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The Fireground

By: Dervla McTiernan
Narrated by: Ben Chapple, Harriet Gordon-Anderson
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Publisher's summary

Flynn was only a teenager when her parents were killed in a terrible accident. Too young to lose her parents, too young to take on responsibility for her younger sister Kaiya, too young to protect Kaiya from the harshness of their new lives in the following years. Desperate to help her sister, Flynn reaches out to Willa Tomlinson, a grief counsellor renowned for helping her patients cope with profound loss. Under Willa’s influence and care, Kaiya finally seems to turn a corner, joining the climate action collective that Willa leads. Kaiya’s passion is ignited and she immerses herself in the group, leaving on frequent camping trips in the West Australian bush. But when a raging bushfire sweeps through the bushland near Margaret River, Kaiya fails to return with the rest of the group.

Noah is no stranger to loss or to violence, but these days, he’s more interested in helping people develop the skills to defend themselves than seeking out fights of his own. When Flynn enters his life, desperate to find out what really happened to her sister, a friendship sparks, and Noah finds himself agreeing to help her. To do so, he’ll need to infiltrate Willa’s cultish collective at the fireground.

In this new Original from the number one internationally best-selling author of The Ruin and The Murder Rule, Dervla McTiernan, Flynn and Noah must reckon with their pasts and fight to find the answers they seek before Kaiya’s trail burns out.

Please note: this audio contains strong language, distressing situations and descriptions of violence that some listeners may find upsetting. Discretion is advised.

©2023 Dervla McTiernan (P)2023 Audible Australia Pty Ltd.
Dervla McTiernan

About the Creator

Dervla McTiernan’s debut novel, The Rúin, was a critically acclaimed international bestseller published around the world. The Rúin won the Ned Kelly Award for Best First Fiction, the Davitt Award for Best Adult Fiction and the Barry Award for Best Original Paperback; and was shortlisted for numerous other awards. It was on the Amazon US Best Book of the Year list in 2018 and screen rights were snapped up by Hopscotch Features. Dervla’s second book, The Scholar, debuted into the Nielsen Bookscan Top 5 on release in 2019, and her third, The Good Turn, went straight to number 1, confirming her place as one of Australia’s best crime writers.
Born in County Cork, Ireland, to a family of seven, Dervla practiced as a corporate lawyer for twelve years. Following the global financial crisis, she moved with her family to Western Australia, where she now lives with her husband and two children. An avid fan of crime and detective novels from childhood, Dervla now writes full time.
Photographed by Julia Dunin

About the Performer - Ben Chapple

About the Performer

eSydney-bred writer and actor, Ben Chapple began by performing his own plays and screenplays. His most recent play, Ode to Isaiah Walsh, was written for Parramatta Riverside. Ben studied Law and Creative Writing at UTS under the guidance of Leah Purcell and Gabrielle Carey. Simultaneously, Ben graduated the BA Acting course at WAAPA in 2019. Ben starred in Screentime/Network Ten’s second series of Playing For Keeps. He recently performed in the Seymour Centre’s sold-out season of The Pass. His voice can be heard in commercials for the likes of Norton LifeLock and Deakins University, as well as in audiobooks like Steve Toltz’s Here Goes Nothing and Nick Bryant’s When America Stopped Being Great.

About the Performer - Harriet-Gordon-Anderson

About the Performer

Harriet is best known for her role as the titular character in the Bell Shakespeare Australia production of Hamlet. Harriet was cast by director Matthew Lutton in the Malthouse/Black Swan Theatre Company tour of Picnic at Hanging Rock. Harriet received Green Room Award nominations for ‘Best Ensemble’ and ‘Best Production’ and was also nominated for the Performance WA award for Best Newcomer. She went on to perform its international tour at the Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh and at the Barbican in London.
Harriet’s other stage work includes: Scenes From A Climate Era (Company B Belvoir), Boxing Day BBQ (Ensemble Theatre), The Museum of Modern Love (Seymour Centre/Sydney Fringe), The Miser (Bell Shakespeare Company) You Got Older and Leaves (Kings Cross Theatre), Lifestyle of the Richard and Family (Next Wave festival), Kindertransport (Darlinghurst Theatre Co) and the award-winning Moving on Inc. for the Perth Fringe Festival.
On television, Harriet appeared in the Nine Network Series of Amazing Grace and ABC Kids Series, Mikki Versus The World. Other credits include Mr Inbetween S2, Love Child, The Secret Daughter and WA Screen Academy’s short, Splendours of a Mind. Her film credits include The Greenhouse, directed by Tom Wilson and shorts, Swiss Avalanche, Love Birds and Your Mob.

What listeners say about The Fireground

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

A premier novelist

Her style is outstanding, she knows her topic, extremely readable, I’ve read everything she’s written

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Thanks Dervla! Seriously tense story!

The lady has a knack for getting my rump so tense I can barely stay seated while I listen! Yikes! I was only I guess, annoyed a bit. I got lost a bit w/ SO much going on that it almost got me 2 lose my usual amount of curiosity. Then the lovely voice would come back & its VERY NICE narration pulled me back to the story. I liked everything from Ms .McTiernan & this is no different. I did so enjoy the natural setting & it really made me want to join the damned group of survivors! You'll see what that means later. No spoilers from Me. Thanks & ENJOY but pay attention. 🐱

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Over way too fast - fantastic narration

First I just have to say superior audio actors!!!! Especially Ben Chapple switching accents perfectly. I would listen to other books read by both of them.

Good storyline - different from Dervla's other books. Grabbed you right off the bat and kept going. I couldn't believe it was over so fast. Ending a little predictable but that was ok in this case.

Definitely recommend.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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Worth it

I love this author. The story was a bit different from the usual, you spend almost as much time establishing the characters as the actual main conflict, but the characters backstories are interesting enough.

Performers were great, just the audio got a smidge fuzzy on loud parts sometimes.

Worth it, but if this is your first book from this author…maybe try a different one first. I love them all

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WOW!!! Great storyline!

I love how you built up each individual character's life and then joined them together. Both Ben Chapple and Harriet Gordon-Anderson did impressive narration.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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A Maze

Woven paths of separate lives that connect over time. An interesting intersection of characters that culminate in conflict and resolution. Holds readers interest like a vise.

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The Fireground

Loved the interesting characters and the story! Would love to listen to another book in this series!

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    3 out of 5 stars

Kind of meh

It was okay but, in my opinion, not up to the author’s usual standards. Glad I didn’t pay for it.

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  • Overall
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A well written story

A wonderful story about real humans and their lives and struggles. Expertly performed by the narrators.

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Great story

This book stressed me out in the best way possible. I liked the changing pov with different narrators.

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