As the book opens, Virginia Lee has been bitten by a venomous snake (she works with them) and is rushing to the hospital. She has recently married Rick -- but not out of love, more out of an intellectual sense of their compatibility and shared goals. She has also recently fallen in love with Terry -- the doctor she is rushing to see. Author Craig Nova gives us a story about the power of love to make us behave in ways we never thought possible.

Virginia has a rare blood type, and the only known donor is a criminal whom Terry once helped escape police custody, and later encounters in a line up looking for the person who stole his vehicle. The relationship between Terry and the criminal (known as Number 2) explores human nature -- who is good, who is bad, and whether one can comfortably occupy the intermediate zone between them.

I sometimes found the motivations of the characters hard to understand; this is the kind of book I need to reflect upon to really appreciate. Which I now do. ( )