"A Spark of Light" Book Review

A Spark of Light
by Jodi Picoult

Book Description: 

The warm fall day starts like any other at the Center—a women’s reproductive health services clinic—its staff offering care to anyone who passes through its doors. Then, in late morning, a desperate and distraught gunman bursts in and opens fire, taking all inside hostage.

After rushing to the scene, Hugh McElroy, a police hostage negotiator, sets up a perimeter and begins making a plan to communicate with the gunman. As his phone vibrates with incoming text messages he glances at it and, to his horror, finds out that his fifteen-year-old daughter, Wren, is inside the clinic.

But Wren is not alone. She will share the next and tensest few hours of her young life with a cast of unforgettable characters: A nurse who calms her own panic in order save the life of a wounded woman. A doctor who does his work not in spite of his faith but because of it, and who will find that faith tested as never before. A pro-life protester disguised as a patient, who now stands in the cross hairs of the same rage she herself has felt. A young woman who has come to terminate her pregnancy. And the disturbed individual himself, vowing to be heard.

Told in a daring and enthralling narrative structure that counts backward through the hours of the standoff, this is a story that traces its way back to what brought each of these very different individuals to the same place on this fateful day.

Jodi Picoult—one of the most fearless writers of our time—tackles a complicated issue in this gripping and nuanced novel. How do we balance the rights of pregnant women with the rights of the unborn they carry? What does it mean to be a good parent? A Spark of Light will inspire debate, conversation . . . and, hopefully, understanding.

MY Review:    This book is certainly well-written but I just could not really get into it. I have been a fan of Jodi Picoult for a long time, and my favorite part of her books has always been the element of shock and surprise. I didn't get that feeling in this one as I figured the situation out very early in the book.   The book covers abortion and the lives affected by even one decision.   It's one decision that affects many lives.   People on both sides of the issue are locked in with their would-be killer.   Will the situation be worked out in time or will Wren and the others die while waiting for Wren's father and his team to save them?  
                I am rating this book 3 stars.   I receieved a digital version of this book from netgalley and Ballantine Books in exchange for my honest review.  I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions expressed are my own. 

About the Author:


Jodi Picoult is the author of twenty-four novels, including the #1 New York Times bestsellers Small Great Things, Leaving Time, The Storyteller, Lone Wolf, Between the Lines, Sing You Home, House Rules, Handle with Care, Change of Heart, Nineteen Minutes, and My Sister’s Keeper. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband and three children.

Her new novel, A SPARK OF LIGHT, is available in hardcover, ebook, and audio on October 2nd.

Website: http://www.jodipicoult.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jodipicoult 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jodipicoult