Real Tigers

Written by Mick Herron and published in 2016, Real Tigers follows the disgraced "slow horses" of Slough House as they become entangled in a complex hostage crisis. The crisis is secretly engineered by a private security firm looking to gain leverage over MI5. Jackson Lamb and his team must work outside the law to save their captured colleague and uncover the conspiracy.

Yes, Real Tigers is the third book in the Slough House series, following Slow Horses and Dead Lions. Reading the series in order is highly recommended to understand the deep character development of the team and their ongoing rivalry with MI5 headquarters. The slow horses are a tight-knit group, and their backstories heavily influence the events of the third book.

Jackson Lamb is the brilliant but grotesquely unhygienic head of Slough House, the dumping ground for failed MI5 agents. Despite his constant flatulence, chain-smoking, and insults, he proves fiercely protective of his "slow horses." In Real Tigers, his deep knowledge of Cold War espionage tactics is crucial to outsmarting the modern private military contractors.

Yes, the Apple TV+ series "Slow Horses," starring Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb, adapts the books in order. The events of the Real Tigers novel are adapted in the third season of the hit show. The television adaptation stays remarkably faithful to the 2016 book's plot regarding the kidnapping of Catherine Standish.