The Drop
On sale
1st November 2018
Price: £16.99
A Slough House novella from the ‘John le Carré of our generation’
Old spooks carry the memory of tradecraft in their bones, and when Solomon Dortmund sees an envelope being passed from one pair of hands to another in a Marylebone café, he knows he’s witnessed more than an innocent encounter. But in relaying his suspicions to John Bachelor, who babysits retired spies like Solly, he sets in train events which will alter lives. Bachelor himself, a hair’s breadth away from sleeping in his car, is clawing his way back to stability; Hannah Weiss, the double agent whose recruitment was his only success, is starting to enjoy the secrets and lies her role demands; and Lech Wicinski, an Intelligence Service analyst, finds that a simple favour for an old acquaintance might derail his career. Meanwhile, Lady Di Taverner is trying to keep the Service on an even keel, and if that means throwing the odd crew member overboard, well: collateral damage is her speciality.
A drop, in spook parlance, is the passing on of secret information.
It’s also what happens just before you hit the ground.
(P)2018 Hodder & Stoughton Limited
Old spooks carry the memory of tradecraft in their bones, and when Solomon Dortmund sees an envelope being passed from one pair of hands to another in a Marylebone café, he knows he’s witnessed more than an innocent encounter. But in relaying his suspicions to John Bachelor, who babysits retired spies like Solly, he sets in train events which will alter lives. Bachelor himself, a hair’s breadth away from sleeping in his car, is clawing his way back to stability; Hannah Weiss, the double agent whose recruitment was his only success, is starting to enjoy the secrets and lies her role demands; and Lech Wicinski, an Intelligence Service analyst, finds that a simple favour for an old acquaintance might derail his career. Meanwhile, Lady Di Taverner is trying to keep the Service on an even keel, and if that means throwing the odd crew member overboard, well: collateral damage is her speciality.
A drop, in spook parlance, is the passing on of secret information.
It’s also what happens just before you hit the ground.
(P)2018 Hodder & Stoughton Limited
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Reviews
Adroit miniaturisation of its author's world, this festive fan treat has a claim to be the first post-Brexit thriller
A real nugget of spy fiction
A worthy follow up to Herron's previous novella The List. Herron seems to take great delight in putting his creations through the ringer for our reading pleasure
Brevity is the soul of wit, and Mick Herron's The Drop is brief and witty . . . the qualities that have won him so many awards are fully in place . . . Herron's inventiveness leaps from every page
Darkly funny, beautifully written
Beautifully modulated prose and outrageous jokes
A Christmas treat . . . A wry and elegant novella about what happens to redundant spooks
The Drop becomes part of the growing library of the Slough House series chronicling the wonderful team of spy incompetents
Mick Herron's innumerable fans, longing for the next instalment of the Slough House series featuring Jackson Lamb and his army of wounded, ungovernable, weirdly brilliant outcasts, will fall on this stylish novella with delight . . . A short but delightful treat for a dark winter's evening
Herron is a master of subtle wit and satire, intricately weaving an impressive amount of detail into a short story. The Drop is also timely, set against the backdrop of looming Brexit and a changing security situation that could turn services that are currently "friendly" against each other. For Herron's fans this is a welcome snack between meals as they eagerly await the sixth novel in the series next year, while new readers can enjoy a taste of why he is rightly touted as one of the best thriller writers in Britain today
