Lives Interrupted

by Shauna Bickley

She’s fighting for their survival. He’s playing a dangerous game with their relationship.

Rosa is desperate to make ends meet for her family. With her husband Matthew out of a job, she struggles to pay the mortgage and bills. As she’s pushed to the edge, she realises the unthinkable might be her only option.

Matthew doesn’t know where to turn. He’s concealing his depression from Rosa and can barely cope with his new full-time responsibility of looking after their young son. But his despair drives him to risk everything.

Just as they thought things couldn’t get any worse, a bombing on the underground and a personal tragedy destroy their lives.

Can they and the others involved ever recover?

Lives Interrupted is a powerful contemporary drama that explores the far-reaching consequences of personal trauma. If you like flawed characters, family dramas and life-altering challenges, then you’ll love this emotional rollercoaster.

280 pages, Paperback

First published November 2, 2011

About the author

Shauna writes crime mysteries for people who love to work out the clues and discover the murderer before the answer is revealed in the final chapters. She also writes contemporary women's fiction with strong, emotional stories that include family, friendship and love mixed with secrets and a little mystery.

The locations for her books are based on many of the places she's lived or visited, creating realistic settings from cities, small towns and coastal communities in England, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

If you love romance stories with strong heroines then check out the Clearwater Bay series set in New Zealand. If you like sorting out clues from red herrings you'll want to read the Lexie Wyatt murder mysteries set in England.

To discover more about the characters and inspiration for her books, receive exclusive short stories, and hear about new releases and special deals, you can subscribe to Shauna's Book Club newsletter directly at https://www.subscribepage.com/shaunas... or from her website. You'll also receive an exclusive ebook Jenny's Story and Other Tales.

Other than writing (or surfing the internet pretending she's researching), Shauna loves reading, running (or more likely walking), coming up with excuses not to attend Zumba, and trying to find new ways to use the excess fruit from the trees in the garden.

Shauna is always happy to hear from people and you can find her on Twitter, Pinterest and via her website or through good old-fashioned email.

Website: www.shaunabickley.com
Twitter: @ShaunaBickley
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/shaunabickley/

Reviews

[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was extremely character driven - so much so that the chapters weren't numbered, rather they were titled with the character that the chapter mainly focused on. So, as far as character development: 5/5. Even the peripheral characters were interesting & contributed to the plot. The pacing from the time of the bomb until the last quarter or so, was amazing. The book put us all in with these characters & the things they were going through. Things happened quickly, but reasonably.
The ending was a mess. It just stopped. And, no, I don't need everything tied up in a pretty bow. But I would like to feel that the book ended. Instead I felt like the author just wrote the last chapter & was like "tired of writing, gonna quit here". The author had more ideas. How do I know? Because the author typed out "what happened next?" then told us in a not an epilogue but what was apparently her answer to someone who asked why the author stopped where she did. Just write an epilogue, then.

[Awesome Indies Book Awards · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome Indies Book Awards is pleased to include LIVES INTERRUPTED by SHAUNA BICKLEY in the library of Awesome Indies' Badge of Approval recipients.

Original Awesome Indies' Assessment (5 stars):


‘Lives Interrupted’ is the story of a group of friends and loosely related people whose lives are forever changed by a bomb blast on the London Underground. It’s an extremely well written book with complex and well drawn characters with very real relationships, reactions, hopes and fears. We can all relate to these people, and reading this book brings home just how traumatic terrorist events can be for those affected. Knowing that there would be a bomb, I read the book almost waiting for it, but due to the skill of the author, it still came as a shock. One moment all was normal, the next, everything had changed. Despite the traumatic subject matter in the latter part of the book, this was a very enjoyable read.

A highly recommended read. 5 stars.

[Bookvetter 6 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the interweaving of the lives of a very believable set of characters. They all had their strengths – and their failings – as do we all. There was a good balance of the ‘before the bombing’ and ‘after the bombing’; this allows the reader gets to know the characters and therefore have an idea how they would probably react to that traumatic experience. That doesn’t mean it was predictable, though, and I was kept interested in how they moved on from that terrible time.

I also liked the ending; the author doesn’t tie everything up in a neat little bow for them all. The reader is allowed to imagine what happened next to them, without it feeling in any way unfinished as a tale. This is skillful writing, well presented.

[Bookvetter 5 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shauna has a talent for developing her characters and intertwining their separate lives. I thought it might be difficult to follow seven main characters, but I found her style of writing helped me to connect and care about each one, of course some more than others. She begins by pulling me into their world before the tragedy. The London bombing not only interrupts their lives, it changes everything. This sudden catastrophe affects each character in some way. Her descriptions of their emotions and reactions were believable as if I were there experiencing the scene. This book was a page-turner that had me hooked from the first chapter. I look forward to reading more of Shauna Bickley’s books.

[Bookvetter 4 · Rating 4 out of 5]

We are introduced to a core group of friends and some associates, and their quite different busy lives in London. Some new relationships, some old, a new adventure and another's crushing routine . . . all convincingly and sensitively portrayed modern lives, which are then ripped apart one morning on what should have been a regular commute to work.

Without getting into politics, the author deals with the aftermath in the tube and in the hospitals, and later in a moving memorial. But in private, the shock and suffering of those affected continues to plague their days and torment their nights, and leads them to wonder at their carefree innocence of 'before'

[Bookvetter 3 · Rating 3 out of 5]

'Lives Interrupted' is competently written, but in my view lacks that special something which makes a work of fiction stand out. It could be that the characters' inner lives aren't explored in depth. There's quite a large cast of characters and the author moves reasonably from one to another, but I didn't feel I got to know any of them really well. Much of the narrative is dialogue-driven and the dialogue works well for the most part, yet I was aware of a lack of those insights which are one of the pleasures of reading.

[Vicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Based on the London underground bombings the author takes the lives of fictional characters and weaves them around a horrific real life event. Death and injury, heartache and lies, the story takes the reader on an emotional journey as the characters find a new way of living. Warning" spoiler....
the ending was too abrupt for me. But it left me thinking, so the author achieved her goal.

[Bookvetter 2 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lives Interupted is a story of love, family and friendship. It highlights the truth of how much more these things mean to us all in those moments where it seems they may be snatched away. Author Shauna Bickley has woven an intricate tale, lacing together the stories of several London residents and a tragedy that will change all of their lives forever.

[Bookvetter 1 · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author took on the challenge of shepherding a collection of twenty-somethings through the ups and downs of daily life and into a terrorist bomb explosion. I found the characters a bit thin, but if you like stories of people overcoming stress and trauma, this may be for you.

[Vonne Learmonth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not much. Depressing.

[Cath · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not great. Read more like a script than a novel. Interesting premise, but quite unlikely.

[Kathryn Curzon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great read with really interesting characters and a fast pace that held my attention. I loved the London setting and descriptive narrative. So glad I have found this author.