The Universal Donor

Bitten by one of the snakes she is studying, Virginia Lee, an accomplished herpetologist, drives herself to the hospital, carrying a decaying antidote and using her pantyhose as a tourniquet to slow the poison's path in her bloodstream. Through the hideous traffic of L.A., she must reach her lover Terry McKechnie, who works as an emergency-room physician. Her hope and faith is in him, even as it has been withdrawn from her husband, Terry's college friend. After her arrival, Virginia desperately needs transfusions of her rare blood type-and only an explosive criminal-at-large with whom Terry has already clashed can save her life. In this "absolutely bewitching" (Jonathan Harr) novel, Craig Nova brings us into the moral morass of contemporary America, gripping us with the beauty of his exacting prose and the suspense of his riveting emotional drama. "I wouldn't delay reading a novel of Nova's, not even to complete one of my own."--John Irving "Craig Nova is a fine writer, one of our best, and if you haven't read him, the loss is yours."--Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post Book World (1997 Critic's Choice) "As skilled a piece of storytelling as Mr. Nova has yet pulled off."--Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, New York Times

Author: Craig Nova
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Published: 10/01/1998
Pages: 270
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.68lbs
Size: 8.17h x 5.46w x 0.66d
ISBN: 9780393318456

Review Citation(s):
New York Times 12/20/1998 pg. 28
Booklist 06/01/2001 pg. 1836

About the Author
Nova, Craig: - Craig Nova's previous novels include Tornado Alley, Trombone, and The Book of Dreams. He lives in Vermont.