By Mick Herron.
Trying to investigate the Secret Service is like trying to get rid of the stink of dead badger. Hard.
For two years the government’s Monochrome inquiry has produced nothing more than a series of dead ends. The Service has kept what happened in the newly reunified Berlin under wraps for decades, and intends for it to stay that way.
But then the OTIS file turns up. What classified secrets does it hold? And what damage will it create?All Max Janácek knows is that someone is chasing him through the pitch-dark country lanes and they want him gone.
A good story. It could almost be an origin story in a way, or an intro to some of the characters from the Slow Horses series, but set before Slough House with a story alluded to in the earlier books. The narrative features a character named Alison, a new MI5 agent sent to Berlin in 1994 by David Cartwright to monitor an abrasive agent, Brinsley Miles. The storyline, which involves a disastrous MI5 mission, forms the “secret” history leads us to the modern-day Monochrome inquiry, investigating historical misconduct by the Security Services.
The novel bridges the gap between Cold War Berlin and the modern-day activities of Slough House, showing the origins of characters and the “betrayals” that shaped them.
Full of the usual sharp wit and plenty of one-liners. Plus we get to find out why Molly is in a wheelchair.
