I think I was on the second chapter before I felt like I had read this before and very soon could predict "whodunnit." Very disappointing. My first book by Picould and I'm not very impressed. I wonder how Steven King feels about it?

Change of Heart: A Novel This audio book was enthusiastically recommended by a friend and I eagerly jumped to listen to it. I was disappointed to find that the book was so trite and such a Divinci Code-Green Mile take off that I'd bet it was written just to sell books. The least an author can do is research what she is writing about - her descriptions of early Christians, Gnosticism and the Gospels seemed to come from the essay of a 14 year old who didn't really do any of her assigned reading. And a central character - the young priest - had to have flunked seminary since he knew almost nothing about his faith or church history. At least DaVinci Code left you wondering a little. The only good point is that noone really claims that this is anything but fiction (unlike DaVinci Code).

This is my first Jodi Picoult book and it won't be my last. It did keep my interest despite the abundance of religious sophistry and the smack of academia. I didn't fully buy into the premise, which is left up in the air: what is the reader to believe ultimately about Shay--about his crimes, about his "talents," etc. I'm not much of a believer in the metaphysical. I know that a writer can arrange events to make anything implausible occur.

The characters are perhaps the best part of this book, escpecially the ACLU lawyer, the prisoner with AIDS, and Shay's other fellow prisoners--except for the robin. The atmosphere is also quite good. There are, however, some details of the plot that I could not get past. Shay's real name is I.M. Bourne, we learn, and that was a bit too much to swallow. Also, the last chapter is, to my thinkiing, completely out of bounds--and again I don't know what we are to believe from it. I just know that it did not leave me with a satisfied feeling.

Still, the book has enough good qualities to recommend it.

This book reminded me so much of Keeping Faith, which was also not a favorite of mine. I thought the premise of the novel was so interesting, but I felt that Picoult should have told much more of the story from the point of view of June, rather than Michael's and Maggie's. I found the religious detail dull, and I think she focused too much on it.

Many parts of the story were quite unbelieveable, too. Maggie's romance comes out of nowhere. I had to make sure I wasn't reading Danielle Steele a few times. And I've never been in prison, but I'd be willing to bet that many prisoners don't converse in the way that Lucius and Shay do. It also seemed very unbelievable how quickly June seemed to accept the fact that Kurt had been molesting Elizabeth, and I was very disappointed that Picoult only very briefly mentioned June's horror of Kurt and Elizabeth being buried together, following this knowledge.

This novel is very typical Picoult formula, and while predictable at times, I would still recommend it for Picoult's talented writing.

I've read all of Picoult's books except Mercy. I guess what I like most about her books is the way she writes about hot button issues from both sides of the spectrum. Her characters are always well-developed, and the stories really make you think (no fluff in Jodi's books).

Briefly, CHANGE OF HEART is about a man who is on death row for the murder of a young girl and her stepfather. Shay Bourne is trying to redeem himself, he offers up his heart to the victim's sister who will die without a heart transplant. Would you take the heart of the man that you hated most? We also learn that Shay starts performing miracles in prison and everybody thinks that he is Jesus Christ, including his spiritual minister.

I think because of the religion and salvation issues in Change of Heart, the book has stuck with me more than some of her other novels. I definitely don't agree with the viewpoint presented, and I did not love or hate the book. The book is well written, but for me this one was just so so. In my opinion, My Sister's Keeper was her best work ever.