Change of Heart [Paperback]

Jack Allen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2001

It started as a plan to bring the Communist Party back to power in Moscow. It turned into an act of vengeance by a former Colonel of the KGB to rid himself of a long time thorn in his side: Joshua McGowan.

Josh must fly from Baltimore across the Pacific to a remote spot only miles off the Russian coast to rescue a young woman, once a Kremlin pawn of the Colonel's and the key to his newest plan. She, however, has her own plan and won't let anyone get in her way, not even Joshua McGowan.

To stop the next Cold War, Josh must decide what is right and who must die before he kills the wrong person, or is killed himself.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jack Allen lives in Michigan with his puppy, Peanut. He has completed three books in the Josh McGowan series, a fourth book set in World War II, and is currently working on the fourth Josh McGowan book, when he's not racing around the city in his red sportscar at breakneck speeds.

Product Details

• Paperback: 318 pages
• Publisher: Xlibris Corp (June 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738867306
• ISBN-13: 978-0738867304
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,601,415 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Takes the reader for a thrill ride, September 7, 2001

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Change of Heart (Paperback)

Burping Frog Publishing is Jack Allen's new publishing company, located in southeastern Michigan. Change Of Heart is their very first novel, to be followed by An Innocent Among Them, Widow of Calcutta, The Lennox Conspiracy, and Breathe of the Flesh. Specializing in spy thrillers and espionage novels, Burping Frog Publishing is a welcome addition to the burgeoning small press industry, which is where the real action is.

In Change Of Heart, we meet a Mel Gibsonesque Naval Intelligence officer named Joshua McGowan. Joshua is, on the surface, mild-mannered until he finds himself in a combat situation. The first scene finds Josh on the streets of Baltimore, stubbornly tracking an espionage operation. His own personal code of ethics requires him to follow through on one operation before tackling his overriding orders to escort a former KGB spy who has been sprung from a Russian prison by Josh's friends in the CIA. New recruit Jerry shows the reader Josh's amazing character:

"Jerry always took that for a load of crap, until he looked into the eyes of the man sitting next to him. Josh was not just some average field agent working a tedious surveillance job for an intelligence organization. He had been changed. He was a soldier, a hardened warrior. Jerry looked away. He completely underestimated his partner. But then, how could he not? To look at Josh he'd never know what he was made of inside."

Change Of Heart takes the reader for a thrill ride from the very first chapter, as Josh tries to rescue the reluctant and beautiful Valeria Konstantinov, former KGB agent, who is being used by both sides for information and power. We see the streets of Baltimore, take several helicopter rides full of thrills and spills on the way to the waters of Japan, and finally step inside the new Kremlin as the old guard makes a bid to return to power.

Josh McGowan is a hero everyone will love. He is handsome, unaware of his appeal, has a moral code that is beyond most people's ken, and refuses to quit. A great start for Mr. Allen!

Shelley Glodowski
Reviewer

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Well Done Thriller, July 31, 2002

By 

Elizabeth Hendry (New Jersey USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Change of Heart (Hardcover)

Jack Allen's Change of Heart is a very well done spy thriller, complete with a likeable hero and a very plausible, yet still very exciting storyline. Josh McGowan has been assigned to bring a young female former Soviet operative to the US after she escaped from a Russian prison. Of course, nothing is ever easy, and Josh meets with many compelling roadblocks along the way. The story is told in an engaging fashion--readable, detailed, exciting. Josh, and the story, were not overwhelmingly "macho". The plot is full of many interesting twists, which are all grounded in reality. Enjoy.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Action from the opening line, January 2, 2002

By 

Cenobyte "Cenobyte" (The Bay Area, CA, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Change of Heart (Paperback)

Josh McGowan: international (and yet patently American) man of intrigue.
Your mission, should you choose to accept it: Brave the action, adventure, and breathtaking stunts McGowan executes as he works to rescue a young Russian, a woman of mysteriously high importance to intelligence and military figures of the former Soviet Union. But why is she so important to them? What secrets does she hold? McGowan would like to know, but she's not talking.
What we're talking about here is an adventure, a spy/military/political thriller, and first and foremost, an action novel penned with a gift for the mode by author Jack Allen - so much so that this novel might easily translate into one of the action flicks Hollywood is so fond of turning out.
If you are a fan of spy novels or action flicks, take Allen's "A Change of Heart" out for a spin. But be careful; on Allen's roadways, the rules tend to disappear.