Between the front line and the news... lies the truth

Biography

Peter Hanington is the author of A Dying Breed. He has worked as a journalist for over twenty-five years, most recently at The World Tonight and Newshour on the BBC World Service.

He lives in London with his wife and has two grown-up children. He is working on a third Carver novel and other writing projects but is also happy to make cameo appearances at the odd book club as long as beer is served.

A Single Source

Peter Hanington.

Veteran reporter William Carver returns in this brilliant thriller set against the backdrop of the Arab Spring, from the author of the highly-acclaimed A Dying Breed.

Veteran BBC reporter William Carver is in Cairo, bang in the middle of the Arab Spring. ‘The only story in the world’ according to his editor. But it isn’t.
There’s another story, more significant and potentially more dangerous, and if no one else is willing to tell it, then Carver will – whatever the consequences.

A Single Source tells two stories, which over a few tumultuous months come together to prove inextricably linked. There are the dramatic, world-changing events as protests spread across North Africa and the Middle East, led by a new generation of tech-savvy youngsters challenging the corrupt old order. And then there are two Eritrean brothers, desperate enough to risk everything to make their way across the continent to a better life in Europe.

The world is watching, but its attention span is increasingly short. Carver knows the story is a complex one and, in the age of Facebook, Twitter and rolling news, difficult stories are getting harder to tell.

A Dying Breed

Kabul, Afghanistan.

William Carver, a veteran but unpredictable BBC hack, is thrown into the unknown when a bomb goes off killing a local official. Warned off the story from every direction, Carver won’t give in until he finds the truth.

Patrick, a young producer, is sent out on his first foreign assignment to control the wayward Carver, but as the story unravels it looks like the real story lies between the shadowy corridors of the BBC, the perilous streets of Kabul and the dark chambers of Whitehall.

Set in a shadowy le Carré-esque world, A Dying Breed is a gripping novel about journalism in a time of war, about the struggle to tell the stories that need to be told – even if it is much easier not to.

Read about the book on The Guardian.

Reviews

Topical, authoritative and gripping.

– Charles Cumming

Tight, pacy and strong on atmosphere.

– Michael Palin

Completely unputdownable - gripping.

– The Happy Reader

Compelling.

– Mishal Husain

Draws you in from the first line and keeps you guessing until, literally, the very last.

– Allan Little

Thrilling.

– Dame Ann Leslie

This hugely accomplished political thriller, brilliantly plotted... is written with all the dash and verve shown in Hanington's stunning debut.

– Irish Independent

Hanington has a talent for telling the stories of the lives behind the headlines.

– Fi Glover, The Fortunately Podcast

The real deal.

– Kirsty Wark

Gut-wrenching.

– Edward Stourton

A tremendous novel – shot-through with great authenticity and insider knowledge – wholly compelling and shrewdly wise.

– William Boyd

Peter is a rare commodity in the journalistic fraternity... a natural storyteller. You really want to turn the pages, and that's what matters.

– John Humphrys, Today presenter

News & Events

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Contact

For any enquiries, please contact me via the form on this page or directly to peter.hanington@bbc.co.uk.

You can also follow me on Twitter.

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