Showing results by narrator "Kevin Hely"

Finn and Layla are young, in love, and on vacation. They’re driving along the highway when Finn decides to stop at a service station to use the restroom. He hops out of the car, locks the doors behind him, and goes inside. When he returns Layla is gone - never to be seen again. That is the story Finn told to the police. But it is not the whole story. 

Major Brendan Archer travels to Ireland - to the Majestic Hotel and to the fiancée he acquired on a rash afternoon's leave three years ago. Despite her many letters, the lady herself proves elusive, and the Major's engagement is short-lived. But he is unable to detach himself from the alluring discomforts of the crumbling hotel. Ensconced in the dim and shabby splendour of the Palm Court, surrounded by gently decaying old ladies and proliferating cats, the Major passes the summer.

Oliver Ryan is a handsome and charismatic success story. He lives in the suburbs with his wife, Alice, who illustrates his award-winning children's books and gives him her unstinting devotion. Their life together is one of enviable privilege and ease - enviable until, one evening after supper, Oliver attacks Alice and beats her into a coma. In the aftermath, as everyone tries to make sense of his astonishing act of savagery, Oliver tells his story. So do those whose paths he has crossed over five decades. What unfolds is a story of shame, envy, breathtaking deception and masterful manipulation.

The million-copy best-selling author returns with a breathtaking thriller. The disappearance. The suspicion. The fear....

The shocking true story of a young boy hidden away from his family and the world in a Catholic home for unmarried mothers in 1950s Dublin. Born an 'unfortunate' onto the rough streets of 1950s Dublin, this is the incredible true story of a young boy, a secret child born into a home for unmarried mothers in 1950s Dublin and a mother determined to keep her child, even if it meant hiding him from her own family and the rest of the world.

Spanning four centuries, The Long Gaze Back features 22 new stories by some of the most talented Irish women writers working today. Taken together, the collected works of these writers reveal an enrapturing, unnerving, and piercingly beautiful mosaic of a lively literary landscape. The anthology presents an inclusive and celebratory portrait of the high calibre of contemporary literature in Ireland. These stories run the gamut from heartbreaking to humorous, but each leaves a lasting impression. They chart the passions, obligations, trials and tribulations of a variety of vividly drawn characters with unflinching honesty and relentless compassion. These are stories to savour.

Finn was born to stop the monsters from invading his town. But he’d really rather not. He dreams of having an ordinary life, and right now, things can’t get any worse. Legends are running riot. Half-Hunters are out of control. And Darkmouth has been taken away from him. But something even more terrifying lurks beneath the surface: an ancient horror threatening both our world and the Infested Side. So scratch that. Things can get worse. Much worse.

A raw and often funny 12-month snapshot of seven-year-old Tommy's brutal young life. Moving us through his daily struggle with poverty and neglect in 1960s Manchester like it's the most natural thing in the world, Tommy lives at the heart of a large Irish family in derelict Hulme, ruled by an abusive and alcoholic father and a drunk, negligent mother.

Some see Britain as an ally; others look to Germany for a hopeful future while some wish to remain as neutral as possible. In this atmosphere of edgy uncertainty, a young lieutenant, Paul Duggan, is drafted into the army's intelligence division, G2, and put on the German desk.

Paul delves into the double-dealing worlds of spies and politics, where ruthlessness, deviousness and occasional violence prevail, before confronting a surprising secret that challenges everything he has grown up believing.

One wet winter night, two women meet on a bridge. One is Tess Taylor, a personal trainer on the way to meet her boyfriend for date night. The other is Kate King, a celebrity married to a handsome billionaire who just happens to make her cry. In the cold, dark evening, there is nothing to link them together but the bridge they shiver on. Little do they know they'll each hold the key to the other's future marriage....

Vivian is a cosmopolitan Taiwanese American tourist who often escapes her busy life in London through adventure and travel. Johnny is a 15-year-old Irish teenager living a neglected life on the margins of society. On a bright spring afternoon in West Belfast, their paths collide during a horrifying act of violence. Inspired by true events, this is a story of the dark chapters and chance encounters that can irrevocably determine the shape of our lives.

Things can't get any worse. Legends are running riot. Half hunters are out of control. Darkmouth has been taken away from Finn and Emmie, and Finn's dad, Hugo - proud Legend Hunter - is washing dogs for a living. But something even more terrifying lurks beneath the surface: an ancient horror threatening both our world and the Infested Side. So scratch that. Things can get worse. Much worse. More than ever, Darkmouth is going to need a hero.... Sadly, all it's got is Finn.