This is the third in the Jackson Lamb series. The series just keeps getting better. Reading this is like eating a delicious meal, each mouthful is to be savoured and you dread it when you come to the end. This is such a good book. It is sly, witty, full of great characters and enough twists to keep you guessing right to the end. Please please read this series - it is just so good

Real Tigers is the third book in the Slough House series and can also be read as a stand-alone, which I have done as I have come to the series late and in the wrong order. The author gives a summary for existing readers to refresh their memories and to make new readers feel at comfortable with the characters and setting of the story. Catherine Standish, one of the slow horses, has been kidnapped by an unknown group and well she is locked away in the attic of a house, somewhere in the countryside. Nobody at first in Slough House notices that she is missing, until Lamb starts asking questions and then River Cartwright gets a picture of Catherine in a message. The Slow Horses are still part of Mi5 even if they are in exile, and they have to pull together a rescue plan themselves. They know they cannot really trust what Regents Park may be saying even though they are colleagues. Lamb speaks to both the head and second desk and does not trust either of them. When one of the kidnappers turns up dead outside a restaurant where the new Home Secretary is having lunch, give a hint of things maybe not what they seem. Lamb realises this is a Tiger Team and all he has to do is to work out who wants this to fail more to understand the motives. While his team of slow horses go dashing across London to find Catherine and the Tiger Team, they are not going to get any support from the Park. They really are on their own and will have to improvise when they get to their final destination. The Slow Horses have to rely on each other, and as they are the embarrassing part of Mi5, anything could really happen. A great story with plenty of twists and turns and keeps the reader on the edge of their seats to see if they Slow Houses will succeed.

I'm really enjoying this series! The characters are fabulous - slight anti-heroes in some cases, and there is always a dramatic story to be told. I like that the wider Slow Horses characters get more of a look in for this book, though it still has the customary Jackson Lamb put downs and witticisms. More of the political / spook back-stabbing and game playing too. I really enjoy being kept on my toes and the twists and turns that happen, including some real shocks! Another great instalment in this series. A new favourite for me!

Really good book

Reall good read