Slow Horses

本書獲犯罪寫作協會伊恩．弗萊明鋼匕首獎(CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award)提名。「本千禧年最細緻的新犯罪小說系列。」－－《星期天郵報》(Mail on Sunday)絕望之屋(Slough House)是英國情報局人員的放逐之地，凡是搞砸任務的情報員，都會被貶至這個地方，並且被稱之為”慢馬”(Slow Horse)，River Cartwright就是慢馬成員之一，只因為他搞砸了一場高級的訓練課程。在絕望之屋裡，River被指派的任務，就是鎮日謄寫手機裡的對話。”慢馬”長官Jackson Lamb把此處當成他的王國，他知道這群人是永遠無法回到攝政公園旁的情報局工作了。當River百無聊賴的執行醜惡的工作時，他發現其中一位同事盜用了一個名聲不佳的記者，名叫Robert Hobden的訊息。同一時間，一個穆斯林青少年遭到綁架，綁匪揚言在預計的時間裡，透過網路直播人質的斬首畫面。River懷疑Hobden與綁架案有關聯，因為他與英國的極端團體關係密切。當時鐘慢慢地走向斬首的時間，River發現每個人都有自己的盤算，但這也是讓他重回情報局的大好機會，然而，River會成功嗎？Slough House is a dumping ground for British intelligence agents who’ve screwed up a case in any number of ways—by leaving a secret file on a train or blowing a surveillance. River Cartwright, one such “slow horse,” is bitter about his failure and about his tedious assignment transcribing cell phone conversations.When a young man is abducted and his kidnappers threaten to broadcast his beheading live on the Internet, River sees an opportunity to redeem himself.Is the victim who he first appears to be? And what’s the kidnappers’ connection with a disgraced journalist? As the clock ticks on the execution, River finds that everyone has his own agenda.