Change of Heart, Christina LePort, author
How many readers feel as I do, that some books sweep them into their pages from the get-go? I love crime novels, but I hate the apprehension they produce, so I am schizophrenic when it comes to them. I love the mystery, but I hate the very tension they create. I am helpless to change the scene or alter what is happening, yet I cannot put the book down to escape. The pages turn themselves. I am a captive audience, unable to leave the setting, even if I do not like the characters or the way they behave. This is that kind of a book. The narrative draws you in, and you cannot escape. You are in the book’s grasp, and it won’t let you go until it ends. So, settle in, and enjoy the ride.
This novel is based on crimes involving a conspiracy to compromise organ donation. To be specific, it is based on the idea of a particular kind of “chain” organ donation. Someone donates their organ to the chain for a particular recipient. That recipient may now receive an organ from any compatible donor. The recipient's donor's name is added to a list so that when he/she dies, the organs can be harvested for another patient in need. It is kind of a reimbursement. The particular recipient that was named, who is supposed to be in dire need of an organ, rises to the top of the list or assumes a higher position and waits for a donor and a life-saving transplant.
However, criminals had hacked into several hospital databases and had used that information to start a lucrative organ donation business involving hearts. Donor suicides were rising, and they were in close proximity to a hospital so that the organ would not die before it could be captured and used for a chosen recipient. The FBI suspected that criminals were using the stolen lists of donors and recipients to blackmail some of the donors into ending their own lives prematurely. If it was determined that they were a match for a recipient in need, the donor was coerced into ending their own life or the criminals would arrange to do it. Some recipients were even “persuaded” to refuse their transplant, so it could go to someone else.
Kirk Miner, a Private Investigator, was called in by the FBI Director Jack Mulville to help investigate a suicide because Kirk had past police and forensics experience. When Miner realized that this was a homicide, not a suicide, Mulville asked him to take the lead in the investigation, working with Charlotte Bloom, a probationary agent. Charlotte, unknown to any of them, was suffering from a catastrophic health issue of her own that she did not want discovered until she was off probation and a full FBI agent. She was Mulville’s protégé, a young woman to whom he behaved rather fatherly, which was totally out of character for him. If he knew her secret, her career would be over. Miner’s wife was not a happy camper. Aurora did not want Kirk involved in police investigations because of the danger, and that was the very reason he had given up police work.
When Charlotte discovered more disastrous news about her own life in the course of the investigation, she kept it secret, thus endangering the others involved, even her own cardiologist with whom she had become romantically involved. Was she selfish or was it her only choice? When Miner and Dr. Zayne Wilder connected the dots and realized Charlotte’s secrets, did they make the right choices when it came to the investigation, their own jobs and Charlotte’s wishes?
Eventually, the investigation turns up what seemed to be a complicated but lucrative conspiracy. Criminals were forcing donors in the chain to end their lives prematurely to provide their hearts for designated chain recipients. Santo Montepulciano, a mobster, is suspected of being behind this whole criminal enterprise. What was Marjorie Silverman's connection to the mobster? Who was Marjorie Silverman?
As Bloom and Miner investigated some of the people who were on the “chain” list of organ donors and recipients, there were more questions raised and fewer answers. Charlotte was impeding the investigation, because she was determined to hide important information in order to protect herself and her future. Was that appropriate behavior for a budding FBI agent? Was she putting others in danger to preserve her own reputation? Was she being selfish or was she justified in her actions?
In this book, there are a lot of twists and turns, unsolved crimes, secrets and hidden lives, coupled with a selfish drive in the pursuit of personal goals. Some of the characters’ behavior may unnerve or even infuriate you as they put their personal dreams first and the lives of others in grave danger. Were Charlotte’s behavior and her actions, in light of her physical health and heritage, appropriate? Did the romantic relationship between Charlotte and Dr. Wilder force you to suspend disbelief? What did you think of Peter's heroic effort to help the police in their search?
I have to say that this book grabbed me from page one. The short chapters and interesting dialogue were winners for me. So many books, lately, are filled with unnecessary descriptions or personal politics, to simply fill more pages, that they become tedious. This book was definitely not one of those. So, grab a chair, open the book and be prepared to read through to the end. You will be a captive audience, as I was!