Review by Booklist Review
Christine and Marcus Nilsson are finally experiencing the joy of parenthood after turning to a sperm bank. But when Christine catches a news update on the capture of a serial killer preying on nurses in the Philadelphia area, she's shocked at the killer's resemblance to a photo she's seen of her baby's donor. Homestead Bank claims they can't reveal Donor 3319's full identity. As the stress takes a toll on her marriage, Christine resolves to discover if her donor is the killer and visits Zachary Jeffcoat in prison. Posing as a freelance journalist, she coaxes Jeffcoat to talk about his background and becomes swayed by his protests of innocence. Unable to turn away from Jeffcoat's pleas, Christine helps him retain Griff, a curmudgeonly veteran of death-penalty law, and volunteers to help Griff investigate the case. Is Christine being manipulated by a dangerously smooth killer, or is she the only one who's recognized an innocent man's plight? A gripping, although often incredible, suburban crime tale told with Scottoline's penchant for humor and soul-baring characterization. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Scottoline remains one of crime fiction's top brand names, with demand for her books a given.--Tran, Christine Copyright 2016 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Christine and Marcus Nilsson, the Connecticut couple at the heart of this uneven standalone from bestseller Scottoline (Every Fifteen Minutes), have decided to use a sperm-bank donor after three years struggling to have a baby. No. 3319's identity is anonymous, but, like many donors, he submitted two photographs-one as a child, one as an adult. While on early leave from her job as an elementary school teacher, pregnant Christine becomes convinced that the donor is Zachary Jeffcoat, who's being called "the Nurse Murderer" in a TV newscast after his arrest. Christine begins her own investigation to determine if the biological father of her child is a serial killer, even if it puts her life and her marriage at risk. The plot is strongest when focusing on the trials of a couple desperate for a child and the psychological ramifications of using a sperm donor. But too often the story sinks to the melodramatic, unredeemed by Scottoline's usual verve for character. Agent: Molly Friedrich, Friedrich Literary Agency. Author tour; 400,000-copy first printing. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Happily married, Christine and Marcus Nilsson tried fruitlessly for a year to grow their family. After visiting a specialist and determining the source of their fertility problems, they decide to get pregnant with the help of an anonymous sperm donor. Though difficult, this decision proves successful, and Christine is soon pregnant. At her good-bye party at the elementary school where she works, Christine finds her attention drawn to a breaking news story on the capture of an alleged serial killer in a nearby town. When the suspect's face flashes onto the screen, Christine is horrified to realize he looks exactly like their donor. Thus begins Christine's desperate search to determine if she is carrying the biological child of a psychopath. Verdict Scottoline (Corrupted; Every Fifteen Minutes) has mastered the art of writing the story of an average mom forced into extraordinary action. Her relatable characters inspire empathy, which lets readers find themselves sucked into typically unbelievable situations. As has come to be expected, this is a page-turner that will satisfy the Scottoline faithful.-Madeline Dahlman, Deerfield P.L., IL © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A Connecticut teacher's long-sought and hard-fought pregnancy turns into a nightmare when Scottoline (Corrupted, 2015, etc.) unleashes one of her irresistible hooks on her. Forced to extreme measures because her dreamy husband, Marcus, is sterile, Christine Nilsson has finally gotten pregnant using sperm from anonymous Donor 3319. At the party the staff at Nutmeg Hill Elementary have thrown to celebrate her departure, she gets a look at a serial killer doing his perp walk on TV, and he's the spitting image of Donor 3319. When the Homestead Bank refuses to confirm or deny the identity of the donor, Christine and Marcus react in dramatically different ways. Marcus is determined to sue Homestead and whomever else is necessary to find out once and for all whether the father of the child he's awaited so long has killed at least three nurses from Virginia to Pennsylvania. Christine persuades her best friend, Lauren Weingarten, to accompany her to West Chester, Pennsylvania, where Zachary Jeffcoat has been incarcerated, to ask him whether he's Donor 3319. But Zachary is considerably shrewder and more manipulative than Christine, and before she knows it, she's helping him instead of vice versa, finding him a raffish lawyer, volunteering to work as an unpaid paralegal to help with his defense, and interviewing the latest victim's neighbors. As usual, the complications aren't quite up to the level of the startling hook, and Christine needs more than a bit of luck to dig up the information she seeks. Along the way, she finds out a good many other things she definitely wasn't looking for. The fairy-tale ending calls for some convenient coincidences and changes of heart, but Scottoline's legion of fans will be too relieved to object. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
