Description

Racing between Sydney, New York, Seville and London, The Burning Time is an intelligent, timely and fast-paced thriller for the twenty-first century.

A FINANCIAL TIMES Best New Thriller 2023

READERS ARE GRIPPED BY THE BURNING TIME:

‘A real page-turner. Fast-paced chapters take us around the globe as the story develops’
‘A gripping story of twists and surprises’
‘A dazzling blend of plausibility and excitement’

Australian inventor and geoengineer Clive Winner is the genius who brought the Great Barrier Reef back from the brink, yet his ambition goes well beyond that. He wants to save the planet.

For the all-powerful fossil-fuel industry, Winner is their ‘get out of jail free card’. If he can engineer a solution to climate change, business can continue as usual.

When old-school journalist William Carver is tipped off by a trusted Whitehall source that climate scientists have begun to go missing in suspicious circumstances, his gut instinct tells him to follow the story. It rapidly becomes clear that scientists, green campaigners and well-intentioned politicians are in the firing line; William Carver and his colleagues must move fast to find out who is behind the disappearances. They know the journalist’s job is to speak truth to power – but first you must uncover that truth and this time it’s buried deeper than ever.

PRAISE FOR THE BURNING TIME:

‘Smart and topical’ Financial Times

‘A compelling, fast-paced thriller’ Sun

‘Deftly plotted . . . a propulsive read’ Straits Times

‘This adrenaline-laced adventure packs a mighty punch’ Irish Independent

‘A brilliant thriller with a timely and essential reminder of what journalism is supposed to be’ James O’Brien, LBC

Publisher Review

A wonderfully taut piece of plotting and, like all good roller-coasters, it regularly turns your stomach over as you are swept along; Hanington's endlessly inventive story telling gives you that edgy feeling that everything (the whole world, in this case) could go horribly wrong by the end of the book, and it boasts more bodies than a Jacobean Revenge charity. Thank God for the reassuring presence of William Carver . . . -- Edward Stourton on THE BURNING TIME The Burning Time is terrific. [It] will be a classic of the genre -- Peter Hennessey, author of A DUTY OF CARE *Praise for A Cursed Place* A panoramic thriller that shuttles with aplomb between four continents . . . chockful of vivid characters -- John Dugdale * Sunday Times * An intriguing, timely and unsettling new thriller -- Sam Bourne (Jonathan Freedland) Peter Hanington's remarkable achievement is to have told a story which is as important as it is unputdownable. Anyone vaguely interested in the survival of our species ought to read this book - and will be thrilled they did so -- Amol Rajan Another page-turner from a writer who can take you into gripping worlds, real and virtual -- Mishal Husain Astute, pacy and possibly too true for its own good -- Gillian Reynolds Carver is a marvellous creation, just the sort of tough-as-old-boots hero we need in a world run by algorithms -- Mike Ripley * Shots Mag * Peter Hanington sustains a narrative drive that catapults you from first word to last. Just make sure you don't miss the scenery on the way - seeing from the inside how the BBC works and how news is made leaves you feeling that W1A may not be entirely caricature. A good, pacy, sinister and timely read -- Alan Judd, author of A FINE MADNESS Peter Hanington draws you into the dark world of private cyber-surveillance, and the menace of the world he conjures - the world we all now live in - crackles off the page. His characters are beautifully drawn and so convincing that I found myself shouting "Get out of there now!" The writing is taut - not a wasted word - and the story is fast-paced, moving and twisting and quickening to a conclusion that is full of jeopardy and suspense. And when it ends, it doesn't end: it leaves you wanting the next chapter * Allan Little * Hanington's third thriller featuring veteran BBC reporter, William Carver, is a true page-turner, combining the author's insights and expertise as a distinguished foreign correspondent with a pace that keeps the reader guessing and embroiled in a plot that sweeps us from Peckham, via Hong Kong and Chile, to the Big Tech citadels of Silicon Valley . . . highly recommended * Tortoise * A Cursed Place is a fast-paced and vividly written thriller. It takes the reader on a journey from the dark heart of Silicon Valley via a Chilean mining town and Hong Kong street protests and into the bowels of New Broadcasting House, in a dystopian tale of ruthless tech entrepreneurs exploiting their surveillance powers and morally compromised journalists feeling their way in the dark towards the truth -- Rory Cellan-Jones A gripping . . . thriller that spins from Hong Kong protests to Silicon Valley surveillance in a heartbeat * i Magazine * Gorgeous . . . blocks out the world when my brain [wants] superb distraction -- Fi Glover