"Donald Hricik's second novel, Noving to Confess (like his first book, Racing to Pittsburgh) uses the setting of the transplant field to explore the human condition. In Nothing to Confess, seven patients with end stage organ disease: two with kidney failure, two with lung failure, one with heart failure, and one with liver failure, receive organs from a single donor in what they think will be the "Gift of Life", but then something goes wrong. In Nothing to Confess, Hricik, an academic transplant nephrologist and natural teacher, explores the complexities of organ donation and transplantation and uses his novel to educate his audience. He poignantly describes the emotional and financial toll on patients, their families, and caregivers when something unexpectedly goes wrong. Patients and family members are pressured to sue and caregivers are always vulnerable even when there is nothing to confess. I recommend this novel to all health care workers in the transplant field. This novel will be technically educational even for those within the field. More importantly, it will help them to understand their vulnerability and help them to cope when something unexpected does go wrong. I also recommend this for all medical students, residents, fellows and nursing students who have not yet completed their training. One is perhaps most idealistic at the end of training. In Nothing to Confess, Hricik paints a realistic picture that accurately captures the feelings and emotions caregivers feel the first time they have a claim or suit filed against them. The eduction is worth the read." --Daniel Brennan, MD, Medical Director Kidney Transplantation, Washington University
