Thirteen Stops

Summary: There are thirteen Luas stops between Sandyford and St. Stephen’s Green in Dublin, each significant in the lives of the people who step on and off the tram every day.
The passengers all hunker down, folded tightly into themselves, eyes fixed on their phones, interminably scrolling, terrified of connecting with each other. Except . . .
Except, who’s that good-looking guy in the long dark coat who’s eyeing up Selfie Queen Laura? Could he end up as one of her terrible choices? Hang on, isn’t he the same guy who was ogling glamorous working-mum-with-a-secret Maroon before? And why is Jamie over there telling his life story to a complete stranger? What’s Fauve hiding in her handbag? It must be the Crown Jewels at the very least, the way she’s clutching it so tightly to herself. And why does Becks from two seats down look out the window so anxiously? Is she worried that Barry could be straying?
Alight here for the inside track . . .

My thoughts: I have never been a fan of short stories because they always feel incomplete. As it is, I sometimes worry about characters of long novels that have happy endings.
When I chose Thirteen Stops to read and review, I hadn’t realized that it was a string of short stories connected by the tram in which they travel. However, the stories had diverse characters. I ended up reading much faster than I intended to because I was eager to know what happened next.
Reading this was like watching people when you travel on a train (which I usually do). Regardless of whether the stories were happy, sad, disgusting, or endearing, they were all quite interesting. Although they are only glimpses into the characters’ lives and made me want more.
Is that the author Sandra Harris’ intention, I wonder? Will there be a ‘next installment’? Is this the first novel of a series?
I also disliked that Harris gives little background information. For example, I had to google to know that Luas (Irish for speed) is a tram/light rail system in Dublin, Ireland.

Note: I received a free copy from BookSirens in exchange for an honest review.