy story, a clever satire, or a thrilling mystery. Herron is one of the best writers in the genre, and Bad Actors is one of his finest works..

On Apple TV+’s new spy series, Slow Horses, Gary Oldman heads up a team of misfit spies who tend to get themselves into all kinds of trouble. The series is based on the novels by Mick Herron—and the audio edition of the eighth installment, Bad Actors, finds them deep in political drama...

Full review published on NightsAndWeekends.com - and aired on Shelf Discovery

This was a great read. I actually gave it 3.5 stars but had to round it up as it was better than a 3-star read. I listened to the audiobook book and thought the narrator was this book greatest asset. His tone of voice was a perfect fit and really brought this book to life.

I found it a little hard to keep track of the story line at times but have since reading this book noticed it was the last part of a series and therefore the rest of the books would have had to be read to understand the storyline . This is why I became confused at times while reading the book. I did really like listening to the book so my rating is true and honest I was just confused by aspects I was obviously meant to know before reading this book. It wasn't made obvious when I requested this book to review that it was part of a series.  I did love the fact the book seemed more like a literary fiction mixed with blunt humour. It also felt like it was an old English tale rather than a more modern book. It was very unique in the way it was wrote and I really commend the author for his style. It was really refreshing to break that normal style of mysteries and mix it up for this unique story.

Many thanks to the author and publishers for creating this unique story with great blunt humour.

The above review has already been placed on goodreads, waterstones, Google books, Barnes&noble, kobo, amazon UK where found and my blog https://ladyreading365.wixsite.com/website/post/bad-actors-by-mick-herron-rb-media-3-5-stars either under my name or ladyreading365

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* 3.5. First book i have read from this series and first i have heard of it, would read this series if i found it at the library. Enjoyed the humor.

Mick Herron seems to suffer from the often, but not exclusively, British writing style of "Aren't I clever?" There is a little bit of humor here but the entire thing talks around what is happening instead of letting us experience it. Show don't tell. However, with these characters do I really want to experience anything? A bunch of terrible characters I wouldn't want to spend seconds with. There is no reason you should have to want to know characters. Books can be enjoyable without that. I want every second I wasted on this book back, though. I think I became a worse person just reading it.

Mick Herron keeps getting better and better. Part of the reason for this is that, where once his satire was very funny, now it seems that life is imitating art and he is drawing on current events without having to reach very far to find the satire.

There are many fabulous laugh-out-loud moments in this brilliantly written, sharp and incisive book that is far too close to home for comfort. Herron has his finger firmly on the pulse as this post-Brexit novel takes in Covid and the omni-shambles of a broken Britain.

As ever, there are dangers to the country from every sphere, notably this time, the Russians – and how prescient is that – but the key battle ground is of course between Jackson Lamb’s slow horses of Slough House and Diana Taverner, holder of the MI5 First Desk role at Regent’s Park.

Herron’s cast of colourful characters is sublime. The Prime Minister’s super forecaster, Sophie de Greer, has gone missing. Her role is to predict public reaction to potential Government policies. De Greer was also a member of an internal think tank looking to curb the power of M15. Who benefits is the question?

Sparrow, the PM’s right hand man (a recognisable hate figure to anyone who follows UK politics), has tasked Diana Taverner’s predecessor, Claude Whelan, to find out what has happened to her. Sparrow is no fan of M15 whose operations don’t fall under his control and he needs to be sure that she hasn’t been ‘waterproofed’ by Taverner as a way of ensuring that there’s no meddling with the Service.

Then there’s the fact that the Head of the Russian First Desk has slipped unnoticed into London…how are all these things connected?

Because no-one cares what Slough House and the slow horses are up to, they have the best chance of rooting around all this intrigue without coming under anyone’s scrutiny. In a masterpiece of brilliant plotting, superb one-liners and stunning character studies, we are one again in the madcap world of Roddy Ho, Lech Wicinski, Catherine Standish, Louisa Guy and Shirley Dander and the irascible, farting, foul mouthed Jackson Lamb.

