Most Wanted by Lisa Scottoline

Who is donor 3319?

Christine and her husband Marcus utilize the sperm donation of a man known as donor 3319 after a long struggle with fertility. Christine was already worried about her husband moving past his insecurities surrounding his inability to produce sperm. She fully believes that Marcus will be a great father and is their baby's true father. Imagine Christine's emotions when she sees a serial killer's arrest on TV who looks just like donor 3319. She becomes obsessed with identifying her anonymous donor 3319. Is he the serial killer on TV? Will her child have violent tendencies?

Naturally, this causes a rift between Christine and her husband. The baby is all they've wanted for so many years and now they disagree about what is important and how to proceed. This story brings up the nature vs. nurture debate. One side thinks that violence is learned in their environment while others believe in the "warrior gene" and that people can be predisposed to violence.

What can be done?

Is the sperm bank responsible for not screening a potential sociopath? Lisa Scottoline did some serious research regarding sperm banks for this book. I hope that the actual banks are more careful with screening their donors than the banks in this story. According to Most Wanted, egg donors are more carefully screened than the sperm donors. Imagine that.

It is tough to imagine being placed in this kind of position. I found myself angry at Marcus and thinking he was a total jerk, and then later I was mad at Christine and thought she was acting crazy. I couldn't keep to one side of their marriage. That was part of what kept this story interesting. Of course I was interested in whether or not Zachary (arrested serial killer) was actually donor 3319 but I also was worried about whether their marriage would survive all of these hurdles. Then of course I was embarrassed for Christine as she became a self-made detective/paralegal. I was curious like she was but I couldn't relate to her. I couldn't picture myself behaving the same way in this situation.

All in all, there was just enough suspense to keep you entertained.