Showing results by narrator "Des Fitzgerald" in All Categories

Dublin, 1816. A young nursemaid conceals a pregnancy and then murders her newborn in the home of the Neshams, a prominent family in a radical Christian sect known as the Brethren. Rumours swirl about the identity of the child’s father, but before an inquest can be held, the maid is found dead after an apparent suicide. When Abigail Lawless, the 18-year-old daughter of the city coroner, by chance discovers a message from the maid’s seducer, she sets out to discover the truth.

From the author of the acclaimed bestseller The Light Between Oceans comes a breathtaking and epic novel set in the vast outback of Australia—about tragedy, family secrets, and the enduring power of love. When we do something that can’t be undone or mended, how do we go on living? How do we...

From improving her painting to perfecting her garden, exploring family histories and reclaiming her mother’s art of tea-making, Alice Taylor discovers the challenges and pleasures of living alone.

After a plane passenger fails to reach his destination alive, DCI Gawn Girvin must once again chase a dragon. When pathology reports that a passenger found dead on arrival on a flight from Amsterdam to Belfast passed due to natural causes, it should be an open and shut case for the police. But detective Gawn Girvin, adept at smelling a rat, digs deeper and discovers that far from being clear cut, the man's death is indeed suspicious. After interviewing his fellow passengers, and shaking lose inconsistencies in their stories, she heads to the Netherlands intent on nailing the killer.

As a sleepy town in rural Ireland starts to wake, a road subsides, trapping an early-morning bus and five passengers inside. Rescue teams struggle, and as two are eventually saved, the bus falls deeper into the hole.  Under the watchful eyes of the media, the lives of three people are teetering on the edge. And for those on the outside, from Nina, the reporter covering the story, to rescue liaison Tim, and Richie, the driver pulled from the wreckage, each are made to look at themselves under the glare of the spotlight. 

Beginning with the seemingly simple question "what is human?" Fr. FitzGerald investigates the implications of modern science. Several lectures are devoted to stem cells. What are they, where do they come from, and how are they used? Does it matter if a stem cell comes from an embryo versus bone marrow, the placenta, or skin? Examine the promise and dangers of stem cell research. The world marveled at Dolly, the first cloned sheep, and now cloning is widespread. What is cloning, how is it done, and are humans being cloned now?

The Power of Suffering is psychologist David Roland’s personal investigation into the nature of human suffering. When our world is turned upside down, what does it do to us, how do we survive it, and, most importantly, how can we grow as a result? David takes the lived experience of eleven...

Socialite Lucinda Oliver planned a lavish celebration for her fortieth birthday - a weekend escape at an Irish coastal town with her sister Stella and her closest friends. The weekend was to end with a blow-out party and a special announcement, one Lucinda had been dropping hints about for weeks. But before Lucinda could reveal her secret, she went missing. And now, six months later, her car has been found submerged in the Atlantic Ocean.

A hapless elephant keeper must do everything he can to save his failing zoo Terry Lyon, assistant head keeper of Southwood Zoo, trusts animals because most people think he’s a waste of space. But as the zoo lurches towards bankruptcy, his future looks bleak. As if managing hungry elephants and...

When a recently widowed woman in rural Wisconsin notices her husband’s toolbox is missing, she calls the authorities—and unwittingly starts a chain of events that will forever change her community. What begins as a disarmingly simple mystery blooms into an exploration of loss, the fragility of the environment, and what it means to connect and heal.

When Amelia relocated to Cambridge for love, she never imagined her new life would become a nightmare. After uprooting her beauty therapy business to be with her fiancé Noah, Amelia receives the first message—anonymous, threatening, impossible to ignore. As more sinister messages follow, Amelia's new life begins to fall apart. It seems someone is watching her every move and now her clients are abandoning her for no reason she can see. It's as if she's done something wrong, but what? And Noah is no help. He seems strangely distant, then conveniently vanishes to care for his sick father.

On Tommy Llewellyn’s first birthday, his doting parents awoke in a home without baby blankets and bottles in the fridge, without the photos of their newborn once scattered about, and without any idea that the one-year-old sleeping in their home was their child. That’s because Tommy Llewellyn is a boy who, in the very cosmic sense of things, will never be remembered—stuck in a universal Reset that causes everyone to forget he exists when the clock strikes midnight on his birthday each year. 

Deaf since early childhood, Caleb Zelic is used to meeting life head-on. But now his best mate is dead, his ex-wife, Kat, is avoiding him and nightmares haunt him. But when a young woman is killed, after pleading for his help in sign language, Caleb is determined to find out who she was. And when the trail leads him back to his hometown, he uncovers secrets that could threaten any chance of reuniting with Kat and his life.

This is the story of a beautiful, young woman — a talented athlete and musician, raised in a loving home, surrounded by friends — undermined by a ruthless inner voice that claimed her body and her spirit. Emilee: The Story of a Girl and Her Family Hijacked by Anorexia reveals the cracks in our health care system, the institutions we are taught to trust, as well as our own prejudices and misinformation about eating disorders, mental illness, and addiction.

A definitive deep-dive into queer history and culture with hit reality show RuPaul's Drag Race as a touchstone, by the creators of the pop culture blog Tom and Lorenzo NPR's Best Books of the Year 2020 pick A New York Times New & Noteworthy book One of Logo/NewNowNext's "11 Queer Books We Can't...

Doesn’t it feel like the world could use a major spiritual upgrade these days? But what would that look like? Perhaps something completely unexpected, something everyone could understand, something easy and incorruptible, something unifying... Perhaps a symbol that doesn't even require language to work its wonders… In its elegant simplicity, the Infinity Wave could be just that.

In Canberra, a federal election looms and Cassius Calvert, Minister for Border Integrity, is facing a new hard-line policy regarding asylum-seekers. Off the Indonesian island of Dana, Isi Natoli, skipper of the Java Ridge, and a group of Australian surf tourists are anchored beside an idyllic reef. A few kilometres away, Roya and her mother are amongst the passengers fleeing persecution aboard the Talakar. When a storm breaks, these stories collide with chilling consequences....

From the bizarre and audacious imagination of horror author Andy Marino comes a harrowing tale of the insect that will herald the apocalypse… "The literary equivalent of swallowing a wasp that's crawled inside your Coke can. Do yourself a favor and read this book." – Nick Cutter, author of...

Deaf PI Caleb Zelic has always been an outsider, estranged from family and friends. But when he receives a message that his brother, Anton, is in danger, Caleb sees it as a chance at redemption. He tracks Anton down to a small, wind-punished island, where secrets run deep and resentments deeper. When a sniper starts terrorising the isolated community, the brothers must rely on each other like never before. But trust comes at a deadly price …

Mary Brown is back to her mad and crazy best as she heads to Portugal for a weight loss camp and discovers it’s nothing like she expected. Mary wants to hide from the instructors and cheat the system. The trouble is, her mum is with her, and won’t leave her alone for a second...Then there's the angry instructor with the deep, dark secret about why he left the army. And what about Yvonne - the slim, attractive lady who sneaks off every night after dinner. Where's she going?