Review of "The Secret Hours: An Espionage Novel" by Mick Herron

Amidst the ongoing jealousy and rivalry between the British government and the British Intelligence Service, the Prime Minister, who nurses a huge grudge against the spy service, institutes a program called Monochrome.

Monochrome is designed to sniff out wrongdoing in the secret service, but the Prime Minister is no match for MI-5's 'First Desk' - a formidable and intelligent woman who immediately (and hilariously) neuters Monochrome.



Thus the Monochrome panel, whose members are Griselda Fleet, Malcolm Kyle, and others, spends years interviewing people, to no avail.



The 'witnesses' blather on and on, but know nothing useful about the spy service, and their testimonies are never intended for the 'final report.'





Sadly, Malcolm - a young man with lofty ambitions - sees his career going down the drain while he languishes on the Monochrome panel.



Then one day, while Malcolm is ambling around the supermarket with a shopping cart, a young woman crashes into him, upending Malcolm's groceries.



Several people come over to help, and when everything is back in place, Malcolm finds a file under his food. The file turns out to contain information about a top secret intelligence operation called OTIS. The supermarket incident freaks Malcolm out, but - after much rationalizing - Malcolm and Griselda Fleet decide Monochrome will investigate OTIS.



OTIS turns out to be a spy operation in Berlin, after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The Monochrome panel is beginning to interview the first OTIS witness when Monochrome is shut down hard, for good. It's clear the government does not want OTIS to become public knowledge. Nevertheless, Griselda and Malcolm fabricate a loophole so they can hear the witness's whole story, which is riveting.



Meanwhile,  a sixtysomething former spy called Max Janacek is on the run after an attempted abduction in the middle of the night. Max, who has some skills, manages to evade his kidnappers, retrieve his flight kit, and embark on a quest to find out who's after him.



In case you ever need to make a fast getaway, here are the contents of a flight kit: a passport with a fake name; a grand in cash; two prepaid credit cards worth 5,000 Euros; one change of clothing; a basic toiletries kit that includes hair dye and tinted contact lenses; and a pair of insoles that will alter your gait enough to fool a computer. (You're welcome. 🙂)



All of the threads come together at the book's climax, and the ending made me smile. I just love that First Desk.

Good espionage thriller, highly recommended.

I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Gerard Doyle, who does an excellent job.

Thanks to Netgalley, Mick Herron, and RB Media for a copy of the book.

Rating: 4 stars