The Universal Donor

by Craig Nova

"In the hands of this accomplished novelist, a love story becomes a thriller as a Los Angeles doctor tries to save a woman by tracking down the criminal psychopath who shares her rare blood type."― New York Times Book Review 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 Her hope and faith is in him, even as it has been withdrawn from her husband, Terry's college friend.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

Genres: Fiction

270 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1997

Reviews

[Irma Cardenas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Romance turned thriller? Didn’t feel that, even when Terry was with Number 2 not thrilling. It was really 3.5 for me. The writing is good but the selling it as a thriller was so wrong.

[Carys · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truthfully this should have been a four-star book, but the brilliant Craig Nova deserves better than a sub-3 star overall rating and I’m doing my bit to redress the balance.

Beautifully written. Not quite Incandescence, but still wonderful. Will definitely be reading more of Craig Nova’s work.

[Denyece Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent Read

[Emily Katherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weird, loved the writing style. Wish it was weirder, but a good time regardless.

[Patsey]

Crappy.