en-us Copyright 2008 - All Rights Reserved. Sun, 22 Nov 2009 19:04:38 GMT 15 By Casey L. - Columns Editor
In Jodi Picoult’s book "Change of Heart", June Nealon already had to suffer through the death of her first husband in a car crash caused by a drunk driver, with her two-year-old daughter in the back seat. Then five years later, her dedicated husband and daughter where murdered by the contractor, Shay Bourne, that she once saw as a god- send for coming to finish an addition before their second daughter was born. Now 11 years later, she must deal with her daughter, Claire, who desperately needs a new heart and the only viable donor, is Bourne, who is on death row for killing Claire’s father and sister. Bourne has a spiritual advisor, Father Michael, from a local church to guide him through his final days and try to come to terms with the chance that the organs of a mid-30s male may not be a good fit for a pre-teen girl.  He and Bourne’s attorney also must fight the fact that when the jury including Bourne’s spiritual advisor who was a young college student at the time decided him guilty of capital murder and had him sentenced to death by lethal injection. Lethal injection would be a suitable way to die if it were not for the fact that the chemical makeup is designed to stop the heart, the only organ that they need to persist in order to save Claire. Through many tumultuous trials and court appearances, it is decided that Bourne’s religion demands that in order for him to get salvation for his sins, he must save the sister of his victim. In the midst of the trial, Bourne confesses to Father Michael that he would like to die for his crime but his crime is not as heinous as what the first jury was not told. The crime that was committed mirrors one that he had to suffer through with his sister as an adolescent and is the reason that he would like to die. Bourne feels that he deserves his sentence but not for the crime he is accused of committing rather because he could not protect someone just like he did not protect someone of the same offense as a youth. The suspense in this novel is very intriguing and keeps you reading until the very end. It also keeps you wondering why a guilt-ridden yet innocent man wants to die to save the girls of the family that sent him to jail. The only weak part of the book is that the evidence in the trials isn’t presented as it would be in the normal justice system. The details of the first trial would normally be made certain before a man is fully convicted, and the whole jury would have to be totally convinced of Bourne’s guilt in order for him to be put on death row. Those same truths should also prevail through the appeal process if this man truly does want to show his innocence and show real justice. Rating: 4 out of 5 stars ]]> Tue, 24 Feb 2009 18:15:59 GMT