Slow Horses
米克·赫伦New Star Press2024
Rating 4.1- Chapters
- 2
- Series
- Slough House
- ISBN
- 9787513355896
Tags
Featured Fiction Mystery and Suspense Gambling AddictionMarginal ManPuzzle SolvingMystery NovelsSpy FictionBlack HumorEnglish AuthorsSummary
Slow Horses is the first book in the Slough House series by the British author Mick Herron and the source novel for the hit Apple TV+ series Slow Horses. The story takes place in a shabby building outside MI5 headquarters—Slough House. Any agent who has made a serious mistake but not one serious enough to be fired is sent here: the elevator is always broken, the pipes always leak, and the daily work is sifting through irrelevant old files. They are the slow horses of the intelligence system, a group of people judged useless by the system and shelved. The head of Slough House, Jackson Lamb, is one of the book's most memorable characters: slovenly, reeking of alcohol, sharp-tongued, and almost never giving his subordinates a kind word, yet utterly clear-eyed about how MI5 operates. Young River Cartwright comes from a family of spies and once had a promising future, but a mistake during an exercise gets him sent here, and he is desperate for a chance to return to headquarters. His colleagues each have their own falls from grace: gambling addiction, romantic entanglement, past errors that keep catching up with them. A case involving a young man who has been kidnapped and is about to be executed in an online livestream unexpectedly pulls these marginals back onto a real battlefield. They want to prove themselves, only to discover a deeper scheme behind it all. With biting British humor, the novel depicts the coldness and infighting of bureaucracy, and also the dignity and loyalty of failures: they cannot run fast, but they are still the people who can most be trusted with one another.Editor's review
如果要找一本“反007”的间谍小说，《驽马》几乎是绕不过去的起点。这里没有豪华跑车和异国赌场，只有漏水的天花板、凉透的咖啡和一屋子被总部丢弃的失意特工；没有从容优雅的胜负手，只有误会、失误和一错再错之后被迫硬着头皮往前冲的荒诞。 米克·赫伦的厉害之处在于，他把谍战写成了职场：谁是红人，谁被边缘化，谁背锅，谁在会议室里被牺牲，读者几乎一试就能对号入座。而杰克逊·兰姆这个邋遢、毒舌、令人不适的上司，却在关键时刻显出罕见的护短与担当，让整本书在冷嘲之外留有一丝暖意。 节奏上，小说前半段铺陈人物与氛围，后半段逐渐收紧，多线推进至一次紧张的营救行动，读来有一口气追完的冲动。中文版由郑雁翻译，属新星出版社“午夜文库·流人系列”，与剧集互文阅读别有乐趣。若想从第一册开始系统进入这个世界，从《驽马》读起最合适。Who it's for
A good fit for
- 喜欢英国谍战小说、不排斥官僚讽刺与黑色幽默的读者
- 看过《流人》剧集，想读原著补充细节与人物内心
- 偏爱群像叙事、能欣赏“失败者联盟”式人物的读者
- 想找一部节奏稳、人物鲜明、能一路追下去的系列小说的人
Not a good fit for
- 期待007式高能动作场面与精英英雄叙事的读者
- 不习惯脏话、酗酒邋遢人物与刻薄幽默的读者
- 偏好纯净本格解谜、对职场讽刺兴趣不大的推理读者
Reading tips
- 先读第一部《驽马》，再按系列顺序推进；人物关系和前史是逐册累积的
- 前几十页人物密集登场，可随手记下斯劳屋成员的“前科”，后面会更顺畅
- 留意兰姆的每次刻薄话，多半藏着信息量，是理解剧情转折的关键
- 读完可与剧集第一季对照，看改编取舍，别有一番乐趣
About the publisher
New Star Press China · Founded in 1989New Star Press focuses on classic works, mystery and detective fiction, science fiction, history, foreign literature and art, and its 602 titles in the library show a balance between popular reading and humanistic depth. Representative books include The Complete Works of Shakespeare: Illustrated Collector's Edition, And Then There Were None, Murder on the Orient Express, The Player of Games, Local Government in Qing China, A Good Man Is Hard to Find and A Collection of Fine Ukiyo-e Prints, spanning classic literature, detective fiction, science fiction, local history and visual art. Its authors and contributors include William Shakespeare, Agatha Christie and Iain M. Banks, as well as translators such as Zhu Shenghao and Su Fuzhong and illustrators such as John Gilbert and George Cruikshank. Known for the detective series Midnight Library and for social-science and humanities titles, the press emphasizes edition design and reading experience; public information is limited, so this profile highlights the publishing features reflected in the library's books.
Contents
- Part One: Slough House
- Part Two: The Cunning Whore
FAQ
这本书和电视剧《流人》是什么关系？
《驽马》是米克·赫伦「流人」系列的第一部小说，Apple TV+剧集《流人》第一季即以本书为主要改编来源。剧集做了不少合并与改写，人物登场顺序和部分情节与原著不同，先看书或先看剧都不影响理解。没看过剧，能直接读这本吗？
完全可以。这是系列第一部，人物从零开始登场，世界观在本书中完整建立，不需要任何前置知识。反而建议从这一册入手，再决定是否追后续作品。中文版是哪个版本？翻译如何？
中文简体版由新星出版社于2024年4月出版，郑雁翻译，属“午夜文库·流人系列”，ISBN为9787513355896。译文保留了原文的俚语与刻薄语气，英式幽默与官腔讽刺处理得较为到位。书名“驽马”是什么意思？
“驽马”指跑不快的劣马，是情报系统对斯劳屋这群边缘特工的蔑称。英文原书名Slow Horses与书中那栋楼名Slough House读音相近，暗含“被闲置、被放慢的人”之意。系列一共有几本，可以跳着读吗？
赫伦的「流人」系列已出版多部，中文版由新星出版社陆续推出。虽然每册有相对独立的案件，但人物命运与旧案线索彼此勾连，建议按顺序阅读，避免被剧透关键转折。This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.
About the author
米克·赫伦 AuthorMick Herron is an author known for suspense and mystery fiction, best known among Chinese readers for the "Slough House" series. Five titles in the series are currently available—The Fated Sky, Dead Lions, Ghost Street, London Rules, and Spook Country—numbered from 01 to 06, indicating an ongoing long-form series. Judging from the titles and the series' character, the stories largely revolve around intelligence, espionage, and the darker side of city life, combining the tension of suspense and mystery with a cool, restrained British narrative style, with characters and plots often moving between rules and disorder. Public information is limited regarding the author's nationality, dates of birth and death, educational background, and awards, so no speculation is made here. What can be confirmed is that the works are classified as suspense and mystery fiction and are steadily produced as a series, suitable for readers who enjoy spy themes and following a series.