A very topical page turner that kept me entertained over several evenings.
Fourth book in the series and the quality remains high.
Here's to the next instalment from Peter Harrington.
Thanks to NetGalley & the publishers for the ARC in return for review.

The Burning Time is a headline-grabbing thriller that is well written, topical, and fast-paced.
Be prepared for recalling multiple plot lines at multiple levels as you read, and patience is required. That said, the story asks big questions about the response that powerful people and companies with a major stake in fossil fuels might make when they feel threatened.
That opens the path for many twists and turns and that makes for a wonderful story, which I would recommend.

Given the author’s background it comes as little surprise that the reader is treated somewhat to a ‘brave journalist as hero’ thriller. That said, this is a clever plot that draws together current themes relating to climate change; the lengths corporate players may go to in order to preserve their market strength; and corruption in high places. The author does take liberties with the reader’s ability to cope with multiple players in multiple locations, but - overall - that plot device works reasonably well. However, for this reader at least, a rather more ruthless editing could have resulted in a book that lost nothing of its key action but didn’t demand quite so much of the reader’s patience. As this book is one of a series following the exploits of one of the key characters readers should not be too surprised that not every loose end is squared away in a tidy fashion. Despite these relatively minor reservations this is a book that would not let this reader leave it unfinished and required a reasonable pace of reading to discover ‘what happened next’ as the tension ratcheted up, so a 4 star recommendation seems just about right.

This is part of a series and this is the first book I have read. Journalist William Carver is the key character and it follows an investigation into Clive Winner. Clive Winner is brought the Barrier Reef from the brink and he is developing new solutions. Around him people are discredited or are killed. The book is as much a challenge around climate change and governments as well as an investigative plot. I did enjoy the book but found it a bit disjointed. Is it to make the reader more aware of climate change and the different parties involved, is it about an invesitigation by a journalist. I would say I would read it again but I think there are some good thoughts for any reader within the book.

A thoroughly enjoyable read. Introduced concepts of climate change, infiltration and corruption within a wrapper of mystery and intrique Great characters

The Burning Time is the fourth instalment in the William Carver series but happens to also work perfectly as a standalone. This time, old-school BBC radio investigative journalist Carver takes on a prescient and interesting topic in Hanington's latest gripping and all too real political thriller - that of the politics and profits associated with the climate change industry and the monopolistic players who control it. As he looks for new stories to develop, he learns via a reputable contact, senior civil servant Leonard Allen, that an Australian maverick scientist and billionaire, Clive Winner, who is experimenting with ways of combating the overheating of the world through geoengineering, just so happens to be cosying up to the British Prime Minister. Having been successful with notable projects before, such as restoring a small part of the Great Barrier Reef, Winner's company is currently engaged in a multitude of other projects, however, after digging below the surface of his work and apparent philanthropy it becomes clear that Winner has much more nefarious and dangerous intentions than anyone has realised. Until now.

This is a well-written political thriller that addresses one of the biggest issues facing humanity and our planet to date: climate change. Carver keeps the idea of traditional investigative journalism alive, demonstrating its crucial importance, and this is portrayed so realistically as Hanington himself has that very job title, also for the BBC; I thoroughly enjoyed Carver's tenacity, but sadly the effort he puts into his job comes at the expense of his personal life which is miserable, to say the least. Set primarily in Spain, the UK, the US and Australia, it is a fast-paced and thoroughly compulsive thriller with a multi-layered and nuanced plot; complex characterisation; an abundance of suspense and tension; and twists and turns aplenty. The short, snappy chapters make it even more troublesome to put down, and I appreciated that it wasn't immediately clear who was a good guy and who was bad - or morally grey. It highlights the corruption of the political elite, their self-serving natures and their proclivity to stoop to exceptionally low levels and any and all lengths to protect their monetary interests. Highly recommended.

I liked how this series mixes contemporary issue and thriller keeping you hooked and turning pages.
This is the second story I read it kept me on the edge as i followed the crumbs and Willliam.
An excellent and tense thriller that I recommend.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

A superbly written and timely addition to this series of geographical, political, up to date thrillers that really shine a light on the problems facing the planet.

This time, Carver finds himself deep into climate change, and the intrepid reporter and friends leave no stone unturned.

Whilst the is deeply set in realism, it’s a piece of fiction, and that’s where it gets a little silly, as the conspiracy theories so ripe on social media are what build the basis to the story here.

Whilst saying it’s silly is my opinion, the other thing that keeps this great book from the 5 is the slightly abrupt ending, it didn’t feel as rewarding as I wanted it to be,

Nevertheless, an up to the minute thriller that serves as welcome reminder to todays real issues, and makes you ask yourself, what am I Gona do about it?

