Book No. 40 of 2025
I’ve been pacing my way through Mick Herron’s Slough House books and novellas—attempting to not get too far ahead of the show, which is difficult because his books are weirdly addictive. I saw people on r/SlowHorses mention Reconstruction as a book separate from the main Slough House timeline that fleshes out Bad Sam Chapman, so I gave it a whirl.
Reconstruction features many of Herron’s hallmarks: plot twists you might have seen coming followed by a wallop of a plot twist you definitely didn’t see coming, unnecessarily beautiful writing, in-and-out perspective zooms (it’s normal for Herron, I’ve realized, to go full-macro to set a scene and then dive right into a character’s inner monologue), subverted expectations, and quietly savage social commentary. The one thing I missed was the finely pitched dark humor so central to the Slough House books—those books have made me laugh out loud on multiple occasions, whereas Reconstruction‘s humor, when it happens, is more wry.
There’s a current of resigned cynicism through the story—the people who come out on top in any given situation are those who see the world as it is, while those who see the world as it could be end up worse off. (Apologies for mangling the Hadestown line.) This is not new to anyone who’s read Mick Herron’s books—or even just watched the Slow Horses series—but it hits especially hard here with characters desperate to do something right in a corrupt world.
Small content warning: most of the book centers on a situation featuring an active shooter in a nursery school, so I can see it stressing out parents of young children. No children in the story are hurt, if that helps.
Similar Reads
You could read Reconstruction without any familiarity with the Slough House series, but why? Do yourself a favor and start with Slow Horses.
I found myself vaguely thinking of Jodi Picoult’s Nineteen Minutes.