William Carver is a jaded BBC news hack who, one gets the impression, hates and loves the Corporation in equal measure. He spends his life both searching for stories and complaining that he has too many waiting to be researched and written up. He keeps lists of which ones are most interesting, the ones that are most time-sensitive and the ones which can be put on the back burner, waiting for more fallow times. In an effort to attempt to off-load some of his work, he tries to tempt a retired colleague, Jemima McCluskey, to help him out and to encourage his young mentee, Naziah Shah, to show what she is capable of. Naz, it seems, is more than up to the challenge, impressing both Carver and her immediate boss, Naomi Holder, with her diligence, astute observational skills and ability to work out connections.
The crux of the novel revolves around one particular story for which Carver receives a tip-off and believes it might be worth pursuing, both in terms of the individual concerned and the deals he is allegedly involved in. An Australian, Clive Winner is an influential businessman with as many supporters as enemies. He is the owner of a Sydney-based geoengineering company, working on a variety of outlandish-sounding projects intended to reduce the effects of climate change. His detractors question the legitimacy of them, wondering about their ethical and moral standing and whether his activities are wholly honest and above board. Winner also has the ear of the British Prime Minister, supposedly acting as an adviser on environmental issues, so a large section the latter part of the novel takes place in London.
I came to The Burning Time tempted by its eco-themes and the author’s reputation as a respected journalist. Unfortunately, apart from a few references to such projects, it feels ― to this reviewer at least ― as though Hanington did little detailed research into geoengineering and the possibilities muted in the novel. I haven’t read his previous three books, so am unable to compare, but for me, this one is problematic. Firstly, it takes more than 200 pages into its 430 page whole, 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, rather than being part of a joined-up, forward-moving, narrative whole. A couple of these scenes appear to be barely relevant. Secondly, the short chapters, with their eye-wateringly speedy shifts between the various characters in different locations are quite jarring. Thirdly, there are probably 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 a way that makes them intriguing and interesting enough for the reader to want to stay the course.
So, what are some of these locations and scenarios, connected or otherwise?
Andalusia, Spain: Alma, a young pilot, flying a solo plane is followed, and possibly shot down, by some kind of surveillance drone.
Boston, Massachusetts: Jennifer Prepas, PA / Adviser (her actual job title is never mentioned) to Clive Winner. Her role appears to be helping to secure funding for Winner’s many crackpot environmental projects and organising representations to the UK Government and at the Paris Climate Change Conference. She is often referred to as Winner’s ‘consigliere’ by Carver, his contacts and others, presumably to indicate that they don’t trust the Australian’s business activities.
Cambridge, UK: Professor Edith Walston is a leading authority on clouds and cloud formation, gathering scientific data, writing academic papers and advising Clive Winner on his cloud altering project.
Here is Winner’s most senior member of staff, during a trip to 10 Downing Street to promote her boss’ causes, a job she is to come to pay dearly for:
“Jennifer wondered about the people Jeremy Cunis, the Prime Minister’s Special Adviser, had gathered to hear her presentation. Were they merely staff not in demand elsewhere? No Cabinet Secretary, no Permanent Secretary, no civil servants at all in fact. Just a bunch of kids. ‘Meat in the room’ was what they called it back home. Not a phrase Jennifer was fond of, but a lot of companies did it. Having a few folk nodding along while you made your argument was a must in American meetings these days and it appeared that, like a lot of nasty business habits, it had spread to politics as well.”
In Part Three of the novel, the reader discovers that, hidden in plain sight during the course of the narrative, several individuals, who are not actively part of the story itself, have lost their lives in supposedly unexplained ways and for causes that appear to be just as mysterious and unknown. The reader only gets to know their names, but not who they were or what roles they were supposed to have played. Although it is revealed, at the very end of the novel, who is behind the killings (and for many readers it will have been obvious for a long time), no reason for them is given, nor is the killer caught and brought to justice. Thus, there is a general sense that the novel is somehow unfinished and so is unable to meet the expectations alluded to in its preface at the beginning. Furthermore, it doesn’t fulfill the criteria of what is typically regarded as crime fiction, although it appears to want to pass muster as such.
There are some journalists / broadcasters turned novelists who manage the transition well (eg. Philip Miller, John Simpson, Kirsty Wark) but, like many others (George Alagiah, Sally Magnusson, Andrew Marr, to name but three), 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, therefore, never truly gets to know any of them and the things that makes them tick. Arguably, besides the reasons already mentioned above, this is why The Burning Time isn’t more of a page-turner. Sitting somewhere between a psychological thriller and a crime novel, it should be.
Any Cop?: The book blurb promises more than the novel itself delivers. The Burning Time is an unsatisfying, rather than outright disappointing read.
Carola Huttmann
Bookmunch 