A Dying Breed

By: Peter Hanington

Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble

A debut novel in the vein of Greene and le Carré, A Dying Breed is a brilliant and gripping story of the politics of news reporting, intrigue and blood set between the dark halls of Whitehall, the shadowy corridors of the BBC and the perilous streets of Kabul, in the shadowy le Carré-esque world of foreign correspondents reporting from war zones around the world.

Carver, an old BBC hack, is warned off a story when a bomb goes off, killing a local official in Kabul, but his instincts tell him something isn't quite right, and he won't give up until he finds the truth. A junior producer sent out from London to control him is kidnapped, and as the story unravels it looks like there's collusion between the local consul, Whitehall and someone in the BBC to ensure the real story never sees the light of day.

©2016 Peter Hanington (P)2016 Hodder & Stoughton

Critic reviews

"A tremendous novel - shot-through with great authenticity and insider knowledge - wholly compelling and shrewdly wise." (William Boyd)
"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)
"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)
"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)
"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, appall 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)
"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.... 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)

Espionage a la John Le Carre

If you like your espionage at a pace and with the depth of John Le Carre you will love this debut novel. Terrific characters, current issues and great narration by one of the best. Afghanistan is the setting hand Hannington puts you right there as well as some background surrounding the conflicts that have occurred there. Just didn't want this novel to end.

Enjoyable

Love the narrator’s voice but I listened to it at 1.25 speed because I prefer a quicker pace.
You have to pay attention because the details are important and it is easy to get the characters mixed up. Big thumbs up

A Good Romp with Journalists in Afghanistan. . .

If you like to follow journalists (real or fictionalized) on their adventures around the world, you will enjoy this book. It is set for the most part in Afghanistan and London -- places where journalists ply their trade as troop-embedded witnesses to the longest war in history; and where their bosses make decisions about what makes news while embedded behind ornate desks in big offices. This book has a great deal of horrific brutality in its story; and also provides a glimpse of the lonely life that must be that of journalists sent to cover conflicts in other nations. Lots of alcohol, lots of competition, lots of missed opportunities for relationships, families and ethical purpose.

In all, the characters were very well done and the narration terrific. A good story!

Excellent first book : a star is born !

What a pleasure to discover Peter Hannington, a BBC reporter with a talent for story telling with a Le Carre-esque feel to the plot ! This is a fast-moving story of investigative journalists who find themselves in the mist of murders and complex political conspiracies. Set in Afghanistan and London, the book is off to a slow start, but then the plot accelerates in different directions and so do the tension and the reader’s interest. It is very well written with compelling characters and a real insight into the country.
The narration by Jonathan Keeble is outstanding and truly adds value to the story.

An Excellent Tale

Peter Hanington’s first book has vivid characters, the moral dilemmas that men have to face and the politics of power all woven into an excellent book. A tale well told and well plotted that keeps up the suspense to the end.

I look forward to his next book.

Jonathan Keeble’s performance is good and enhances the pleasure of this story.

best espionage of the decade

Extraordinary characterization. Intricate and realistic story line. And in Afganistan all the bands play on ...

Fantastic narration for a very good story

It’s slow going but the atmospherics of Afghsnistan, the realism of a journalists slog to do his job and the treachery if the intel community all make for a wonderful experience.

Best Book I've Listened To So Far in 2017!

Take journalism, espionage and political thriller -wrap it up with great characters, excellent writing and a perfect narrator and you have an audio book that is one of the stand-outs of 2017!

Worth the listen

Good story good guys win bad guys lose. Well read story flowed ended as it should

Brilliant!

gripping story of a modern journalists struggle to report truth. the narration is outstanding. best I have encountered