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The Good Heart
He expected peace, but it had not come. Would God require something from him for the secret he had kept for more than 40 years? One mad dies, and another lives through the gift of a transplanted heart. As the recipient heals, memories he was never aware of come to him in dreams and in bright flashes of recognition that have no past. As the "heart memories" become more vivid, Mike Stone begins to understand that the secret imbedded in his new heart can destroy the very person responsible for saving his life. After years of hard living, Mike has experienced a literal change of heart. Passionately in love for the first time in his life, he is desperate to survive and to redeem the recklessness of his youth. But as he follows the trail of memories encoded in the donated heart and wrestles with issues of integrity and forgiveness, someone else seems determined to make certain the secret is never revealed. Torn between his newfound values and a desire to protect his family from harm, Mike must decide if exposing the truth is worth the risk. Set in the fast-paced, power-hungry climate of Washington, D.C., this gripping new novel combines political intrigue with passion and danger while unraveling the mystery behind a brotherly pact that threatens all in its path.
- GenresFictionInspirational
298 pages, Hardcover
First published May 30, 2005
3 people are currently reading
89 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
February 1, 2008
This book is unlike any thriller/murder mystery I have ever read. There is plenty of good and evil, but unlike Clancy or other prominent writers in the genre, Pratt doesn't describe the gory details of the evil involved, and while the antagonist seems realistic, he isn't totally evil either. The villains have both good and bad in them, contrary to the popular trend of painting people as all bad or good. Either I am not used to this type of character develpoment, or it's the first time I've been exposed to an author like Pratt.
I found the book to be a pretty good read, though somewhat predictable. Normally I'd only give it three stars, but since Pratt was able to realistically portray both hero, heroine, and multiple despicable people without resorting to any profanity or sex scenes, he deserves an extra star for effort.
I have often thought it must be necessary to describe the evil characters and their language and doings in detail in order to justify killing them off in the end or giving them their just desserts, such as Tom Clancy's In Cold Blood where the villain Billy's exploits are described in EXTREMELY graphic detail, (which is very disturbing to read). Pratt here offers a good story without making me cringe at the language or unwarranted seamy detail. Maybe I should make it five stars!
I found the book to be a pretty good read, though somewhat predictable. Normally I'd only give it three stars, but since Pratt was able to realistically portray both hero, heroine, and multiple despicable people without resorting to any profanity or sex scenes, he deserves an extra star for effort.
I have often thought it must be necessary to describe the evil characters and their language and doings in detail in order to justify killing them off in the end or giving them their just desserts, such as Tom Clancy's In Cold Blood where the villain Billy's exploits are described in EXTREMELY graphic detail, (which is very disturbing to read). Pratt here offers a good story without making me cringe at the language or unwarranted seamy detail. Maybe I should make it five stars!
May 9, 2008
Not really impressed with this one. The main "bad guy" wasn't believable. The plot wasn't either I didn't think. To be fair, this was a political thriller, which isn't my favorite genre to start with. I did really enjoy that the author didn't describe gory details or use bad language. It was a very clean book.
May 24, 2020
Interesting story with plenty of twists.
November 21, 2012
I’m actually not sure what this book is about. At first it was about a guy who wants to quit politics because he’s marrying a heart surgeon. He’s the political advisor to both of the front runners for the next United States Presidency. Then he has a heart attack and spends most of the book in a coma. After that I thought it was about a slimy ex military guy, who is really full of himself, doing nefarious things in order to do nefarious things — mostly just because he can. Then suddenly there’s a big company installing GPS tracking chips in people’s heart implants and dental work. Then there’s a huge chunk of discussion about people getting heart transplants and gaining the memories of the person that the heart came from. Then there’s a showdown of some kind and some people get shot and some people die and it turns out the whole point was that that first guy just wanted to be a pastor in a small town in Florida.
There’s a supposedly trained killer who is some kind of super deadly assassin. He stabs some people, shoots some others and generally makes a mess of things. However, he never actually succeeds in doing any kind of lasting damage to anybody. The FBI comes in and talks about how dangerous he is and they scramble all over the country trying to keep an eye on him like he’s some kind of evil Jason Bourne. But he never does anything. He misses. Every time.
The political stuff sounded like a bunch of hooey. None of it made any sense from the point of view of somebody who has even a vague understanding of American politics. There was a fair bit of undercover FBI agent drama going on too, but it mostly consisted of getting doughnuts from a coffee shop and reading the newspaper while thinking about how dangerous it would be to get caught as an undercover agent — which never happened. They talk about it a lot, every time the character comes up, but that particular gun never fires.
Then there is the argument about ‘heart memory.’ It has got to be the most unconvincing argument I’ve ever encountered. Maybe that’s because the argument itself is dumb but I was really hoping to at least be convinced in the context of the story. If this was a fantasy, I would totally buy this part. If it was more subtle — i.e. small changes in behavior, etc. — then I would shrug my shoulder and find it slightly interesting. Downloading memories and whole personality changes from a donors heart is just a little bit silly. Feel free to refute this if you have evidence to the contrary.
A bunch of people run around. A bunch of them get put in comas. Mostly for no reason, they recover. People do things unexplained, completely illogically — I think this is supposed to be a case of spiritual guidance but there is no mention of that or of these characters being spiritual in any way so it’s left really vague and confusing.
The prose is also awkward. The cover flap says that Pratt is an award winning author. If that’s the case this is definitely not his award-winning writing. Most of the prose is clumsy exposition about characters thinking things in ways that people never actually think. Who thinks things like “I hope they don’t find out about that one time when… Oh, the chapter’s over. Hold that thought so I can repeat it at the end of the next chapter…”?
