#123: Dead Lions by Mick Herron
Slow Horses Season 2; Source Material Vol. 17
This was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the TV series discussed here wouldn’t exist.
Bite Size Reviews Turned 4!
Hello readers! The 4-year anniversary of this publication came and went on June 30th. I was busy with family celebrating my in-laws’ 50th anniversary (50 years of marriage trumps 4 years of blogging every time) but I’ll take a moment now to say I can’t believe it has been four years! I look back on those early posts and think “I was so young” and “my writing voice has matured so much” even though neither of those things are true :). To those of you who have been here since the beginning, I know who you are and I thank you. I love that this, more than anything, is a way we can keep in touch and nerd out.
Now on to bigger news…
I’ve read all 8 of Mick Herron’s Slough House novels!
Last week I finished Bad Actors, book 8 in the Slough House series, and it was great! Mick Herron is batting 1,000 — these books are consistently entertaining. The word formulaic is usually negative, but Herron’s formula is one that surprised and delighted me every time.
This element of surprise was never more evident than in Dead Lions, the 2nd book and the basis for season 2 of the Apple TV+ series Slow Horses.
Back in April I gave enthusiastic reviews of book 1 and season 1. I mentioned that where the show deviates from the book, it does so for the better and in a way that really works for the cinematic medium.
Unfortunately, this isn’t the case in season 2. It is still an excellent season of television, but it didn’t capture the same magic of the book or translate the material as effectively to the screen.
Let’s look at a couple reasons why.
Dead Lions: The book roars, the show meows
When it comes to the Herron formula, you can always expect a few things:
A clever intro and outro to the office building and office layout.
Spending quality time with the veteran slow horses and new assignees.
Jackson Lamb, leader of the slow horses of Slough House, mercilessly belittling everyone.
An almost audible turning point where the story reaches peak set-up and starts careening toward the conclusion.
An action-packed conclusion.
Dead Lions does all of those things well, especially #2 and #4. The veteran slow horses are running on the exhaust fumes of the action of book 1 and restless for more to do. New recruits Shirley and Marcus alter the dynamic of the team in interesting ways with their unique skills and character flaws (she does coke, he gambles compulsively). Herron sets the stage deliberately and thoughtfully and runs multiple story lines in parallel before all hell breaks loose when they all start crossing.
The story zags when you’re expecting a zig. When you think you have the nefarious plot figured out, you don’t. When you think a character is safe, they’re gone. When you think Lamb isn’t going to lift a finger, he does (if only to light another cigarette).
I’m telling you, this book is fun.
The show struggled to capture the book’s magic. Shirley Dander, an exciting wild card of a character that brings volatility but also vulnerability to the team, is de-clawed in the show. Her coke addiction is gone and with it her unpredictability. We’re left with a strong performance by Aimee-Ffion Edwards who is Shirley in name, but boring by comparison.
The plot machinations in the book rely on misidentification: If the characters don’t know who someone is, neither does the audience. The unknown builds tension and keeps the reader guessing. The show as a visual medium had to manufacture tension in a different way that didn’t quite work for me. However, if someone hadn’t read the book already, it might work for them.
Have you read this book or seen season 2 of the show? If so, I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Thanks for being here, I appreciate you!
Kyle
Happy four years, Kyle!