They are joined by a new slow horse, the young and puzzled Ashley Khan. She can’t work out quite why she is at Slough House, but the truth is that on her very first mission Ashley Khan messed up a covert surveillance operation and Lamb ‘accidently on purpose’ broke her arm. She’s about to make her second mistake…

Roddy Ho – the Rodster – is unmissable in this instalment as he auditions would be Princess Leahs. Shirley’s in rehab and everyone is missing River Cartwright.

Told from multiple perspectives and using flashbacks, this tightly and expertly plotted book is crammed full of intrigue, dark moments and thrilling action.

It’s hard to do justice to such a clever, witty and entertaining novel which undoubtedly is better if you have read the preceding books in the series. And you really should, because this is one of the outstanding series of its generation.

Lamb’s slow horses may be misfits who have messed up, but they are still spies and they have skills that, because no-one cares about them, they can deploy under much less scrutiny than anyone in Regent’s Park would ever manage. Jackson Lamb knows just how to operate under the radar and as ever, he’s got a handle on the situation long before anyone knows what’s going on.

Gerard Doyle’s mellifluous narration is well modulated grease to the wheel of this super charged turbo car of a novel.

Verdict: This is Mick Herron on superb, scintillating and excoriating form. On point, topical and so very, very witty, Herron has his finger firmly on the pulse of British politics and delivers his verdict with scathing accuracy. Bad Actors is an unmissable book in an unmissable series.

This is the 8th book in the Slough House series. Lady Di is in trouble and Shirley Dander in rehab. The current political climate is well portrayed. The writing style is enjoyably sarcastic and fickle. All of these characters are so unlike any other. Jackson Lamb in particular. He's obnoxious and borders on disgusting, but he gets things done all the same. I like this book and this series so very much.
I listened to the audiobook narrated by Gerard Doyle. He is a good choice of voice for the book. Especially his portrayal of Jackson Lamb was spot on.

ARC audiobook provided in exchange for an honest review.

Let me start by saying I really enjoyed this narrator and the way he delivers the humor in the story! I didn’t feel like I was missing out by only have one narrator for the whole story because he was very entertaining. The plot itself didn’t exactly flow seamlessly to me at parts, and I found myself going back a bit every time I went to listen to make sure I knew where I was. It got a little confusing for me at time but I felt like it all came together in the end and made the story worth it. Just a heads up that this is the 8th book in a series and not a standalone, in case you look out for those kind of things in advance.

3.5⭐️
Bad Actors by Mick Herron was a lengthy novel that takes A minute to get into.. This was the sort of book you’ll not be in any hurry to finish. All the characters are main characters and it’s a maze watching all of it come together. It’s a present day story but also focused on the past.
I did enjoy it and wondered if the story was ever going to make its point.
I chose to listen to this book on audio and loved Gerard Doyle narrating it. The story felt a little like Robert Galbraith work. A. Little. The play on words worked well for me. But to be honest, I was at times confused about the female leads. I sometimes got them confused. And couldn’t keep it straight. I hope this was helpful.
Thanks Recorded Books Via NetGalley.

I had difficulty getting involved in Bad Actors (audio version) by Mick Herron and engaging with the characters. The storyline for me was a 3, but the narrator deserved a 4 because he is what kept me interested in finishing the book.

I may check out other books by this author.

#BadActors #NetGalley

I was a little confused at first but that was my own fault for not noticing that this book eight in a series. After just going with the flow for a while it all started to come together. It is a story of a group of misfit messed up spies who sometimes stumble into doing the right thing. It is also hilarious. My favorite bit was a description of Sparrow as “nasty, British, and short.” You have to admire an author who can turn a famous quotation into a joke.
The narration was excellent but I had a tough time with the British pronunciation of the word slough as in Slough House. This where their offices are so you hear it a lot.
I think I will go back and begin this series at the beginning.
Thanks to Netgalley.

Thanks #netgallery for this book in exchange for an honest review. I hoped to enjoy this book but I can't say I did. I'm not sure if it would have benefited me to have read previous books in this series or if it was just the writers style.

though I haven't read the previous books of this series, this book convinced me to read them all! this was hilarious and interesting and great. the plot was perfect and the whole story was captivating for me. why haven't I found out about this series before? and the narrator ( I've listened to the audiobook version) was great! what a beautiful voice.
lots of thanks to NetGallery for providing this.

This is the eighth in a series of which I previously read only the first book. Some series book plots are independent enough—or give enough background review in each subsequent installment—that each installment can stand alone. This isn't one of those series. I rated the first installment 3+/4- (which may have meant something different when I read it, before I was sharing my book reviews). I didn't get as much enjoyment out of the latest installment.

Bad Actors is occasionally funny (I didn't find it as all-out hilarious as did the series' true fans). It takes place post-Brexit and post–COVID-19. The level of description was tedious to read—the book was really a trudge until the short, exciting scene at the end. It might translate well to a TV serial, so I plan to watch the Apple TV+ series Slow Horses starring Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb (streaming starting this coming Friday!). The preview made me laugh out loud and looks potentially exciting.

Thank you, NetGalley and RB Media, for the audio ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review. Publication is expected May 10.

This was a pretty fun book. I liked the constant lameness of Lamb (I mean he thinks he’s the cats bananas but you’ll see). The ridiculous story that could completely be true. Great twist in this one and a good ending. I felt satisfied with this book and recommend it.

This is an unbiased review
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC

Another solid installment in Mick Herron's darkly humorous spy series featuring the Slow Horses: a group of disgraced, misfit MI5 operatives that MI5 itself barely acknowledges. The head of the Slough House group, Jackson Lamb, is a character who's beyond irascible. He's crude, rude, and often offers spycraft lessons with a dose of cruelty, as when he accidentally/on purpose broke the arm of a millennial MI5 recruit as she botched a covert surveillance operation. Despite his public shortcomings and apparent misanthropy, he's a fiercely loyal den mother to his litter of miscreant spies.

Claude Whelan, one-time First Desk at Regent's Park, is approached by the gossipy, august Oliver Nash with an assignment to track down a valuable superforecaster (an adviser who educates the prime minister on what the voters are going to be concerned about in the future) who has gone missing. Nash hints that it's feared the woman has been "waterproofed," meaning she's been disappeared by MI5 for good, if not actually dead. But Nash has been set the task by a shady character in the prime minister's office named Sparrow, whom everyone suspects is not just the prime minister's right hand, but is his puppeteer. If it's all true, MI5 is facing a devastating political crisis that could destroy the entire organization. And Claude is in a tough position: if Diana Tavener, once his protege and now his replacement as First Desk, is involved, will he be tempted to bring her down, regardless of the truth, or will he look beyond her for other possible explanations?

With the stakes so high at Regent's Park, the low key Slow Horses are the better division to handle the covert investigation. No one is watching them, and no one cares what they think, if they're thought of at all.

This novel is the 8th in the Slough House series, but readers needn't worry about coming to the series at this point. Herron is such a skilled series writer that he gives readers a good story to chew on while tossing in enough hints about past shenanigans to assure readers that they're not missing crucial information. As far as tone, the favorable comparisons to Le Carré's George Smiley novels are not at all wrong. I'm also strongly reminded of New Tricks, the clever, long-running British tv series about a gang of retired and misfit cops who are banished to work only on cold cases. In both series, there's a sense of rocky camaraderie among professionals who just can't catch a break.

With so many Cold War references and elements in Bad Actors, it feels disturbingly timely. Above all, read this book for Herron's fascinating, lively characters. They are unpredictable, unconventional, and fun to get to know.

I had DNF this one, I'm sorry but it felt like they were just saying random words, I couldn't understand where they were going, really felt like they weren't saying anything that made sense.
The narrators voice was good and in a good speed and tone but it just didn't make any sense what he was saying.

As we have come to expect from the Slough House, this is another brilliant entry. Whoever would have thought we'd see Diana Tavener and Jackson Lamb on the same side? Well, kinda. Sorta. Okay, maybe not, but a common enemy makes for strange bedfellows. The PM's right hand has been playing dirty tricks against Diana AND jeopardizing the national security. And that's enough to raise Jackson's ire. Highly recommended.

I found myself lost at times in this one but that may have something to do with this being the eighth book in this series. This is a book of spies and espionage all during a pandemic in Britian. There was a humorous component to keep it moving. I did find it enjoyable.