Bookish Tuesday | 2018 CAROL Award Finalist | Ghost Heart

Review by Iola Goulton @iolagoulton

Lisa Harris is one of the regular International Christian Fiction Writers bloggers who has been named a finalist in the 2018 CAROL Awards from American Christian Fiction Writers. She is a finalist in the Mystery/Suspense/Thriller category with a novel she co-wrote with Lynne Gentry.

Congratulations, Lisa and Lynne!

The three finalists for the Mystery/Suspense/Thriller category are:

• Four Months in Cuba by Luana Ehrlich, ACFW Qualified Independently Published, editors Pat Brown and Jodi Shumway
• Ghost Heart by Lisa Harris and Lynne Gentry, ACFW Qualified Independently Published, editor Ellen Tarver
• Portrait of Vengeance by Carrie Stuart Parks, HarperCollins Christian Publishing, editors Amanda Bostic and Erin Healy

Click here to check out the rest of the finalists.

To honour Lisa and Lynne, today we're resharing a review of the eye-opening Ghost Heart. This review previously appeared at www.iolagoulton.com.

A Medical Thriller Asking Big Questions

Ghost Heart is medical thriller. I have a love-hate relationship with medical thrillers. I love it because I love the suspense aspects. I hate it because it highlights the inequalities in medical profession both within countries like America, and globally. A million dollars for a heart transplant? The mind boggles.Yes, there is some blood and gore (gore = anything that can't be fixed with an Elastoplast. There are some good reasons why I didn't go into a medical profession). The worst of it is actually in the Prologue, so if you read the sample and are afraid it's going to get worse, don't worry. It doesn't.

Kelsey Taylor is five years old, and needs a heart transplant stop urgently. Her mother, Catherine, is prepared to do anything to save her daughter. Even going to Africa to for a heart transplant. The only way she save her daughter is to ask her father for help—which could destroy her relationship with her husband.

Mia Kendall is a heart surgeon in the public hospital in Tanzania. She finds her heart transplant patients are dying. But the transplant patients from the nearby private hospital not. She's suspicious. What is happening? Is there a problem with her surgical methods? Her post-operative care? Or is there a problem with the transplant organs?

Jeme is a Tanzanian wife and mother. Her husband has recently had a heart transplant, but he's sick again. And she's trying to protect her daughter—an albino, at risk of being kidnapped and murdered by hunters for her white skin and blue eyes. Unfortunately, this part of the story is based on fact. Albinos are considered cursed, yet at that same time, their body parts are considered good luck charms.

Ghost Heart focuses on the people who are trying to save lives. Catherine and Jeme, trying to save the lives of their daughters from two very different threats. Mia, trying to save her patients, and to make up for one mistake long ago. Organ transplant pilot Race Daniels, trying to save lives to make up for the two he couldn't save.

It also highlights the tragedy of our modern medical system, and the way it favours the haves over the have-nots. Those who have insurance or money or who live in a country with a good public health system vs. those who don't. The tragedy of transplants—the fact one person has to die in order for another to receive a new heart. The tragedy of greed—that where money is involved, someone will find a way to get rich at the expense of others.

The novel is suspense from start to finish, with several unexpected twists. Don't do what I did and start it when you should be going to bed! Recommended for all medical suspense lovers.

Thanks to the authors for providing a free ebook for review.

Amazon Description

A brilliant transplant surgeon. A rogue organ broker. A ghost child.
And the legend that could destroy them all.

A brutal murder convinces surgeon Mia Kendall there’s more than she imagined to the mysterious spike in heart transplant rejections. Determined to find answers before she loses another patient, Mia gets sucked into a dangerous international medical web. With time running out for her youngest transplant recipient, Mia is forced to partner with a disillusioned ex-military pilot who flies brokered organs across East Africa. But searching for the truth will prove costly for the unlikely duo racing to stop a madman before he annihilates a rare and cursed bloodline.

From best-selling author Lisa Harris and award-winning author Lynne Gentry comes a chilling, hypnotic medical thriller that will take you from the suburbs of Cincinnati to the jungles of Africa.

You can read the introduction to Ghost Heart below:

Behind the Scenes with Lisa Harris and Lynne Gentry on their collaboration, Ghost Heart + Giveaway

By Ian Acheson

I was fortunate to be part of the street team that assisted Lisa and Lynne in promoting their new medical thriller, GhostHeart. It’s a tremendous story as besides being a thrill ride of a read it also explores topics rarely addressed in a novel. Topics such as heart transplants and the global black market for organs and albinos.

I’m always fascinated by collaborations, as I’m curious about the process two authors undertake to draft a story. I thought it would be fun to get some insight from the two ladies on how they tackled the story and some of the background behind it.