Stakes of the environment versus politics and vested interests.

This book is set in the months leading up to the Paris COP conference. In the early chapters I found it difficult to work out how the various threads were going to come togerher, but I eventually got it.

This is a well written book that deals with topics we should all be concerned about. It shows clearly how the best of intentions can be influenced, subverted and even corrupted by those with ulterior motive and vested interests.

This pacy, unusual thriller has completely believable characters. It moves through the various well described locations with ease.
The conclusion has a certain inevitability, but it 's a very thought provoking book.

This has a great premise, but it lacks the pace of a thriller and the quality of the writing isn’t strong enough to redeem it. There's a lot of repetition and redundant scenes, and the dialogue and characterisation feel predictable.

I also found Carver's old-timer shtick, his work methods and his relationships unconvincing - with all the resources of the BBC at his disposal, he uses the computers in his local library? On public wifi? What about security?

And why is he fixated on working with his protegee, Naz, and controlling her career choices? She shows herself as competent but not exceptional (although Carver seems to think her ability to use Google Translate is practically supernatural).

A shame because I enjoyed a previous book in the series (probably in spite of, not because of, Carver) and the story of politicians' dubious relationships with business (with more than a nod to the Greensill scandal) is very topical.
*
Copy from NetGalley

This series featuring old style investigative BBC radio journalist, William Carver, by Peter Hanington is one I have not come across until now, the fourth instalment. A complex, multilayered political thriller, it resonates with issues that are all too relevant in our contemporary world, it is set primarily in Spain, Australia, the US, and Britain. Overloaded with stories to follow, Carver is approached by a senior civil servant, Leonard Allen, a reliable source in the past. Allen expresses his concern about the closeness between Number 10 and an Australian geoengineer, Clive Winner, with a reputation for being a genius, he is working on a number of projects, looking to address some of the problems posed by climate change. As Carver begins to look into this, he soon gets a gut feeling that this could be an explosive exclusive he cannot afford to ignore.

In Andalusia, a young woman working for Winner, is flying a plane over the sea is being shot at by a drone, with no sign of her body, Carlos refuses to give up on looking for it and trying to find out what happened to her. Climate scientists begin to die, catching the attention of Cambridge Cloud expert, Professor Edith Walston with close links to Winner. A Planet Action group of activists are organising to draw attention to and seeking political action on climate change. Jennifer Prepas, Winner's right hand woman is trying to ensure publicity and political connections that will bring in the millions of pounds he needs for his projects without him having to turn to more dubious sources. With his colleague Patrick still unable to return to work due to trauma, Carver is forced to look for help from the bright and ambitious Naziah, whom he is mentoring, and the formidable retired Jemima McCluskey.

There is oodles of suspense and tension in this thriller, it takes time for the various pieces to come together, and requires patience from the reader as it is not clear for quite some time who are the good guys and who are the villains. What becomes clear pretty quickly to Carver and Naz are the dangers they face if they persist in their inquiries. This is a gripping and murky story of twists and surprises, including corruption at the highest levels of the political establishment, and ruthless forces focused on protecting their interests by whatever means necessary. We are given insights into Carver, his relationships with Rebecca, Peter and their baby Leila, his rock solid belief that Naz will be a terrific investigative reporter, so much so that he is willing to compromise with his boss, Naomi, in his fight for her. If you have never read this series, i strongly recommend you give it a try. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

William Carver is exactly the sort of reporter the world needs now….just a pity he is fictional! Not only are the major characters written with detail but the minor characters who sadly died….I was rooting for one of them to survive and was saddened to find after a while that this character didn’t. No more, it would spoil the plots, of which there are many….a complicated web!
Thank you Netgalley for the ARC

A fast paced, intricate political thriller. Written by a former journalist, it will appeal to readers. However, despite the interesting story, the multiple characters confused me Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

The Burning Time is the latest political thriller featuring the BBC investigative journalist William Carver. This one revolves around climate change and geo-engineering projects to reverse global warming. Some of the projects are coming to an untimely end and Carver receives a tip off from a senior civil service contact that the British Prime Minister is getting rather cosy with jan Austra;ian climate change billionaire...

Peter Hanington's narrative style is short chapters taking place at various exotic and aspirational locations around the world. Much of The Burning Time is set around London, Spain, Australia and the US. Hanington is a former BBC journalist himself and he provides a good insight into the procedures behind radio news production and the BBC Monitoring operation that used to operate from Caversham. While Carver seems to be able to come and (mostly) g as he pleases, his sidekicks (Naz, a trainee journalist, and McClusky, a retired Caversham operator) are grounded in procedures, job description KPIs and security access issues.

