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A Single Source cover art

A Single Source

By: Peter Hanington
Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
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Summary

A gripping political thriller set in the heart of the Arab Spring, from the author of 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 across North Africa and the Middle East, as protests led by a new generation of tech-savvy youngsters challenge the established order. Then there are two Eritrean brothers, desperate to make their way up from the Horn of Africa across the continent to a better life in Europe. The horrors they endure at the hands of people traffickers and others along the way test their endurance and humanity to its limit.

William Carver spots the Arab Spring early, aided by one of the infamous 'Listeners' at the BBC monitoring station in Caversham. He and his producer, Patrick, chase the story across North Africa before arriving in Egypt where the battle between the corrupt old order and the new will be both bloody and potentially definitive.

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. If everyone is a reporter, then whom do you believe?

©2019 Peter Hanington (P)2019 Hodder & Stoughton Limited

Critic reviews

"Topical, authoritative and gripping." (Charles Cumming)

"Tight, pacy and strong on atmosphere." (Michael Palin)

"Completely unputdownable - gripping." (Seb Emina)

What listeners say about A Single Source

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excellent

good story once again superbly narrated by JK. He makes the characters seem so real with his different voices.

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    4 out of 5 stars

A bit puzzling

This is such a good listen. I marginally preferred A Dying Breed, which is brilliant, but this is definitely in the same mould. My only reservation was the way the the story ended so very abruptly - I wondered whether I had inadvertently skipped a chapter or two and had to re-listen to the last 3 chapters. It was as though Peter Hanington had run out of juice on the final lap. It's puzzling given the overall quality of the writing and I still look forward to downloading the next William Carver book.
The narration was very slightly flawed by rather dubious Scottish and Northern Irish accents but otherwise was great.

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  • 02-08-22

Outstanding in every way

Brilliant narrator and terrific story - a great new writer and hopefully he will give us more!

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    5 out of 5 stars

Great read Excellent narration good inflections

I've read two of this authors books can't wait to start the last in thr trilogy of the main character William Carver. Jonathan Keeble is an excellent reader he distinguishes between all characters so well even male and female

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Pace and punch. Recommended

I listened to the first book and thought it had great pace, engaging storyline and excellent narration. I thought it 5 star. This was even better.

Carver becomes a bit more nuanced here, vulnerabilities are made more prevalent. The addition of the brothers and how they fit was clever but also added depth.

I recommend it.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Simply outstanding.

Great plot, strong & believable characters. Very well narated, capturing the characters amd tension of the plot. Would thoroughly recommend.

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Should be on school current affairs curriculum

Possibly not outstanding modern literature, but a compelling story encompassing the arms trade, investigative journalism, and people trafficking. I would recommend it particularly to right wing politicians as they might find it educational.

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Great series

Loving this series. Great characters and plot. Narration is spot on. Mick Herron meets Le Carrie

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Utterly brilliant

After hearing the previous book in this series, I knew this would be great but it is even better. The story digs into the cynical and shameful activities of the British arms industry and how it persists in interfering and undermining the sovereignty of other countries for the sake of obscene profits and political expediency. Two apparently completely independent stories are woven together, providing gripping accounts of how brutal régimes try to hold power and the desperate misery of those escaping from the Horn of Africa in search of a better life. A wonderful book.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Really great... except the accents...

Decent espionage stuff - solid plot and characters.

This narrator would easily be five star except his Kiwi, NI and Glaswegian accents are, frankly, horrific. Unfortunately it really breaks the spell whenever one of those characters is involved, which is quite a lot.

Eritrean and Egyptian accents are also a bit nondescript.

Apart from that he does a fantastic job, so it’s a shame.

Overall, worth a purchase.

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