Great story, and characters. Intriguing well written plot. Have not read Henry Porter before but I definitely will be again.

This is a really meaty story. Quite complicated but boy does it pack a punch! Had me gripped from page one and the pace does not let up til the end!

I really enjoyed firefly and was delighted to find this next episode. I would recommend reading firefly (as it is excellent) but wouldn't necessarily say you need to in advance of reading white hot silence. This is essentially a race against time and powerful forces to rescue a friend and loved one and bring down powerful right wing forces. Gripping and current.

I can say that Second Book Syndrome is a very real and very serious condition faced by authors worldwide and affecting readers worldwide, however I can say with confidence that Henry Porter is immune. This book was utterly incredible, I loved it.
This book focused closely on the characters we already knew from Firefly but it explored them more deeply as well as their relationships with one another.
It was powerful to read about characters I already knew, put into intense situations and seeing how they fought, seeing their determination to go on but also seeing them crack under pressure and just longing for the other characters.
Unlike its predecessor White Hot Silence also had an element of conspiracy which I loved, it set up a huge obstacle within the story that was not easy to get over but it also added another layer to thet story with its own complexity, its own set of characters and its own stakes. The element of conspiratorialism played into each characters own motivations but also their own obstacles; it was never as black and white as, Hisami wants Anistasia to be safe, Samson wants Anistasia to be safe etc.
White Hot Silence was complex and intense. It was an excellent read that just makes me excited for more.

Follows on from the excellent 'Firefly' with former MI6 agent Paul Samson, as Henry Porter weaves a topical plot with the kidnapping of Samson's former lover Anastasia and his attempt to free her, set to a background of a plot to destabilise Western governments. It is a full on race against time thriller, that has plenty to satisfy espionage and thriller fans. Another 'must read' from Henry Porter.

Anastasia, a psychologist working in a refugee camp in Italy is brutally kidnapped. But there is no ransom demand. At the same time her husband, Denis Hisami is arrested and imprisoned in the US, unable to help her. Who do you call? –Paul Samson of course! He found out what had happened to Denis’ sister Aysel in the former book, Firefly after all.

Anastasia is a former lover of Paul Samson, they parted and she married Denis, a rich businessman who was able to fund her charitable refugee camps in his late sister’s name. But there is much more here than a simple kidnap; secrets are withheld, details of ‘former lives’, different identities – everything is linked to a mysterious past. Vast sums of ‘missing’ money are being used to destabilise the West – who is responsible for hiding and moving this money? Very fast paced and exciting, a super read once again.

White Hot Silence is an outstanding spy novel. The characters are well-developed and interesting, and the locations are simply, but convincing, sketched. There is enough convincing modern spy craft to satisfy even the most demanding armchair spook and there is also a good dollop of detail on international, financial wheeling-and-dealing and emerging political threats in Europe. The ending is very exciting and there is a nice tip of the hat to classic cold war spy stories in the design of the conclusion. Fans of Porter’s much earlier novels will also welcome the unexpected return of a popular character from those books.
White Hot Silence is a terrific and highly emotional espionage novel, and probably the best spy book I have read so far this year
See my full review at murdermayhemandlongdogs.com

Thanks to NetGalley and the publsihers for the ARC in return for an unbiased review
White Hot Silence is British espionage fiction at its very best.
Follow up to Firefly featuring ex MI6 Paul Samson facing a race against time to save the woman he loves taken capture against a backdrop of financial fraud and corruption.
Absolutely loved it.

Super rocket fuelled tale of kidnapping, murder and espionage that races from Italy across the Mediterranean and Black Sea taking in episodes in London and the USA. We catch up with a list of characters from a previous episode in Firefly, this time the young Syrian Naji has grown up and is an essential aide to unraveling the kidnap and financial scam to finance Russian plans to finance unrest across the West . Our hero Samson is expert at dark deeds and all his skills come into play against a crazy and cruel Russian kidnapper in his race to free his ex lover Anastasia. Cleverly ending in Estonia the pace never flags and one hopes there may be more to come.

Henry Porter is a stunning writer. He knows where the edge of your seat is and has you clinging to it from start to finish. Stunning work and a great follow up to Firefly.

I would advise reading the first novel in the series however you can read this as a standalone novel.

