Books: Bad Actors (Slough House #8) by Mick Herron (2022)

“A governmental think-tank, whose remit is to curb the independence of the intelligence service, has lost one of its key members, and Claude Whelan—one-time head of MI5's Regent’s Park—is tasked with tracking her down. But the trail leads straight back to the Park itself, with Diana Taverner as chief suspect. Has Diana overplayed her hand at last? What’s her counterpart, Moscow’s First Desk, doing in London? And does Jackson Lamb know more than he’s telling? Over at Slough House, with Shirley Dander in rehab, Roddy Ho in dress rehearsal, and new recruit Ashley Khan turning up the heat, the slow horses are doing what they do best, and adding a little bit of chaos to an already unstable situation. There are bad actors everywhere, and they usually get their comeuppance before the credits roll. But politics is a dirty business, and in a world where lying, cheating and backstabbing are the norm, sometimes the good guys can find themselves outgunned.” 

For the eighth book in the Slough House/Slow Horses series, Herron mixes up the narrative structure of Bad Actors, and begins the story with a long flashback that starts two thirds into the tale. It begins with Oliver Nash meeting up with previous First Desk, Claude Wheelan. Nash wants a favor and Wheelan should have enough sense to steer clear, but convinces himself to look into the whereabouts of a missing associate of Anthony Sparrow (The PM {a jab at Boris Johnson} is seen as a useless figurehead, and it appears the government is really being run by this manipulative aide and all around sleazebag {another jab at Dominic Cummings}). Dr. Sophia de Greer is a superforecaster upon whom Sparrow relies. But she's been AWOL for several days. Sparrow points fingers at Diana Taverner, the First Desk of the Secret Service. Because it becomes clear Sparrow's real objective is to collect all branches of government under his direct control by any means. Something Lady Di does not want. 

Bad Actors is another complex tale of spies vs. spies, political absurdities, lies, and mischievous antics in governmental circles. As usual, though, there is also plenty of dark humor, some misdirection, mistaken identity, and manipulation. Jackson Lamb also calls in semi-retired John Bachelor (from the numerous novellas) to play a more central role than usual. And Herron also has great fun teasing us readers, making us wait until the very end to conclude a particular storyline from the last book. 

I’ve now caught up with the novels, and beside one novella yet to go, I’ll be waiting until next month for Clown Town, the ninth novel in this series. It means, as well, I’ll be buying my first hardcover, because I doubt I can wait until next summer to read it in paperback. And somewhere along the way, I’ll want to see the Apple+ TV show of these books.