I enjoyed Nobody Walks. It’s not in the stellar class of most of the Slough House series, but it’s a very good thriller which fleshes out some familiar characters – most notably Dame Ingrid Tearney and J.K. Coe.
It’s a clever, labyrinthine plot: Tom Bettany, ex-Service agent, returns to Britain after the apparently accidental death of his son and goes looking for those responsible. There are twists and revelations as Bettany has to decide whether he is being manipulated into action, and if so, why and by whom.
Herron has frequently been compared to le Carré, but I’ve often felt that that was just lazy thinking because although they’re both fine writers and take espionage as their subject, the style and approach of the Slough House novels is very different from le Carré. Here, Herron produces a thoughtful, serious and penetrating character study of Bettany which is more reminiscent of le Carré. Herron also builds a fine, tense plot peopled with well drawn characters and which refuses to give easy, neat answers.
This isn’t classic Herron, but it’s very well done, it’s gripping and it left me thoughtful and a little haunted by events and characters. Nobody Walks is well above the average slew of spy thrillers and I can recommend it.
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