Life Detonated is a powerful memoir from Kathleen Murray Moran after the loss of her husband in a terrorist attack on 11 September 1976. It explores her early childhood, family relationships and her life before and after it was torn apart by this terrorist act.

My heart broke in the first chapter; mostly because it was so close to home for me, with my husband working for the emergency services (details omitted due to confidentiality).

Kathleen writes beautifully; about her childhood, about her sister and the dysfunctional relationship with her mother, the poverty and squalor she survived. She writes about her own children, the experience, grief and frustration of losing her husband. She writes of her life after the event.

I am in awe of Kathleen and her honesty, tenacity and bravery, of her fight and persistence. Along with two other women Kathleen fought to ensure other widows would be looked after in the event of loss.

Her relationship with the wife of the terrorist was intriguing, and one which I was unsure about when reading. Although I understood her reasoning, I can never truly understand the pain and suffering she endured during this time.

I would also like to understand more about the colleagues and friends who became distant, those members of the NYPD who refused to make contact, when they should have been showing the utmost compassion and support.

I’m so glad I read this memoir. A powerful story of love, loss, grief, courage, resilience and learning to use your voice.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my review copy.

Not since Donna Tart’s The Goldfinch, have I found a more sympathetic rendering of the connected consequences of thing that go “boom”. Ms. Moran told a splendid story with suspense and aplomb. More than a capable storyteller, she moves your center of emotional gravity. I await her next book!

this is such an interesting read! So different and nicely told, and in my option so worth a read!

What a very brave very strong woman Kathleen was. It is heartbreaking and beautifully written.
I found this book very inspiring read and written with love.

Thanks to NetGalley for advance copy for honest review.

Reviews left on my Goodread page, Amazon UK and my Facebook page. I can not add these links for some reason

Life Detonated was super honest and Moran writes well describing a life arc I never would've considered and to be honest, would have dismissed a little. Moran lays herself bare-her errors, her origins, and her reasons-and I ended up with so much empathy. A sign of excellent memoir writing.

What an interesting story. Thank you to the author for sharing her painful past with us. It reads just like fiction, I kept having to remind myself that this actually happened.

While this is a very interesting story that will appeal to a certain type of reader, I found out very quickly that this was not for me. I couldn’t get into the tone and writing.

This is a gripping memoir about a police officer's wife dealing with her husband's death and her determination to find out how it happened.

This was a truly fascinating read! Kathleen had a very difficult childhood, grew up to meet and marry her soulmate, who was killed in a terrorist situation. She struggles with his death and even forms a link with one of the terrorists responsible for his death. The story is sad but inspiring. Kathleen came through it all and changed both her life and the lives of others forever. A beautiful story.

Life Detonated is a stellar memoir about loss and the tenacity of survivors. Moran lost her husband in the first 9-11 bombing. No, not the Twin Towers, but the one years before when two Croatian terrorists planted a bomb at Grand Central Station on September 11, 1976, to distract authorities from their hijacking of TWA flight 355. Her firefighter husband, Brian, was part of the NYPD bomb squad tasked with defusing the device when it went off, killing him.

Moran uses deep memory, newspaper articles, letters, and witnesses to go back over the events that took him from her. She also deftly moves back and forth from her impoverished childhood in New York to current events, creating a satisfying memoir of an incredibly introspective person. No spoilers, but one of the saddest and hardest learned lessons for her is learning which people to trust. Well worth reading.

Fascinating story. Her life, her family, her childhood. Remarkable resilience.
A woman who could have been a bitter victim became a shining beacon.
This story was amazing, all the more for it's truth. Kathleen Murray Moran changed the world and then wrote a book about it. I am awed.

This book was so good and once I started it, I could not put it down. The author, whose life story it is, Kathleen Moran is such an amazing woman who has had an amazing life and is a very strong woman. Her memoir is full of her life experiences: a difficult childhood, meeting her husband--a real life prince charming, surviving the emotional trauma of losing her husband to a terror attack, then continuing on with her life in the aftermath while also managing to pass and update laws related to the tragic event that took her husband's life. An absolutely inspiring woman with a very interesting life. Loved this book and highly recommend it!

Life Detonated is such a good story. The writing flows so smoothly. The author describes her life as a widow and the struggles she endured. She also revealed her tough childhood. Moran also reveals how she coped after her husband' death and took on the NYC system to have questions answered. Through it all, she persevered.

What an interesting, amazing, inspiring life Kathleen Murray Moran has led. She starts out by detailing her husband's death, interspersed with his "saving" her from a childhood reminiscent of Jeanette Walls's [book:The Glass Castle|7445] or Frank McCourt's [book:Angela's Ashes|252577].

As life continues on around her, she manages to pass and update new laws, get degrees, find love, add to her family, manage a household, and create a questionable friendship. Overall, this is a fantastic read. It's heartbreaking in the beginning, but by the middle, you are seeing Kathy as more than just a widow.

An engrossing and captivating read. Each page and word placed perfectly.
Enjoyed it thoroughly.

Clearly Moran's life experience warrants telling, but her writing style is so dry and without emotion that I was disappointed. If you're going to spill your guts about such trauma, let us, as readers, feel it! It was moving to hear about her impoverished and love-starved upbringing in the Bronx, but she seemed to be so removed from it. I kept thinking of memoirs such as "Angela's Ashes" and "Chinaberry Sidewalks" that described childhoods much more dire and abusive than hers, but that somehow endeared me more to the author.

Kathleen Moran is a model for how to live life in a complex society, where justice doesn't always find its way to those who serve us most and best. Her story is compelling, especially because it is true.

Kathleen Murray Moran has so much courage. It shines from every page of this book. The loss of Brian has driven her to do so much in her life. Her story is fascinating and deserves to be read. She has achieved so much in her life and I am so glad that she found happiness again with James. She deserves it. I hope this book is widely read and does well. It deserves to.

​When I read the excerpt of this in Buzz Books 2017 Fall/Winter by Publishers Lunch (available on NetGalley at https://www.netgalley.com/catalog/book/112654) I was very intrigued by the story: Kathleen's survival after such a tragic event; honouring Brian's memory and the mission to obtain justice; and the relationship she developed with Julie Busic. I was saddened to realise the outcome: that Julie had been using Kathleen, but at least it had in someway been useful or cathartic for Kathleen. And it is a travesty to never understand or discover what happened that day; why the bomb exploded, but any disappointment I might have about that of course pales into insignificance against the sadness and helplessness Kathleen must've felt, or still feels, about this! There were a couple of points where Kathleen refers to parts of her history as if they've been mentioned already in the book, but either they weren't (perhaps they had been cut in the writing process?) or I just missed them, which was a shame. Overall, I was quite enthralled with the truth of Brian, Kathleen and everyone connected to them. Thank you for sharing!

This book was given to me from NetGalley in exchange for a honest review. Very powerful book. It was hard to put down. I recommend!