Bad Actors (Slough House)

Slough House is the backwater where MI5’s failed operatives are put out to pasture. For some reason, Anthony Sparrow, the Prime Minister’s ‘enforcer’, tasks one of them, Claude Whelan, with finding Dr de Greer, the government’s star forecaster of public opinion, missing for three days. Whelan immediately suspects a plot to bring down Diana Taverner, Sparrow’s major rival for control of UK intelligence. The British spy network is suddenly abuzz with secret meetings, hidden agendas, and backstabbings galore. Matters move to a different level when a senior Russian operative shows up unannounced in London. Is he there for some clandestine mission? Or to further stir the pot of suspicion and intrigue swirling within the MI5 community? This madcap parody of a Le Carre novel is filled with bumblers and misfits who even in the midst of their Keystone-Cops antics, still manage to deliver sharp put-downs and hilarious one-liners at the drop of a hat. Events may beggar belief at a few riotous points, but as an infectious, highly entertaining spoof of spy novels, Bad Actors hits the mark. At-sea readers will laugh out loud as they try to figure out who is doing what to whom and why.