A Solid Five Star Read

Another exciting and extremely fast paced read, that continues the story first started in Firefly. Please read Firefly first, as many characters are introduced in that book, and this essential information is necessary to enjoy the second book.
Anastasia Hisami is visiting the Hisami Foundation in Calabria , before flying back to California to be reunited with her husband Denis. She stops enroute to give a lift to some refugee boys, then quickly realises, she has been targeted for kidnap. She escapes from the car and manages to leave a message for her husband before she is captured.
Paul Samson, MI6 operative and person- finder extraordinaire is despatched by Denis to find his wife and bring her back home. But Paul and Anastasia have a previous history of a love affair, and Paul is still in love with her.
This book concerns money markets around the world, and concern attempts to disrupt and overthrow European democracies . Denis is involved due his chequered past as a mercenary, Anastasia has been kidnapped to force Denis to stop investigating where large amounts of money are being siphoned away from Banks and where this is being reinvested .
Naji, the young refugee we met in Firefly, proves himself to be an absolute wizard with unlocking keyboards and computer hacking! If I was in a completely desperate situation, I would love Paul Samson to be my Knight in shining armour!
As you may have guessed, I love both these books! The first made me take a good hard look at my preconceptions about the refugee crisis, it was such a powerful and emotional read. White, Hot Silence, this second book, was, for me, a welcome chance to catch up on old friends, plus a few dunderheads! It is filled with committed desperate characters, with a strong woman and a devoted man, but not necessarily the husband!!
The most surprising item in this book is.... a most unusual book club!!
I am delighted to review this book, and so pleased to become reacquainted with some marvellous characters. Henry Porter has a very keen eye for spies and espionage. He makes the mess surrounding current affairs easy to understand and you can have a greater sympathy of the suffering and struggles of these refugees. A well deserved five star read .

White Hot Silence is the second espionage thriller to feature MI6 agent Paul Samson, and although the series opener, Firefly, was excellent this follow-up is exceptional. It isn't essential to have read the first book beforehand as they work perfectly independently of one another. Anastasia is a humanitarian aid worker currently working in Calabria, Italy helping migrants who have committed to the dangerous sea crossing in the hope of finding a better life. She tries to see the good in people so when she slows down to speak to two African migrants she knows by sight, even before the car stops she realises she has made a big mistake; a mistake that could cost her her life. Captured and drugged she wakes up to the unmistakable sound of a ship's engine.

With no idea who has her and no idea where she is headed it is lucky she had time to call her billionaire husband to inform him of the situation. But he is about to be jailed for crimes he apparently committed in Syria and so is forced to turn to his wife's ex-lover Paul for help due to his expertise in locating missing people. This is a complex, topical and gritty tale which is beautifully plotted and written. There are many moving parts to it but each works effortlessly to create an addictive, action-packed and high-octane thriller. The twists and turns are very unpredictable and the pacing is rapid with barely a moment to breathe. The characters continue to grow on me as they develop, and I look forward to reading more of their perilous adventures in the future. Highly recommended. Many thanks to Quercus for an ARC.

White Hot Silence is an excellent thriller by Henry Porter.

Ex MI6 agent Paul Samson faces a race against time to rescue a kidnapped aid worker who is the wife of a billionaire businessman. The kidnapped woman though is also an girlfriend of Samson.

The writing is excellently paced and very descriptive with all the main characters being fully fleshed out.

There are numerous twists and turns until the end of the book that I would thoroughly recommend

This was the first book I have read by this author and I realised after reading for a bit that it was a sequel to a previous novel.
It did not matter in the context of understanding what was happening but it would have been better to have read the earlier novel as many of the characters in White Hot Silence were in the previous book too and knowing their background would have been interesting and made the book more compelling.
It is basically the story of a kidnap and the race against time to get the victim back. Anastasia is an aid worker in Italy, working with refugees and one day, en route to a centre, she is kidnapped.
Her husband, a wealthy businessman, is forced to employ her ex lover, Paul, Sampson to locate and rescue her as he specialises in this sort of work. Meanwhile there is a plot against her husband and he ends up in gaol on trumped up charges.
It is quite a complicated situation with many gangsters of different nationalities appearing as well as various spies. Sometimes it was hard to keep track of all of these characters as some were rather two dimensional .
It was a reasonably enjoyable read which I finished over the course of a few days.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my arc in exchange for an honest review.