The two of you have been good friends for many years but many of us wouldn’t know how you met and how you’ve maintained such a close friendship at long distance?

LISA: Before we moved to Africa, we lived in south Dallas and went to church where Lynne and her husband were in ministry. While we were friends for several years, it really wasn’t until right before we left for the mission field that we spent some time together—with a mutual friend who was in her eighties and a lot of chocolate—sharing our ministry and writing dreams and experiences. I’ve always been grateful that our friendship has continued over so many years.

LYNNE: One of the blessings of working on this novel has been the chance for us to email and Skype on a regular basis and stay in touch. Over the years we’ve also had several mini-writing retreats when Lisa is back in the states where we brain storm and of course have a lot of fun!

Okay, thanks for that. Now to Ghost Heart. Where did you get the idea for this story?

LYNNE: Just over a decade ago, a newspaper picture of a terrified albino caught my attention. As I read about the horrors these fragile people face, I couldn’t believe such evil existed in the world. I called Lisa, who lives in Mozambique, and asked her to find out if what she’d read was true.

LISA: Until Lynne wrote to me about the article she’d read, I’d never heard of these barbaric crimes. But after doing some further research, I discovered that what she’d read was true. Once we learned that the witch doctors use the pale skin and hair of these fragile people to make good luck charms and potions, we knew we had to tell their story.  

Is the plight of albinos real or something you made up for this story?

LYNNE: Sadly, the atrocities committed against those born with this genetic mutation is very real. Less than 2% of Tanzanian albinos survive beyond their 40^th birthday.

Why did you feel that writing about the atrocities happening to albinos was a story that needed to be told?

LYNNE: We both have a heart for those suffering prejudice and discrimination. People with albinism are not ghosts. They are human beings.

LISA: And this issue goes far beyond the horrors facing albinos. All around the world people are discriminated against. Sometimes it’s for the color of their skin. Other times it’s for their faith or beliefs. But in the end, we are all human beings and we all bleed the same color.

Now let's chat about your writing process. How does co-writing a book differ from writing your own story?

LYNNE: There is a creative give and take that makes the storytelling process more difficult, but in the end we believe also makes the story more powerful. 

LISA: This was the first time I’d ever done anything like this, but while it was challenging, it was also a huge blessing to me. It allowed us to each take our strengths and put them together, while also learning from each other.

Can you tell us some about the brainstorming process of this book?

LYNNE: Since we live on different continents and in different time zones, we do a lot of the work via email. The skeleton of the story went back and forth between us many times. However, when we really need to solve a plot point we will set up a Skype call, which also gives us a chance to visit and reconnect. And since we really do enjoy each other, those calls are a win/win for both of us.

LISA: A project like this definitely was something I loved doing since I don’t have a lot of contact with other writers on a day-to-day basis. And having two people brainstorm ideas for a book is always a win-win situation.

As co-authors, how did you do the actual writing of the book?

LYNNE: First, we decided we wanted our hero and heroine to each have a distinctive voice. The easiest way to achieve their separate voices was for each of us to choose which one we wanted to write. Next, it made sense for Lisa to write the scenes involving African characters since she lives there. Because of my connections to the medical world, I did the research and writing for those scenes.  

LISA: Once we decided on who was going to write what characters, it allowed us to focus on that part of the story line, and on those specific characters backstory and personalities. Watching the story then come together was really exciting.

Besides giving readers a fast paced thriller, what do you want people to get out of this story?

LYNNE: Beneath the color of our skin we are all alike. Because my novels always speak to the intrinsic worth of each of us, I long for the day we can all learn to look past outward appearances.

LISA: In most of my suspense novels, I turn to real life events that affect our world today. In highlighting things—like the issues facing albinos today, I hope that people will step up and get involved in their own communities and make a difference.

Thanks, Lisa and Lynne.

We hope this “behind the scenes” might have planted a seed of interest in Ghost Heart. Here are a couple other links that provide more details.

Ghost Heart Blogspot: The story behind the story

Ghost Heart Trailer: 

To celebrate the books release, we'd like to give away one ebook copy! Leave a comment below for a chance to win a copy and please include a way for me to contact you. I'll draw a winner Saturday, August 19th at 10 pm CST.

You can also find your copy at Amazon as an ebook and paperback, as well as your other favorite online vendors.

You can find out even more about Lisa and Lynne’s writing endeavours by popping over to their websites:

Lisa Harris: has written around thirty books. While Lisa started off writing romance novels for the Christian market, she now writes romantic suspense. Pop over to Lisa's website for more.

Lynne Gentry: has written ten books including, The Carthage Chronicles, a time travel series, and the Mt. Hope Southern Adventures, a humorous small town series. Lynne's website provides more information.