The plot here seems sound. There is intrigue, ambiguity about who is a good guy and who is a bad guy (although the henchman is as sinister as they come), and mostly it is credible. Hanington creates real moments of tension, and the cutting away to another story line leaves the tension hanging. There are enough real-world references to allow the reader to relate, even though some of the high finance stuff is beyond our pay grades.

The ending is satisfying without quite tying everything up with a bow, and doesn't involve great mental gymnastics to understand,

Basically, this is what a thriller should be.

This novel turned out better than I expected given the subject matter. My perception was that there would be a lot of agenda politics but I was wrong except for where the ultimate blame would lie. It is actually a rather fun detective story , the detectives being journalists. I must confess that the assassinations and the rationale for them were tenuous to say the least, with the exception perhaps of Jennifer Prepas, Clive Winner's right hand woman, who may have been about to blow the whistle. It's a novel which hops between different locations and characters, in such a way to keep the interest up. I wonder if Peter Hanington will write a futuristic novel for The Real Burning Time, when the dying Sun consumes the Earth?

his novel is a thriller set in the world of a rich technology wizard who has fingers in lots of pies involving environmental protection think Bill Gates wants to prevent climate change.
At the start of a novel, a young woman who is involved in flying aeroplanes to seed clouds with chemicals to prevent climate change is suddenly shot down from the air by a drone. we meet journalists who are determined to discover what happened to this young woman and how it is linked to this technology entrepreneur.

At this is a fast pace novel. It’s rather blokey, and I found that there were several elements that really didn’t work for me, for example, finding the phone it up on the beach after the aeroplane crash stretched credibility too far for me. There are also elements of the story that didn’t really get explained to my satisfaction. For example, what was the significance of the mobile phone hacking ? I felt to me I had lots of great ideas, but couldn’t quite get them all to tie up together in the story
I have to admit to getting the characters muddled up on occasion and there were some strands to the story that I really didn’t follow. Because of this, I found the novel really wasn’t for me.
The novel is published in the UK on the 13th of July 2023 by John Murray press
This review will appear on Goodreads on NetGalley, UK, and my book blog bionicSarahsbooks.wordpress.com

Clive Winner is a flamboyant Australian scientist and entrepreneur, he had success with saving the health of the barrier reef but is now hocked to the hilt with a number of eco projects world wide all aimed at solving the climate crisis. William carver is an old school London journalist who is approached by a trusted civil servant who tells him Winner has been given an office in Downing Street and he's concerned because things are happening to Clive's scientists, a young man falls down a volcano, a young pilot disappears without trace. Is there a story here? You bet there is. Fast and furious, with many plot twists its a ripping yarn!

The short chapters, with their eye-watering shifts between the various characters in different locations, in Hanington's fourth William Carver novel are quite jarring and feel more like scenes from different movies than part of a coherent narrative whole. Arguably, there are too many characters, in too many separate locations, or perhaps it's more a case of the author being unable to keep track of them all in an effective way and to make them intriguing and interesting enough for the reader to want to stay the course.

Like many journalists / broadcasters who become novelists, Hanington tends to focus more on the external details of his characters — their clothes, general appearance, background, etc — than on their internal lives. The reader never truly gets to know them and what makes them tick.

It takes more than 100 pages into this 450 page novel, before anything in the way of a plot begins to happen and even then it's more akin to a series of separate events that are only very loosely linked (if at all) .

In summary: the book blurb promises more than the novel itself delivers. The Burning Time is an unsatisfying, rather than outright disappointing read.

Many thanks to the publishers, Baskerville / John Murray and to Netgalley for the ARC.

Journalist William Carver returns in The Burning Time which is the 4th book in the series by Peter Hanington.

The subject matter of the main storyline is once again very topical although very definitely multi layered which adds to the overall pacing and enjoyment.

The story moves along at a good pace and Carver remains an excellent main character albeit with some superb supporting ones.

This is a superb series and The Burning Time is a must read.

The fourth in what is an engrossing series about William Carver, the curmudgeonly, single-minded, anachronistic, antidiluvian and so called dinosaur reporter still working at the BBC who always manages to get the story through dogged persistence and nous.

There is corruption in high places and the theme of climate change means that the story and plot are topical and bang up to date.

The writing is elegant and compelling and you are immediately drawn into the plot.

Carver is a wonderful creation and there is much in here about the BBC and the issues that it faces.

An intelligent and well crafted book that merits wide audience.

Highly recommended.