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The Dying Light
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Product Description
Review
'Major new thriller by the campaigning British journalist about today's Britain as a police state. Porter is adept at spinning a credible yarn and the book could well prove highly controversial' (THE BOOKSELLER )
'Former spook Kate Lockhart is enraged by the violent death of her old lover, David Eyam, head of British Intelligence. Even more chilling is the legacy he leaves behind which is set to spin the UK into a police state' (Henry Sutton DAILY MIRROR )
'In Henry Porter's exciting, timely and frightening story, a single brave, prescient individual eventually outwits megalomaniac officialdom. This book is primarily a can't-put-it-down , rattling good yarn but it's also a deadly serious and truly awful warning' (Jessica Mann LITERARY REVIEW )
'A daring, stylish and tensely paced thriller that brilliantly imagines the consequences for Joe Public should some of the government's suggested security proposals become law' (METRO )
'Worthwhile and gripping conspiracy thriller' (MORNING STAR )
'Henry Porter's latest conspiracy thriller is neatly designed, elegantly written and, politically, a little subversive' ...The theme and plot do, however, meet in one particularly satisfying set piece that demonstrates the value of having a good defence lawyer, one of the several moments that places The Dying Light among the higher ranks of its genre' (Robert Murphy METRO )
'For those who like political thrillers, this is one of the season's best: scary, informative and, alas, eminently believable' (ECONOMIST )
'He is widely recognised now as a real master of the literary espionage thriller, a true sucessor to le Carre' (PRESS GAZETTE )
'You'll love this brilliantly tense novel' - Five Stars (HEAT )
'If you're looking for a holiday read which will leave you gasping for breath then this one would take some beating' (THE BOOKBAG )
'The Dying Light bowls along at a cracking pace with more twists and turns than a street map of Venice' (INDEPENDENT )
'Porter rails against that very British apathy which has already allowed the state to pass all the legislation necessary to turn his dystopian nightmare into reality - the same apathy, ironically, which makes such nakedly polemical British novels so rare, and welcome' (Jeremy Jehu DAILY TELEGRAPH )
'A gripping and thought-provoking thriller' (CHOICE )
'In the Dying Light, he has created a fearsome vision of how existing legislation - particularly the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 - could be used by a paranoiac government intent on total control... a timely cautionary tale' (NEW STATESMAN )
'the book is a salutary warning of what happens when big business and politics end up in bed together. I'm sure some with think Porter to be paranoid. The rest of us will feel it's terrifyingly plausible' (REVIEWING THE EVIDENCE.COM )
'A tense, intelligent conspiracy thriller set in a horribly plausible future-present Britain where surveillance is so pervasive that it's impossible to do anything unobserved' (John O'Connell THE GUARDIAN )
'Porter has all the talents of a good thriller writer, particularly strong, crisp characterisation and the ability seamlessly to blend action and expertise. What really stands out in this novel, though, is the grimly plausible glimpse he gives us of a future that is already creeping up on us: a United Kingdom where elements of government and corporate interests are combining to monitor and ultimately control the lives of the country's citizens' (SPECTATOR )
'The Dying Light offers pleasures on every page, from descriptions of the English countryside and several alluring characters, to the puzzles Eyam set; from the outrage generated by politicians' monstrosities to the sly neatness of his analysis of their activities' (Natasha Cooper TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT )
'a compelling and engaging tale of intrigue set in the near future' (Michael Mansfield THE OBSERVER )
'Disturbingly chilling' (NEW BOOKS )
'a vibrant thriller deadling with some of the great concerns of his journalistic career: the surveillance state and the erosion of individual liberty. Although set in the future, it feels as up-to-the-minute as tomorrow's headlines' (NEW STATESMAN )
'a skilfully concocted political thriller that is elegantly written and eminently believable in its portayal of political malfeasance' (DEADLY PLEASURES )
'a compelling thriller which at the same time is a persuasive polemic about the threat to civil liberties in the United Kingdom' (LITERARY REVIEW )
'Henry Porter was in Orwellian mood with The Dying LIght, his vision of the locked-down, near-future Britain' (Christmas Books DAILY TELEGRAPH )
'If the best thrillers should disrupt all sense of cosy complacency, Henry Porter's The Dying Light made just emerging from under the duvet seem a risky prospect. The author and Observer political commentator has woven an upsetting truth into his fiercely intelligent tale of a near-future, police-state Britain - all the legislation necessary to create the "technological totalitarianism" he depicts is already in place' (Claire Allfree METRO )
'What sets The Dying Light apart from other thrillers is that it is very well written, and Porter asks two very important questions: are we allowing the building of the most advanced system of surveillance ever seen because we are so sure of our democratic values, and our respect for free speech and legality, or is this attitude potentially fatal?... An excellent Christmas present for the imaginative liberal' (Wendy Kyrle-Pope LIBERATOR )
'This is a novel of ideas, but it has all the best features of espionage fiction' (DEADLY PLEASURES )
'Former spook Kate Lockhart is enraged by the violent death of her old lover, David Eyam, head of British Intelligence. Even more chilling is the legacy he leaves behind which is set to spin the UK into a police state' (Henry Sutton DAILY MIRROR )