Then people start talking and it gets worse. Did this book have editors? I hope not because somebody should have told the author that the dialog sounds like conversations with unfunny robot clones of Ben Stein — which actually sounds kind of amusing in its own way, now that I think of it. It’s the kind of thing that you could have your computer read to you and it might actually give the voices more life than they have in the book.
The book was mercifully short but I’m afraid that’s the best there is to recommend it. I’d like to suggest a different political thriller writer but the only other ones I’ve read were Dan Brown and David Baldacci which may have actually been worse, if that’s believable. So I’ll have to stop at just saying, read something else, anything else.
There’s a supposedly trained killer who is some kind of super deadly assassin. He stabs some people, shoots some others and generally makes a mess of things. However, he never actually succeeds in doing any kind of lasting damage to anybody. The FBI comes in and talks about how dangerous he is and they scramble all over the country trying to keep an eye on him like he’s some kind of evil Jason Bourne. But he never does anything. He misses. Every time.
The political stuff sounded like a bunch of hooey. None of it made any sense from the point of view of somebody who has even a vague understanding of American politics. There was a fair bit of undercover FBI agent drama going on too, but it mostly consisted of getting doughnuts from a coffee shop and reading the newspaper while thinking about how dangerous it would be to get caught as an undercover agent — which never happened. They talk about it a lot, every time the character comes up, but that particular gun never fires.
Then there is the argument about ‘heart memory.’ It has got to be the most unconvincing argument I’ve ever encountered. Maybe that’s because the argument itself is dumb but I was really hoping to at least be convinced in the context of the story. If this was a fantasy, I would totally buy this part. If it was more subtle — i.e. small changes in behavior, etc. — then I would shrug my shoulder and find it slightly interesting. Downloading memories and whole personality changes from a donors heart is just a little bit silly. Feel free to refute this if you have evidence to the contrary.
A bunch of people run around. A bunch of them get put in comas. Mostly for no reason, they recover. People do things unexplained, completely illogically — I think this is supposed to be a case of spiritual guidance but there is no mention of that or of these characters being spiritual in any way so it’s left really vague and confusing.
The prose is also awkward. The cover flap says that Pratt is an award winning author. If that’s the case this is definitely not his award-winning writing. Most of the prose is clumsy exposition about characters thinking things in ways that people never actually think. Who thinks things like “I hope they don’t find out about that one time when… Oh, the chapter’s over. Hold that thought so I can repeat it at the end of the next chapter…”?
Then people start talking and it gets worse. Did this book have editors? I hope not because somebody should have told the author that the dialog sounds like conversations with unfunny robot clones of Ben Stein — which actually sounds kind of amusing in its own way, now that I think of it. It’s the kind of thing that you could have your computer read to you and it might actually give the voices more life than they have in the book.
The book was mercifully short but I’m afraid that’s the best there is to recommend it. I’d like to suggest a different political thriller writer but the only other ones I’ve read were Dan Brown and David Baldacci which may have actually been worse, if that’s believable. So I’ll have to stop at just saying, read something else, anything else.
October 28, 2008
I thought this book was pretty good--not the best I've ever read, but pretty good. Michael is a political advisor who thrives on helping powerful men become more powerful. He also has dark secrets about the men he advises, and those secrets prove to be dangerous for him and for those closest to him. The plot is further complicated by Michael's heart attack, the death of a senator's brother, and other advisors who will do anything to have power. Through it all, the theory of "heart memory" keeps things interesting. Overall, this book is a fairly quick and good read that will make you think about the things we do and the people we become, forgiveness, and what's really important. Not a religious book, but a clean book that still manages to be suspenseful and interesting.
June 2, 2009
This book is an interesting genre: part political, part thriller, part spiritual... Because I'm not particularly interested in politics and I don't remember much from my college poli-sci classes, it was a little hard to follow. I wanted to keep reading because of the thriller part of the story, but I was still a little confused at the end of the book. The "spiritual" aspect added an interesting twist. It would be a good book for people who enjoy political thrillers.
May 25, 2009
James Barlow's "good heart" is the center of this political power at any cost story. James was a black minister when he was brutally beaten. Keeping the truth from surfacing during a political campaign for the presidency reveals the ugly side of politics. I wonder if today's political campaigns were realistically portrayed.
February 15, 2011
I couldn't get into this book. The intrigue and suspense was pretty boring, the only reason I kept reading was to find out about Jimmy the man who's heart was donated for transplanting. I didn't really understand why all the things being talked about mattered to the story line.
February 3, 2008
This was really a good book. Three troubled lives, one beating heart, and an unsolved murder.
May 15, 2008
I really enjoyed the dynamics of this book. The characters were unique and not the typical good/bad stereotypes.
July 18, 2008
This was really good! i would have given it 5 stars...but there are very few books that "are amazing". I wish 5 stars was "loved it" Good clean book.
August 12, 2008
This book was pretty unexpected. Kind of a political thriller/archetypal journey book. I liked it. Alot. Except the ending was slightly anticlimactic.
August 14, 2008
Ok story but not what I really care to read. I just wanted to get it done so I can move on to another book.
October 1, 2008
This was a pretty good read. I found it at a warehouse clearance sales and bought it on a whim. Not bad.
November 19, 2008
It wasn't a bad book, I just wanted a different ending.
February 2, 2009
OK story, but a bit predictable.
February 16, 2009
This was a fun book to read. It had intersting twists and turns. I enjoyed it and it is a short read.
June 9, 2012
Found myself not too interested while reading it until near the end of it.
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July 15, 2017Well written, I just can't stand political intrigue. Pass.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews