With a greater aspect of the officer being a spy or secret agent, Mick Herron (Newcastle, UK, 1963) is fun to comment on telecast of his novels Casa de la Ciénaga. “Obviously most viewers of the show don’t expect a bad author or book to have it. But I think it’s brilliant. How could I have gotten it?”
After the release of Apple TV+ Slow horses in 2022, Herron wrote six books in the series, –Slow cables, Dead lions, Real tigers, Calle de los Espías, London Rules, In the land of spies y Slough House–, most of those published by Salamandra in our country.
Na irruption supuso a renewed airbag for the espionage genrestarring a new anti-hero archetype, Jackson’s Lamb and his despicable abilities, kind juguetes rotos del espionage who have been relegated to administrative purgatory—Casa de la Ciénaga—carry the burden of various forms into their respective missions. Kind of like the hidden and miserable silence of Britain’s MI5national intelligence service.
“I’m interested in the government bureaucracy, the world of the factory“It’s everyday life in space, seemingly boring, even more traditional than a spy novel,” says the writer.
“I suppose it’s because I’m so alive. I’m not an apologist, but yes, I work as an expert and I’m tempted to ask lesser figures.” the kind of pressure that all of us have seen sooner or later: day after day, early evening, the mortgage… I want to explore the truth of what, to think that I am not satisfied with what you are doing, that I hate my job too, to hold myself and ready to fulfill myself”.
WITH department commissioned by Gary Oldman In the papers of the irreverent Jackson Lamb, the series brought this demystification of the spy genre to the table, leading to the seduction of a wider audience.
“I enjoy it like any other viewer, but I enjoy being in a small dwelling and writing about it. The other is the other world,” says Herron.
“Es verdad que la serie ha mantenido claramente el tono y los personajes, es muy fiel a los libros, pero adaptar la trama de una novela a la pantalla no es tan fácil. Lo que escribo y describo tiene que explicarse y presentarse de forma diferente”, justifica Herron sobre las diferencias entre sus historias, de lo mejor del género, y la pequeña pantalla.
Herron ha viajado a Barcelona para recibir el premio de novela negra Pepe Carvalho que le otorga esta tarde el festival BCNegra y para presentar su nuevo libro, Las horas secretas. No obstante, el escritor reconoce que tardó en alcanzar la popularidad.
“El éxito televisivo, por supuesto, no tiene nada que ver con el literario. Considero que tuve éxito, por ejemplo, cuando me publicaron por primera vez. Tenía algunos pocos lectores pero a mí me parecía maravilloso”, afirma.
De hecho, su primer libro, Down Cemetery Road (2003, de próxima publicación en España), adaptado también recientemente a la televisión en una ficción protagonizada por Emma Thompson, lo escribió hace más de tres décadas.
Pregunta. En sus inicios le rechazaron muchas veces el manuscrito de aquella primera novela. ¿Cómo se siente al recibir hoy un premio como el Pepe Carvalho?
Respuesta. Es increíble. Esto para mí significa éxito en mayúsculas. Saber que me están leyendo, no solo en inglés, sino en otros países, es algo que no entiendo, no lo asimilo. Este es el segundo premio que me dan [en diciembre de 2025 fue galardonado en Italia con el Premio Raymond Chandler] and it goes further than I could have hoped. No, I don’t buy it because my books are very English, very local humour. Spanish translator [Antonio Padilla Esteban] I thought it got too complicated with some people and words words. And it’s one of the best compliments that ever happened to me.
“In ‘The Secret Hours’ I was interested in telling the story of the chaos that followed the reunification of Germany, this theoretical joy mixed with economic and social tension.”
P. En su nueva novela, Secret hoursif you take a bit of his famous characters led by Lamb to build the plot between Berlin in 1994 and the current situation. How did this new story come about?
R. The intention was to move away from the Ciénaga family and do something independent. But in retrospect at some point I thought it was interesting to see some characters Slow cablesusing his nombres en clave. I’m sure the most avid readers know what it is. I just thought it would be a fun idea.
P. It took place in Berlin after the French war. What happened to you during this period?
R. What I was most interested in the chaos that followed German reunification. The world generally celebrated the fall of the wall and the end of the French war, but it was hard to live in Berlin right away. Many people, especially the middle class, are dealing with this burden that I suddenly dropped them again. What specifically interested me this theoretical happiness that mixes with economic and social tension.
Mick Herron. Photo: Roser Ninot – Salamander
P. Their stories always navigate the turbulent waters of great political and economic power. What is the world like and how much should citizens suffer on their feet?
R. We now live in convulsive times. On the tension level, we return to Fría Wareven for prominent derroteros. What is happening in the United States, not to mention Russia, is terrible. How do you go to the resolver? Pues no lo se, honestly. It concentrated a lot of power in the hands of great technologies and the situation is different. Much more is expected, for example, of climate change. When I see the young ones, I wonder what the world we will love will be like. I don’t think it’s an easy or comfortable place to live, true.
P. En Secret hours We also see how the privatization of the public coup is related to the intelligence services. Are we in a moment of gluttonous economics where everyone is in the wind and holding the prize?
R. It’s something very present in my recent novels, yes. Democracy continues to be the best way to run a country, even if it has its flaws. There are many anti-democratic things. Capitalism itself is not very democraticfor to achieve and exercise all the power that can be achieved through self-interest, to the detriment of others and minorities, does not seem.
»That’s the way politics works these days. We have seen this clearly in my country. Millions in government contracts were signed during the pandemic. Y money is collected in wallets that no one knows, no one has investigated, no one wants to investigate. It is simply an example of how the government works, consolidating its position of power and accumulating wealth. Like I said, unfortunately, everything has a price these days, and that’s in my books because it’s a reality. And I’m sure I’ll go up in the next few novels because I have no idea what I’ll change.
P. In his books, there is a perfect balance between paper-making bureaucrat and heroic action scenes. What do you have the most fun with?
R. Now the action scenes are more interesting to me. I’ll limit myself to a much more concise one. I don’t want to lead while I’m in the chase I’m holding on to make everything up. Imagining and thinking about the confusion, the tension, the doubt, what one is sure to feel when in danger. Exchange for paper is our day to day. That is what we must all seek.
“In the UK we thought the change of government didn’t do anything, but it didn’t do much good. It’s very corrupt now.”
P. We also have a certain tendency towards the marginalized and the desperate. Do you think the sentence has a literary component that the result does not?
R. Furthermore, the sentence contains elements that are much more interesting when it comes to writing and reading. My characters tend to doubt themselves. But at the same time, I realized that they are total fighters, but I’m more of an average person. I suppose in any profession we expect everyone to be above average and most of the time we are not.
»They did it quite a bit better than what I would have had on site, I have to decide. But they realize that this mistake took them from their career, so they try to redeem themselves and find a way to return to this previous life before it all ends.
P. Another aspect that defines writing is the embodiment of irony and humor as veiled or direct criticism that highlights the reality we find…
R. Yes, I am aware of the terrible things that governments do, of all the people who make up those governments, of those connected to power. In the UK, we thought that a change of government would do nothing, but although it served a lot, it was no longer of any use. This government is now very corrupt. The only way I can express my feelings is through writing, using humor effectively as a tool we all have. Not if you are effective on a large area, but in a short time at least something else, your soul, right?
P. In this sense, your people are politically incorrect in these times of political correctness. Do you want to leave me behind the scenes?
R. No, no, that’s why I’m leaving, not me. I think you have to be politically correct, respectful and nice in our life in general. When I find out that Jackson Lamb in particular is politically incorrect and that’s why he is. It is pungent. Enjoy having no filters. But I hope the reader thinks what he says, what he thinks or not, because that is part of his human frailty. It’s not that it’s always despicable, it’s because of the words and double entendres that are used directed at certain people.
»In your case, this delusion of political correctness is an expression of your disgust with the same council because you are not happy and have things in your past that have made you a bitter man. To tell you the truth, I don’t know where the Lamb is from because I don’t really follow what he says. I enjoyed it a lot, but I don’t focus on it.
P. What we can’t seem to leave behind is above Slow cables. Last year I published the ninth book in the series, City of clowns. Will you be ready for ellos?
R. Yes, more hay, more hay. Now I’m writing another independent story, but when the end reaches Casa de la Ciénaga, because I can’t stop it and I don’t want to stop it. Slow cables always accompany me
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