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Building on her series featuring forensic sculptor Eve Duncan, bestselling suspense writer Iris Johansen takes a slightly different tangent with her latest thriller, The Search. The search and rescue team of Sarah Patrick and her golden retriever, Monty, first appeared in The Killing Game, where they helped Eve track down a kidnapped child and a maniacal killer. Now, John Logan, the billionaire who wooed Eve only to lose her to Joe Quinn, needs to utilize Sarah and Monty's talents in a quest of his own.
Although it has it rewards, the rescue work Sarah and Monty do demands a hefty emotional toll from them both. Sarah is highly protective of Monty, and when Logan first approaches her with what's obviously a very dangerous mission, Sarah is quick to say no. But Logan brings his powerful resources to bear and more or less forces Sarah to agree to the mission or face the loss of her job, her peace of mind, and Monty. The task at hand involves finding and rescuing a highly valued scientist who has been kidnapped and is being held somewhere in Colombia. But the man who took the scientist is a ruthless and heartless killer whose primary objective is carrying out his sadistic revenge on Logan.
Sarah, none too happy about being coerced into helping Logan, becomes even less inclined toward him when Monty is wounded in the rescue attempt. Logan is wounded too, and after their mission has been accomplished, the threesome end up back at Sarah's isolated cabin. Sarah does everything she can to make Logan leave but finds it hard to be too insistent given his wounds. Besides, when Logan pays his debt to her for completing the mission, it is something Sarah could never have anticipated, an act that leaves her stunned, confused, and indebted. As for Logan, he refuses to leave Sarah alone because he knows that his nemesis, Rudzak, saw her and Monty in Colombia. And because of the nature of his relationship with Rudzak and the secret history they share, Logan knows the psycho will eventually come after Sarah.
Holed up together and fighting a wide array of emotions, Sarah and Logan discover a spark of passion between them. Though they both try to resist, eventually the spark ignites a full-fledged conflagration that leaves both of them stunned, puzzled, and forever changed. By the time the inevitable confrontation with Rudzak occurs, Logan will be forced to risk both his life and his heart in hopes of keeping Sarah and Monty safe. And Sarah must risk everything she holds dear if she ever hopes to find a happiness she is only now beginning to realize.
Fans of Johansen's previous books in this series, The Face of Deception and The Killing Game, will enjoy brief though hair-raising appearances by Eve, Joe Quinn, and Jane -- the spunky, street-wise child Eve adopted in the last book. Also filling out the character roster is an intriguing love interest for Monty: an injured gray wolf named Maggie. But the best parts of Johansen's latest effort are her characteristically explosive mix of chilling terror and heated passion and her gift for weaving a tale of intrigue where seeing isn't necessarily believing.
—Beth Amos
Jill M. Smith
Make room on your keeper shelf for another outstanding thriller from the awesome Iris Johansen. The Search is the next chapter in the story line that got started in The Face of Deception. However in this newest book it is secondary characters Sarah Patrick and John Logan who take control of the action and suspense. Hang on for a wild ride.
— Romantic Times
Barnes & Noble Guide to New Fiction
Best-selling author Johansen delivers another "easily read" novel with this story of a courageous woman who is coerced into tracking down a ruthless killer, only to become the object of his wrath. Though some found it "a bit too predictable," the majority of our reviewers found it "thoroughly enjoyable, a real page-turner with well-drawn characters." "A great, well-written, and suspenseful read."
Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly
Two strong-minded women from Johansen's bestselling Killing Game make return appearances in her latest thriller, with their billing reversed: Irish-Apache search-and-rescue worker Sarah Patrick is the star, while her friend, forensic sculptor Eve Duncan, takes a supporting role. The center-stage love story also features a twist. Eve's billionaire entrepreneur ex-lover, John Logan, falls for Sarah even while risking her life in his war with hyper-evil Martin Rudzak, who has already killed his own half-sister, Chen Li, rather than lose her to John. Johansen's roots lie in historical romance, but her thrillers ooze enough testosterone to suggest she also descends from the house of Robert Ludlum. Sarah and her fabulous canine partner, golden retriever Monty, slog into the aftermaths of a Turkish earthquake and a Taiwanese mudslide, and engage in a heartbreaking search for drowned teens in a lake near Sarah's Arizona cabin. They deal with bullets and bombs and collaborate to save a cruelly trapped wolf, dubbed Maggie, whose unlikely cross-species passion for Monty provides neat commentary on female-male attraction in general--and there's no need to be a dog-lover to revel in Sarah and Monty's empathetic closeness. On the downside, Johansen seems more interested in telling her story than in writing it. To create a sense of urgency, she relies heavily on the device of the two-word sentence and the one-sentence paragraph; parts of the book read like shorthand. Sarah and John globe trot, but there's scant sense of place, and minor characters like nasty Sen. Todd Madden are one-dimensional. Then again, the novel admirably eschews gush and wallpaper--in a postfeminist way, Sarah's ruggedness simply is. For better or for worse, Johansen pushes the gender boundary in popular fiction, offering up that rarity: a woman's novel for men. Major ad/promo. (June) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|
Library Journal
Sarah Patrick, introduced as a supporting character in Johansen's The Killing Game, now has her own story. She is a member of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms's search-and-rescue team and a loner whose closest relationship is with her golden retriever, Monty. John Logan is a billionaire who is used to getting what he wants. John needs Sarah and her dog to search for a member of his staff who has been kidnapped. He successfully blackmails her into helping him, which he then bitterly regrets when she becomes a target of the kidnappers. The strength in this novel lies in the two main characters, who are both strong, hard-headed people. When John compliments Sarah, she responds with "Don't be sappy." Fans of contemporary suspense fiction by Johansen, Catherine Coulter, and Nora Roberts will definitely want this one. Recommended for all public libraries. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 3/1/00.]--Jane Jorgenson, Madison P.L., WI Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.\
Mary Cannon
As always, Johansen serves up romantic suspense spiced with action-and characters drawn with a contemporary edginess. It's a winning combo.
—Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine
From the Publisher
"Gripping ... shocking."
— New York Post
Look for Iris Johansen's New York Times bestsellers:
The Ugly Duckling
Long After Midnight
And Then You Die
The Killing Game
And don't miss Iris Johansen's new thriller:
Final Target
Available in hardcover in summer 2001 wherever Bantam Books are sold
AUG/SEP 01 - AudioFile
Rosenblat continues her tradition of outstanding narrative performances; and when she’s paired with Johansen's gripping suspense novels, a spellbinding listening experience results. Here we have a harrowing journey into the life of a highly trained search-and-rescue team. Sarah Patrick and her dog, Monty, take listeners to disasters around the world. Compassionate Sarah is drawn into a conspiracy by the charismatic billionaire John Logan, from Johansen's FACE OF DECEPTION. Rosenblat portrays the characters empathetically even when they’re ruthless, and her versatile voice brings warmth and humanity even to a madman. The story is easy to understand and listen to, especially the tense, dramatic denouement. S.C.A. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine
