Spook Street centres around David Cartwright, a spook (spy) emeritus who is now losing his memory, burdening his grandson River. River joined the Mi5 British intelligence service, following in grandpa’s footsteps, but became a laughing stock now resigned to a subunit in Slough House with the other “Slow Horse” agents with metaphorical egg on their faces.
But there are other spooks, too. We meet a new Slow Horse named Coe, who has been so traumatized that he can’t stand human contact and can only listen to music and play air piano, becoming a ghost of his strategic self. River himself thinks of Coe, his new office mate, as a dead man walking, but can’t be bothered to help him. Marcus, one of my favourite Slow Horses, while not itching for a fight or showing his office mate Shirley what waterboarding feels like, is losing the battle against his gambling addiction. Marcus points out that, thanks to insurance, he’s worth more dead than alive.
So at least three, arguably four, of these men are spooks emotionally as well as spooks as in slang for spies, and that’s only the beginning of the theme.
As David Cartwright’s mind unravels, River ends up exploring his own past. How did River end up living with his grandparents? Why won’t his mother spend time with him? If you ever wondered, this is the book for you.
That said, it wasn’t my favourite book of the series, and I explain why in the full review on my website, but it’s because memory loss is not a “reader cookie” for me. A reader cookie means as soon as you read that element, you want more.
Still, I enjoyed Spook Street, even if I’m not a huge fan of the theme. Everything I’ve read of Mick Herron is crammed full of painfully witty observations, historical and current detail, and a bit of oddity, which are all a lot of fun, even if this one hurt my heart.
Full review here.
P.S. Hi, my name is Melissa Yi (Yuan-Innes). This is my first CannonballReads review. Social media here. Hope I did it right!
