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A review by saareman
Nobody Walks by Mick Herron
4.0
Slough House Adjacent
Review of the Recorded Books audiobook (February 17, 2015) narrated by [a:Gerard Doyle|12434|Gerard Doyle|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1584953555p2/12434.jpg] released simultaneously with the Soho Crime hardcover original.
Short Summary for Busy Slough House Readers*
The novel Nobody Walks takes place after the Slough House novella #2.5 [b:The List|23636636|The List (Slough House, #2.5)|Mick Herron|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1453497408l/23636636._SY75_.jpg|43241398], which first introduced J.K. Coe as a new Service inductee in the Psych Eval department. In the novel, First Desk Ingrid Tearney enlists Coe in an off-the-books op which involves the death of the son of a former Dog**. Another former Dog/later SlowHorse*** 'Mad' Sam Chapman appears briefly. Second Desk Diana Taverner is only mentioned. J.K Coe will appear in later Slough House books from #4 onwards. Not essential for Slough House completists, but definitely as relevant as the novellas.
Detailed Review
As mentioned in my recent review of Down Cemetery Road (Oxford Investigations #1) (2003), I've started to go back to read Mick Herron's earlier non-Slough House books while waiting for the follow-up to [b:The Secret Hours|123727738|The Secret Hours|Mick Herron|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1692736142l/123727738._SY75_.jpg|145108210] (2023). As with the latter book, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Nobody Walks is also Slough House adjacent and features several familiar characters.
The connection to the "Service" is not evident at first. Tom Bettany, a slaughterhouse worker in France, is called back to England upon hearing of the apparent accidental death of his estranged son Liam. He occupies Liam's flat and befriends Felicity 'Flea' Pointer, a coworker at his son's work, a gaming software company. Bettany suspects that the drug-related death of his son may not have been accidental at all.
It turns out that Bettany is ex-Service and he had previously worked undercover with the name Martin Boyd to take down an organized crime gang. Both the Service and former gang members learn he is back in England. First Desk Ingrid Tearney sends J.K. Coe to warn Bettany off from following certain leads in his son's death. The crime gang wants revenge. The ending will show that "nobody walks" away unharmed or perhaps even alive from this one.
The complications and the reveals show that First Desk Ingrid Tearney was more diabolical than I think was ever revealed in the main Slough House series. Also I can't remember that there was ever a descriptive passage about her like this one:
I listened to the audiobook edition as read by Slough House regular narrator Gerald Doyle, who was excellent in all voices as always. I referred to an eBook for some quotes and character name spellings.
Footnotes
* My thanks to GR friend Berengaria for the invention of the 1-paragraph "Short Review" concept as the lead-in to a more detailed review.
** The Dogs are Mick Herron's nickname for the heavies/security guards of MI5.
*** Slow Horses are the failed MI5 agents sent to end their careers in obscurity at Slough House.
Trivia
Not a proud reference for my Estonian heritage, but the London drugs gang in Nobody Walks are of Estonian origin and have names such as Marten (an Estonian would have spelled it as Martin) Saar, Oskar Kask a.o. including a Karu (Estonian: Bear).
Review of the Recorded Books audiobook (February 17, 2015) narrated by [a:Gerard Doyle|12434|Gerard Doyle|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1584953555p2/12434.jpg] released simultaneously with the Soho Crime hardcover original.
Short Summary for Busy Slough House Readers*
The novel Nobody Walks takes place after the Slough House novella #2.5 [b:The List|23636636|The List (Slough House, #2.5)|Mick Herron|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1453497408l/23636636._SY75_.jpg|43241398], which first introduced J.K. Coe as a new Service inductee in the Psych Eval department. In the novel, First Desk Ingrid Tearney enlists Coe in an off-the-books op which involves the death of the son of a former Dog**. Another former Dog/later SlowHorse*** 'Mad' Sam Chapman appears briefly. Second Desk Diana Taverner is only mentioned. J.K Coe will appear in later Slough House books from #4 onwards. Not essential for Slough House completists, but definitely as relevant as the novellas.
Detailed Review
As mentioned in my recent review of Down Cemetery Road (Oxford Investigations #1) (2003), I've started to go back to read Mick Herron's earlier non-Slough House books while waiting for the follow-up to [b:The Secret Hours|123727738|The Secret Hours|Mick Herron|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1692736142l/123727738._SY75_.jpg|145108210] (2023). As with the latter book, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Nobody Walks is also Slough House adjacent and features several familiar characters.
The connection to the "Service" is not evident at first. Tom Bettany, a slaughterhouse worker in France, is called back to England upon hearing of the apparent accidental death of his estranged son Liam. He occupies Liam's flat and befriends Felicity 'Flea' Pointer, a coworker at his son's work, a gaming software company. Bettany suspects that the drug-related death of his son may not have been accidental at all.
It turns out that Bettany is ex-Service and he had previously worked undercover with the name Martin Boyd to take down an organized crime gang. Both the Service and former gang members learn he is back in England. First Desk Ingrid Tearney sends J.K. Coe to warn Bettany off from following certain leads in his son's death. The crime gang wants revenge. The ending will show that "nobody walks" away unharmed or perhaps even alive from this one.
The complications and the reveals show that First Desk Ingrid Tearney was more diabolical than I think was ever revealed in the main Slough House series. Also I can't remember that there was ever a descriptive passage about her like this one:
As for Dame Ingrid, nothing rattled her. The placidity of her ugliness—her iron-grey hairpiece, the putty-like growth on her nose’s left flank—was its own disguise, within which she could fume and scheme unnoticed. That would have been a lesson she learned long before the Secret Service beckoned her.
I listened to the audiobook edition as read by Slough House regular narrator Gerald Doyle, who was excellent in all voices as always. I referred to an eBook for some quotes and character name spellings.
Footnotes
* My thanks to GR friend Berengaria for the invention of the 1-paragraph "Short Review" concept as the lead-in to a more detailed review.
** The Dogs are Mick Herron's nickname for the heavies/security guards of MI5.
*** Slow Horses are the failed MI5 agents sent to end their careers in obscurity at Slough House.
Trivia
Not a proud reference for my Estonian heritage, but the London drugs gang in Nobody Walks are of Estonian origin and have names such as Marten (an Estonian would have spelled it as Martin) Saar, Oskar Kask a.o. including a Karu (Estonian: Bear).