Oh no, I’m addicted! Yes, I know I reviewed Lisa Scottoline’s last book entitled Every 15 Minutes just 10 columns ago. Sorry, I just plain enjoy her novels. When I started Most Wanted, I was going to read the book and write about it in months to come. However, I liked the book so much I thought you should know about this 422 page thriller. It is obvious that many people are following Lisa’s writing. This book was published in April 2016. I tried to order it through the Chester County Library System as soon as I read it was available. There were about 100 “holds” on it just as there have been each time I have checked my position on the library list since.
Most Wanted reminds me of ABC’s What Would You Do? hosted by John Quinones, where conflicts are staged in a public place with actors while hidden cameras roll to catch the reactions of the people around them. I say this because there are so many decisions to be made, especially by Christine Nilsson and her husband, Marcus, who have been married for eight years. Christine is an elementary school reading specialist and Marcus is an architectural engineer who owns his own company and is frequently traveling. Unable to have children, they decide on intrauterine insemination. This is the beginning of their world almost falling apart.
The couple was able to view photos of possible donors on a website and selected a man who had some of the handsome physical characteristics of Marcus. The story opens on the last day of school before the summer break when a going away party/baby shower is given for Christine, who is two months pregnant. During the party, Christine sees footage of an alleged serial killer, Zachary Jeffcoat, on a muted television in the teachers’ lounge. Immediately, Marcus, his “Type A” personality showing, wants to abort the baby and sue the doctor and the donor clinic. Christine’s thoughts sum up their dilemma: “Her dream of motherhood, of parenthood, of their new family, was over. Her thoughts raced. She knew Marcus would never think of the baby as his, would never see himself as the father and the baby’s father was a killer, a murderer.” The situation was further exasperated by Marcus’s 65 year old braggadocio father when he announced his arm candy of a wife was expecting.
The couple is separated for several days while Marcus is away on business and their communication has much to be desired. Christine, a model wife always wanting to please Marcus, sets high goals for herself by leaving her Connecticut home with her best friend Lauren to travel to Collegeville, Pennsylvania, to visit Zachary Jeffcoat in jail and find out if Zachary actually is the donor for their baby since the name of the donor is confidential. Christine opens a “can of worms” posing as a stringer reporter to Zachary and the other individuals that may know something about the murder of the nurse and the subsequent murder of another lady who may have been a witness to the crime.
Zachary pleads that he is innocent and Christine believes him. She goes searching for an attorney to help Zachary, finds a seemingly aging, cantankerous lawyer named Griff, who seems of little use to her because of his old fashioned ways, and she persuades him to help her when she said she would work for free as his paralegal. Little did she know that Griff was a diamond in the rough with a soft heart!
From here on, it’s What Would Christine Do? Lie to Marcus? Abort the baby? Catch Zachary in several lies? Risk her life during the investigation? Find out for sure who the killer is – Zachary, a neighbor of the nurse, someone in the administration of the hospital where the third nurse that was killed worked or someone else? And finally, as Barb asked me: “If you are near the end of the book, has Lisa thrown in a surprise for you as usual?” I think this should be your assignment to figure out if you are willing to take the challenge.
How many more books by Lisa Scottoline will I review? I’ll try to control myself in the future. However, I will tell you that another book is due out this summer. A quote attributed to Yogi Berra, the great Yankee baseball player, when he ordered a pizza, the waitress asked: “How many pieces do you want your pie cut?” Yogi responded: “Four, I don’t think I could eat eight.” When it comes to Lisa’s books, I think I could take all eight of them!
Jeff Hall, of Honey Brook, contributes columns to Berks-Mont Newspapers. Questions/comments may be directed to jeffreyhall77@comcast.net.