'In Henry Porter's exciting, timely and frightening story, a single brave, prescient individual eventually outwits megalomaniac officialdom. This book is primarily a can't-put-it-down , rattling good yarn but it's also a deadly serious and truly awful warning' (Jessica Mann LITERARY REVIEW )
'A daring, stylish and tensely paced thriller that brilliantly imagines the consequences for Joe Public should some of the government's suggested security proposals become law' (METRO )
'Worthwhile and gripping conspiracy thriller' (MORNING STAR )
'Henry Porter's latest conspiracy thriller is neatly designed, elegantly written and, politically, a little subversive' ...The theme and plot do, however, meet in one particularly satisfying set piece that demonstrates the value of having a good defence lawyer, one of the several moments that places The Dying Light among the higher ranks of its genre' (Robert Murphy METRO )
'For those who like political thrillers, this is one of the season's best: scary, informative and, alas, eminently believable' (ECONOMIST )
'He is widely recognised now as a real master of the literary espionage thriller, a true sucessor to le Carre' (PRESS GAZETTE )
'You'll love this brilliantly tense novel' - Five Stars (HEAT )
'If you're looking for a holiday read which will leave you gasping for breath then this one would take some beating' (THE BOOKBAG )
'The Dying Light bowls along at a cracking pace with more twists and turns than a street map of Venice' (INDEPENDENT )
'Porter rails against that very British apathy which has already allowed the state to pass all the legislation necessary to turn his dystopian nightmare into reality - the same apathy, ironically, which makes such nakedly polemical British novels so rare, and welcome' (Jeremy Jehu DAILY TELEGRAPH )
'A gripping and thought-provoking thriller' (CHOICE )
'In the Dying Light, he has created a fearsome vision of how existing legislation - particularly the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 - could be used by a paranoiac government intent on total control... a timely cautionary tale' (NEW STATESMAN )
'the book is a salutary warning of what happens when big business and politics end up in bed together. I'm sure some with think Porter to be paranoid. The rest of us will feel it's terrifyingly plausible' (REVIEWING THE EVIDENCE.COM )
'A tense, intelligent conspiracy thriller set in a horribly plausible future-present Britain where surveillance is so pervasive that it's impossible to do anything unobserved' (John O'Connell THE GUARDIAN )
'Porter has all the talents of a good thriller writer, particularly strong, crisp characterisation and the ability seamlessly to blend action and expertise. What really stands out in this novel, though, is the grimly plausible glimpse he gives us of a future that is already creeping up on us: a United Kingdom where elements of government and corporate interests are combining to monitor and ultimately control the lives of the country's citizens' (SPECTATOR )
'The Dying Light offers pleasures on every page, from descriptions of the English countryside and several alluring characters, to the puzzles Eyam set; from the outrage generated by politicians' monstrosities to the sly neatness of his analysis of their activities' (Natasha Cooper TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT )
'a compelling and engaging tale of intrigue set in the near future' (Michael Mansfield THE OBSERVER )
'Disturbingly chilling' (NEW BOOKS )
'a vibrant thriller deadling with some of the great concerns of his journalistic career: the surveillance state and the erosion of individual liberty. Although set in the future, it feels as up-to-the-minute as tomorrow's headlines' (NEW STATESMAN )
'a skilfully concocted political thriller that is elegantly written and eminently believable in its portayal of political malfeasance' (DEADLY PLEASURES )
'a compelling thriller which at the same time is a persuasive polemic about the threat to civil liberties in the United Kingdom' (LITERARY REVIEW )
'Henry Porter was in Orwellian mood with The Dying LIght, his vision of the locked-down, near-future Britain' (Christmas Books DAILY TELEGRAPH )
'If the best thrillers should disrupt all sense of cosy complacency, Henry Porter's The Dying Light made just emerging from under the duvet seem a risky prospect. The author and Observer political commentator has woven an upsetting truth into his fiercely intelligent tale of a near-future, police-state Britain - all the legislation necessary to create the "technological totalitarianism" he depicts is already in place' (Claire Allfree METRO )
'What sets The Dying Light apart from other thrillers is that it is very well written, and Porter asks two very important questions: are we allowing the building of the most advanced system of surveillance ever seen because we are so sure of our democratic values, and our respect for free speech and legality, or is this attitude potentially fatal?... An excellent Christmas present for the imaginative liberal' (Wendy Kyrle-Pope LIBERATOR )
'This is a novel of ideas, but it has all the best features of espionage fiction' (DEADLY PLEASURES )
Book Description
A chilling thriller of the police-state that the UK is about to become... from 'one of the masters of the genre' [SUNDAY TELEGRAPH]
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
29 of 30 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Henry Porter has written one of the best thrillers I've ever read. The Dying Light is set in Britain in the near future, where the tentacles of the surveillance state have been extending their reach throughout society. Our rulers are driven by misguided paternalism; their sense of right and wrong has been subverted by the inevitably corrupting influence of unaccountable power.
