What Death Taught Terrence

By: Derek McFadden

Narrated by: B.J. Harrison

Length: 10 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

The TV is on, and I’m on the couch, leaning as far back as I can. My heavy, indecisive brown eyes - their lenses blurred ever since my tumultuous, too-soon entrance into the world - flutter between open and shut. I am half-watching half-listening to a football game on a Sunday afternoon. Was that the doorbell?

“Who is it?" I call out, expecting to hear my daughter, Megan’s, voice. These days, she is the one person who visits me. The only person who knows I’m making my home in this little oasis fashioned from wood felled by my own hand.

“Terry, it’s Mom. I’m here to help you move”.

My mom? That’s not possible. She’s...

Wait. To help me move? Oh, God.

I rise from the couch and glance back at my lifeless body.

Life is a journey. So is the afterlife.

At the end of his life, Terrence McDonald must discover its meaning, or he’ll be banned from the afterlife forever, and his soul will cease to exist.

Join Terrence - and those who love him - on a poignant and unforgettable journey through a life at once wonderful and harrowing.

Learn what Terrence learns. See what Terrence sees. By this provocative story’s end, listeners may even learn a thing or two about themselves.

©2020 Derek McFadden (P)2020 Derek McFadden

Critic reviews

“What Death Taught Terrence offers a powerful, painful, and poignant look at the life of a man rarely encountered in fiction. Derek McFadden’s writes with an insight few can match.” (T.F. Allen, author of The Night Janitor and The Keeper)

“A good story allows the reader to experience life as another person, and McFadden made me do so on a deeply personal level. If you like the works of Mitch Albom, I think you’ll find What Death Taught Terrence a worthy addition to your library and the reading of it a lifeaffirming journey.” (Bradley Harper, Edgar-Award Finalist, author of A Knife in the Fog and Queen’s Gambit)

“In What Death Taught Terrence, Derek McFadden builds a world that satisfies both our desire for imagination and our need for personal introspection. I found this (story) immediately immersive, and it stuck with me long after I finished. McFadden is doing something rare in today’s fiction - exploring the limits of what we will believe to form a better understanding of who we are.” (Alex Dolan, author of The Euthanist and The Empress of Tempera)

Life lessons learned

Life lessons learned might well be a literal interpretation of the story. It’s eloquent, precise, and well-documented. The narrator really takes you right there. This is an excellent read, definitely 5-star.

Deeply personal retrospective on a life lived

As the reader, we review Terrence's life with Terrence and God. Getting to see a life lived through a different lens, searching for meaning.

Emotional and Riveting

Could not stop listening. I feel like I've gotten to know someone real by the end of it. The events are so beautifully described that you feel like you're in the room with the characters. Memories are so crisp and deep you could swear they were yours or those of someone you knew. And the emotional impact at the end made me cry. This is the kind of story that will stick with me for a long time. Definitely recommend.