Thrillers & Suspense
![Mick Herron - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_B001JP3TOY.jpg)
The Secret Hours
A gripping standalone spy thriller from the #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of Slow Horses, with a riveting reveal about a disastrous MI5 mission in Cold War Berlin-an absolute must-read for Slough House fans.
New from the author of Slow Horses, now an Apple Original series from Apple TV+, starring Gary Oldman and Kristin Scott Thomas.
Two years ago, a hostile Prime Minister launched the Monochrome inquiry, investigating "historical over-reaching" by the British Secret Service. Monochrome's mission was to ferret out any hint of misconduct by any MI5 officer-and allowed Griselda Fleet and Malcolm Kyle, the two civil servants seconded to the project, unfettered access to any and all confidential information in the Service archives in order to do so.
But MI5's formidable First Desk did not become Britain's top spy by accident, and she has successfully thwarted the inquiry at every turn. Now the administration that created Monochrome has been ousted, the investigation is a total bust-and Griselda and Malcolm are stuck watching as their career prospects are washed away by the pounding London rain.
Until the eve of Monochrome's shuttering, when an MI5 case file appears without explanation. It is the buried history of a classified operation in 1994 Berlin-an operation that ended in tragedy and scandal, whose cover-up has rewritten thirty years of Service history.
The Secret Hours is a dazzling entry point into Mick Herron's body of work, a standalone spy thriller that is at once unnerving, poignant, and laugh-out-loud funny. It is also the breathtaking secret history that Slough House fans have been waiting for.
New from the author of Slow Horses, now an Apple Original series from Apple TV+, starring Gary Oldman and Kristin Scott Thomas.
Two years ago, a hostile Prime Minister launched the Monochrome inquiry, investigating "historical over-reaching" by the British Secret Service. Monochrome's mission was to ferret out any hint of misconduct by any MI5 officer-and allowed Griselda Fleet and Malcolm Kyle, the two civil servants seconded to the project, unfettered access to any and all confidential information in the Service archives in order to do so.
But MI5's formidable First Desk did not become Britain's top spy by accident, and she has successfully thwarted the inquiry at every turn. Now the administration that created Monochrome has been ousted, the investigation is a total bust-and Griselda and Malcolm are stuck watching as their career prospects are washed away by the pounding London rain.
Until the eve of Monochrome's shuttering, when an MI5 case file appears without explanation. It is the buried history of a classified operation in 1994 Berlin-an operation that ended in tragedy and scandal, whose cover-up has rewritten thirty years of Service history.
The Secret Hours is a dazzling entry point into Mick Herron's body of work, a standalone spy thriller that is at once unnerving, poignant, and laugh-out-loud funny. It is also the breathtaking secret history that Slough House fans have been waiting for.
Editorial Reviews
Praise for The Secret Hours
People Magazine's Best Books of Fall 2023
An ABA Indie Next Pick for September 2023
"An intricate espionage thriller from Herron, whose Slough House series is the basis for Apple TV+'s Slow Horses. Bonus: This terrific standalone offers an enticing slice of Slough House's origin story."
-People Magazine
"This page-turning stand-alone novel is a perfect entry point into the eccentric world of civil servants and spies that Herron's Slough House series so wittily portrays."
-The Washington Post
"Great Britain has a long, rich history of how-it-really-works espionage fiction, and Mick Herron-stealthy as a secret agent-has written himself to the very top of the list. If you haven't already been recruited, start with The Secret Hours-all Herron's trademark strengths are here: tension, intrigue, observation, humor, absurdity . . . and pitch-perfect prose."
-Lee Child
"The Secret Hours is wonderful. It's Mick Herron at his best, taking us into a dark world where there is high action, a spinning moral compass, and hidden motives on every page. And, oh, yes, the fun-Herron's greatest talent may be the examination of serious things with a perfectly wry sense of humor."
-Michael Connelly
"I doubt I'll read a more enjoyable novel all year. The Secret Hours has it all: thrilling action scenes, crackling dialogue, characters to infuriate and beguile, and a neatly intricate plot. And through it all cuts Herron's acerbic wit, its effect heightened by the glimpses he allows us, from time to time, from his world to ours."
-Paula Hawkins, author of The Girl on the Train
"A deft knockout of a story, with an arc of history, written with humor and style. Mick Herron is one of the best writers of spy fiction working today."
-Martin Cruz Smith
"It's not all Aston Marti...
People Magazine's Best Books of Fall 2023
An ABA Indie Next Pick for September 2023
"An intricate espionage thriller from Herron, whose Slough House series is the basis for Apple TV+'s Slow Horses. Bonus: This terrific standalone offers an enticing slice of Slough House's origin story."
-People Magazine
"This page-turning stand-alone novel is a perfect entry point into the eccentric world of civil servants and spies that Herron's Slough House series so wittily portrays."
-The Washington Post
"Great Britain has a long, rich history of how-it-really-works espionage fiction, and Mick Herron-stealthy as a secret agent-has written himself to the very top of the list. If you haven't already been recruited, start with The Secret Hours-all Herron's trademark strengths are here: tension, intrigue, observation, humor, absurdity . . . and pitch-perfect prose."
-Lee Child
"The Secret Hours is wonderful. It's Mick Herron at his best, taking us into a dark world where there is high action, a spinning moral compass, and hidden motives on every page. And, oh, yes, the fun-Herron's greatest talent may be the examination of serious things with a perfectly wry sense of humor."
-Michael Connelly
"I doubt I'll read a more enjoyable novel all year. The Secret Hours has it all: thrilling action scenes, crackling dialogue, characters to infuriate and beguile, and a neatly intricate plot. And through it all cuts Herron's acerbic wit, its effect heightened by the glimpses he allows us, from time to time, from his world to ours."
-Paula Hawkins, author of The Girl on the Train
"A deft knockout of a story, with an arc of history, written with humor and style. Mick Herron is one of the best writers of spy fiction working today."
-Martin Cruz Smith
"It's not all Aston Marti...