The heroine, Kate Lockhart, is thrown into a dangerous attempt to uncover the rotteness of the government after her estranged best friend is killed in a bomb blast and puts her unwillingly in the centre of a last-ditch effort to save British democracy.
The best thing about this book is Mr Porter's characterisation: he vividly describes all the actors in the drama. He introduces us to an unlikely band of heroes and villains, and people sitting uneasily inbetween. All the characters have human doubts and fears, but those on the good side also burn brightly with a deeply human longing to live freely and make their own decisions about their own lives. They retain a moral compass that the government lost long ago thanks to the death of ideology and to the cult of managerialism and centralisation.
Though it would be wrong to expose the twists and surprises in the plot (of which there are enough to make the book almost impossible to put down!), it is worth stressing - as Mr Porter does in his Afterword - that all the laws used and abused by his fictional government are already on the statute book. So on one level this book is a frightening and thought-provoking exposé of a country that has sleep-walked into putting too much trust to politicians and civil servants who rarely reciprocate by trusting the people to get on with their own lives without nannying or worse. The only thing standing between Britain in 2009 and Mr Porter's fiction is the relative decency of our current rulers.
At the same time The Dying Light is also an uplifting story of the bravery of some very human people in the face of authoritarianism run rampant. In this way it reminds me of the outstanding film The Lives Of Others: just as the film movingly depicts the heroism of the dissident and of the Stasi officer whose humanity makes him rebel against the machine in which he is a human cog, the key characters of this book include both public servants whose moral qualms trump deference to authority and would-be free spirits. Buy this book - you will finish it in a few sittings but you will have much food for thought well after you read the last page.
The heroine, Kate Lockhart, is thrown into a dangerous attempt to uncover the rotteness of the government after her estranged best friend is killed in a bomb blast and puts her unwillingly in the centre of a last-ditch effort to save British democracy.
The best thing about this book is Mr Porter's characterisation: he vividly describes all the actors in the drama. He introduces us to an unlikely band of heroes and villains, and people sitting uneasily inbetween. All the characters have human doubts and fears, but those on the good side also burn brightly with a deeply human longing to live freely and make their own decisions about their own lives. They retain a moral compass that the government lost long ago thanks to the death of ideology and to the cult of managerialism and centralisation.
Though it would be wrong to expose the twists and surprises in the plot (of which there are enough to make the book almost impossible to put down!), it is worth stressing - as Mr Porter does in his Afterword - that all the laws used and abused by his fictional government are already on the statute book. So on one level this book is a frightening and thought-provoking exposé of a country that has sleep-walked into putting too much trust to politicians and civil servants who rarely reciprocate by trusting the people to get on with their own lives without nannying or worse. The only thing standing between Britain in 2009 and Mr Porter's fiction is the relative decency of our current rulers.
