Dead Lions is the second in the series of Spy Thrillers featuring Jackson Lamb and his team of 'career screw-ups from Slough House.
This story revolves around the murder of a former operative and the arrival of a Russian 'buisnessman' to, potentially, be turned by MI5.
I read the first in the series 'Slow Horses' last week and really enjoyed it but, to be honest, this was nowhere near as good. It started out well enough, the murdered ex spy strand hooked me in early on but after a while it just got ridiculous. It almost felt as if someone e else had taken over writing duties or the author just lost interest.
As in the first book the team loses a member and while the first one was a surprise this time around it felt more like just something to keep the cast list rolling.
Also, the characters. Where in Slow Horses the idea of a team of career screw-ups seemed fresh here they didn't so much. Roddy Ho, the computer whizz kid came across, to me, as particularly vindictive and nasty, once again using (or at least planning on using) his skills to ruin other people's lives by, for example, altering their credit scores, personal details, criminal records etc just because he can.
And, as for Jackson Lamb himself, what seemed fun and interesting in SH felt more tedious and boring here.
The last 1/4 of the book, where all got resolved was often ridiculous and a struggle to finish.
A very disappointing 1/5*
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