For Jodi Picoult fans, this one rings true to her unique storytelling style, her catch-phrase one-liners that sum up a paragraph or chapter, and her daring take on challenging/current issues.
My only very minor complaint as a true Picoult fan is that this one echoed so much of what she wrote about in "My Sister's Keeper" and "Keeping Faith" so as to seem a tad unoriginal at times.
This book tackles the thought-provoking topics of losing/gaining faith, interpersonal family relationships, religion, miracles, heart transplants, the death-pealty and incarceration, right vs. wrong, truth, justice, hope, etc., through the perspectives of four alternating narrators: (1) Maggie: the ACLU attorney using Bourne's impending execution to bring national attention to the dealth penalty while struggling with her own beliefs, her body image, her mother and her religious background; (2) Lucius: the inmate incarcerated next to Bourne who is seemingly "cured" of AIDS and from whom we learn of Bourne's ability to perform miracles while behind bars; (3)Father Michael, the priest who is ironically sent to offer comfort to the jailed Bourne despite having sat on the jury that sentenced him to death, all the while struggling with his own religious beliefs; and (4) June, the mother who already tragically lost a daughter and two husbands and who wants desperately to keep her younger daughter alive that she must struggle with the idea of accepting a heart from a donor she would rather not consider.
Interestingly, the main character about which this story is centered doesn't have his own "voice" as a narrator, which worked exceptionally well and enabled his true persona to be somewhat shrouded in mystery and enabled the twists and turns to unfold.
While the plot twists are "typical Jodi Picoult," and were somewhat predictable, they were thought-provoking, as was pretty much everything about this book....so much to think about and discuss. This would make an incredible book club selection and I highly recommend it!