At the same time The Dying Light is also an uplifting story of the bravery of some very human people in the face of authoritarianism run rampant. In this way it reminds me of the outstanding film The Lives Of Others: just as the film movingly depicts the heroism of the dissident and of the Stasi officer whose humanity makes him rebel against the machine in which he is a human cog, the key characters of this book include both public servants whose moral qualms trump deference to authority and would-be free spirits. Buy this book - you will finish it in a few sittings but you will have much food for thought well after you read the last page.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The author's aim is admirable. The style is good and the action interesting, though there are some improbabilities. What is best is the exposure of the dangers of our present increasingly secretive, insidious society, watching, recording, stop-and-searching, bugging, and intruding into the everyday lives of the citizens of our country. The excuse is reasonable: we must protect ourselves from terrorists and the enemy within. Also, cctv, for example, is very useful in detecting and preventing crime. But power grows by what it feeds on. Scores of new acts limiting the people's freedom have come into force in the last twenty years. That is not to mention the secret machinations of the controllers. What we must most fear is what we don't know.
Paradoxically, the snag with this gloom-casting novel is its optimism. Despite the newly invented surveillance machines, the all-over telephone recordings, the accurate pin-pointing of where everyone is, our heroes and about a thousand of their supporters evade supervision and walk through police and military barriers as if by magic. Politicians wary of the new developments continue to function at Westminster even after they have been exposed. Suspected dissidents are listed, their life histories recorded down to the last pimple, their photographs distributed, but they walk through. In reality, the power mongers, if they finally take over, will not be so gentle, will not stop for a chat, will not reject torture and prison camps, as we already know. George Orwell's 1984 is referred to in this book, and that is surely a more realistic view of a dark future. Not a happy ending. But if The Dying Light is a call for us all to be more aware of the bad things that happen around us, it is welcome. And not a bad read!
Paradoxically, the snag with this gloom-casting novel is its optimism. Despite the newly invented surveillance machines, the all-over telephone recordings, the accurate pin-pointing of where everyone is, our heroes and about a thousand of their supporters evade supervision and walk through police and military barriers as if by magic. Politicians wary of the new developments continue to function at Westminster even after they have been exposed. Suspected dissidents are listed, their life histories recorded down to the last pimple, their photographs distributed, but they walk through. In reality, the power mongers, if they finally take over, will not be so gentle, will not stop for a chat, will not reject torture and prison camps, as we already know. George Orwell's 1984 is referred to in this book, and that is surely a more realistic view of a dark future. Not a happy ending. But if The Dying Light is a call for us all to be more aware of the bad things that happen around us, it is welcome. And not a bad read!
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I have just finished this book, delaying departure for a holiday because I just had to finish it. Everything about it works magnificently - the characters are original and credible, the plot is like a Rolls Royce engine, the pace and tension superb. But it is the message that will last, I think. It should drive everyone who reads it to sign up for Liberty and No2ID.net. This is a classic word-of-mouth situation, where everyone tells all their friends they simply must read it. They simply must! Even if they are part of the great British apathetic classes, they'll get a rattling good yarn to enjoy.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Good page turner
I have just finished this after compulsively reading the last few hundred pages but, at the same time, not enjoying it very much. Read more
Published 5 months ago by SomersetWhite
The Dying Light
Just finished this and whilst it got off to a bit of a slow start, it was one of those books that in the 2nd half, I couldn't put down. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Zubenubi
THE STATE WE'RE IN......
By far and away the best Henry Porter novel yet - fully realised, gripping, terrifying and (as of November 2011) worryingly prescient. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Winstanley
Great pace, intelligently written
I've just finished reading this book, having stayed up half the night to finish it. A great plot line with lots of twists, the parallels with what we accept in real life with a... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Amazon Shopper
A 1984 for our time
The surveillance state projected a few years in to the future. English institutions subtly perverted in the name of security and defeating terror. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Roger Holden
The Dying Light
The Dying Light
Without giving away to much of the story line, this book should be required reading for all UK citizens. Read more
Without giving away to much of the story line, this book should be required reading for all UK citizens. Read more
Published 16 months ago by KeithD
Really rather good
It's not Le Carre, but it's a very good thriller nonetheless. Really worth a read, not just for the fact it takes an extablished piece of scary Government policy and runs with it... Read more
Published 16 months ago by Alfred King
Dying Light-Henry Porter
An absolutely fantastic read. Totally gripping, I couldn't put it down once I started to read.
Although it is a work of fiction it is a totally credible storey which... Read more
Although it is a work of fiction it is a totally credible storey which... Read more
Published 17 months ago by QB Bri
Dystopian Britain.
It's a deeply satisfying pleasure to discover a writer who can fashion a complex plot, whose complexity mirrors the contemporary world, whose characters evolve even as they forward... Read more
Published 17 months ago by D. W. Blewitt
Gripping and terrifying
The reviews on the jacket sleeve say it all ... this is a very scary look at an imagined close future, entirely possible given current legislation. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Polly Potter
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