A Dying Breed

Critics Review

• Thoughtful, atmospheric and grippingly plotted

  Guardian

• A former stalwart on the Today programme, Hanington is as good on BBC politics as he is on the UK’s ambiguous role east of Suez, and excels, too, at character portraits of figures such as the British ambassador. There are nods to John le Carré, but his impressive debut is its own thing, with three radio men (including the Radio 4 breakfast show’s dissolute editor) at its centre, not spooks or civil servants

  The Sunday Times (Thriller of the Month)

• It is a pleasure to welcome A Dying Breed, an impressive debut by Peter Hanington, with many years on Radio 4’s Today programme behind him. The multilayered plot, set in Afghanistan and BBC headquarters, moves excitingly and entertainingly but also raises serious current issues about dodgy political and commercial interference with the search for truth by journalists…The subplots and secondary characters are admirable. Hanington has true talent

  The Times

• Graham Greene-lite but rings true, like an episode of Homeland spiked with a bit of Spooks

  Esquire

• A powerful and compelling story. His characters are vivid and interestingly unpredictable… These are real people in real places and it is impossible not to become too deeply involved in a plot that is intriguing without becoming over-complicated, and which builds to a gripping climax

  Country Life

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

  William Boyd

• A Dying Breed is an enthralling page-turner, and, as befits an author steeped in newsgathering, there’s a real sense of authority and authenticity at work in this quality thriller.

  Michael Palin

• A tremendously good debut with characters who leap to life. I was particularly struck by the vivid detail and intensity of it: I have not read anything that has taken me anywhere near as close to Afghanistan as a place. I look forward to more of Hanington’s work with great expectations

  Melvyn Bragg

• ‘A Dying Breed is a deeply insightful, humane, funny and furious novel. This is both a timely reflection on how Britain does business and a belting good read

  A.L. Kennedy, bestselling author of DAY

• A compelling read, and a great insider’s view of life in broadcast journalism. I’m disappointed I am not to feature in the book: it is a brilliant read

  Evan Davis, Newsnight presenter

• Buy this book. Find a quiet place. Switch off your phone and devour it. Hanington’s ability to wrap a story around the ghosts of truth is superb. He spins his tale with a true writer’s gift. I loved every minute in this book’s company

  Fi Glover, BBC Radio 4 presenter

• Peter is that 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

• Urgent, compelling, new bright light on the dark dilemmas of broadcast news

  Gillian Reynolds, Daily Telegraph journalist and broadcaster

• a deeply intelligent, beautifully constructed story

  Will Gompertz BBC Arts Editor

• All journalists seem to think they can write great novels about journalism and 99% of those who try make a hash of it. Hanington is in the 1%. Having created believable characters caught up in the hell that is Afghanistan, he weaves a story that manages to excite, appal and instruct in equal measure. And it reveals one of the trade’s most important differences: the chasm that exists between horizontal journalism and vertical journalism.

  Roy Greenslade, Guardian and Evening Standard columnist and commentator

• Peter Hanington has crafted a gripping and wonderfully well-paced thriller replete with rollercoaster dips and turns and a cavalcade of villains and deliciously fallible anti-heroes. A Dying Breed is delightfully assured and unputdownable

  Andrew Hosken author of Empire of Fear: Inside the Islamic State, and Today programme reporter

• A Dying Breed is a gripping, fast-moving tale of shifting loyalties and creeping betrayal... Hanington connects the inner-workings and skullduggery of the BBC’s London headquarters to the quiet, menacing stillness of the deserts of Central Asia, where the story turns dramatically and violently in a heartbeat and builds to its tempestuous, thrilling conclusion. It is a world in which your closest friends turn out to be your most treacherous enemies – and all written with an effortless, liquidly-drinkable prose style. A page turner from the first line – and full of insights, some chilling, some hilariously well-observed – into the murky worlds of the war on terror, the secret intelligence services, and the mainstream British news media.

  Allan Little, former BBC foreign correspondent and chair of the Edinburgh International Book Festival

• A gripping story, taking the reader from the politics of the BBC newsroom to the politics of a complex and changing Afghanistan. Peter Hanington’s clear, assured voice shines out from every page

  Mishal Husain, BBC broadcaster and Today presenter

• A very effective thriller… it is to Hanington’s considerable credit that he fleshes out the character convincingly without reaching for the tempting clichés lesser writers might indulge in… Credit, too, to the author for giving us real insights into the lives of ordinary Afghan people… An impressive list of BBC names have queued up to pay tribute to the book’s readability, style, and authenticity. You know what? They’re right

  Eastern Daily Press and Norwich Evening News

• A Dying Breed is a well written and compelling debut thriller. Hanington is particularly good at painting his characters and is clearly mining his own experiences as a reporter in Afghanistan to make the book feel authentic

  Art of Danger

• Over the years several spy thriller authors have been awarded the ‘successor to John le Carré or Frederick Forsyth’ kind of title. I’m not sure they all live up to the plaudits, but for me, Peter Hanington is one who does; in fact he’s by far the closest and most exciting I’ve read yet. Whether describing the dog-eat-dog atmosphere of the BBC newsroom (of which he has experienced at first hand) or the vicious and bloody streets of Kabul, the twin backdrops of this story are as vivid as the pictures he paints of the people who inhabit them. Whether old hacks, ambitious news editors, helpless diplomats, ruthless military contractors or inexperienced producers on their way up, he strips them down to their bare essentials and delivers a first-class tale that simply leaps off the page and demands your attention. I haven’t enjoyed a thriller like this for a long, long time, and I sincerely hope Peter Hanington is already writing another one. My only reservation is that while reading this book, instead of finishing my day with a brief planning session of the next day’s work, as is my custom, I found myself glued to the pages instead – and way past my bedtime. But I’m not complaining. It was worth every minute. Go out and buy it, as it is highly recommended

  Shotsmag.co.uk

• His journalistic background is an obvious plus factor here, but nothing can substitute for sheer narrative command, and that Hanington proves to have in spades. There are many books about journalism in time of war, but this is a notably vivid addition to the canon… There is the authentic vividness reminiscent of the work of such writers as Graham Greene and Eric Ambler – which is to say the book, despite its topicality, is old-fashioned in the very best sense of the word.

  Crime Time

• There are quite a few novels written by current and former journalists but I’d be hard pressed to think of a crime book that has brought alive so vividly the passion and politics that goes into producing a radio news programme… A Dying Breed is a fascinating book. It’s extremely well written and, unusually for me, I enjoyed the incidentals about news production as much as the crime story itself… I’m sure this is the start of a bright new career for Peter Hanington. A Dying Breed is an excellent read and distinguished by bright, clean prose that never gets in the way of the story. It’s a little bit different from other crime novels out there and I’d highly recommend it.

  Crime Pieces

• A beautifully written account of myriad deceptions and mortal dangers in a country that has been at war with itself and the outside world for generations. And in the end there is gentleness here too. This is a terrific novel

  Book Oxygen

• A Dying Breed is the first book by Peter Hanington; I hope it won’t be his last… This book is fast-paced and extremely well-written… this book is hard to put down and leaves no questions unasked. Just like a good news story really.

  Booksellers New Zealand Blog

• This has the old-fashioned phrasing and style of a John Le Carre thriller. But once you overcome that anachronism, it settles into a modern, fast-paced thriller set in a post-conflict Afghanistan.

  Stuff.co.nz

• Hanington fleshes out a cast of interesting characters… He perfectly illustrates the hierarchy of a news organisation and uses humour in describing the daily struggle for ratings while balancing ethics and pressure from agenda-driven authorities… It’s adventurous and entertaining.

  Otago Daily Times