Book Review: The Search

Reviewed By: Luke Croll - RAM

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Iris Johansen
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Romantic Suspense
Series: Eve Duncan / Joe Quinn
Coronet; 2001; £5.99; 436pp
Classification: Adult fiction (thriller)

Recently, Iris Johansen has written solely about forensic sculptor Eve Duncan. However, she has now decided to base an entire book on characters she introduced in her last book, Sarah Patrick and her dog, Monty. Billionaire John Logan forces Sarah into taking part in a deadly mission, and she does not know that her own life is in grave danger.

Johansen's last book was weak and so it was with some trepidation that I picked up this one. However, I am pleased to say that I was pleasantly surprised. Although Eve Duncan does have a minor role in the story, Johansen has got away from the pointless bickering that went on between Joe Quinn and Logan and instead concentrated on writing a mixture of a thriller and a love story.

The plot is interesting, although I felt that it would have been better to see more of Logan's history explained. However, since a lot of it was enigmatic, I wonder if Johansen could be planning another book with Logan as the main character. She develops both the characters of Logan and Patrick, making the latter seem a lot more human than in the previous novel.

Overall, this is a major improvement on the previous novel and it is enjoyable. As a thriller, the pace is good and exciting and as a love story, it is mildly predictable but it still works

Luke Croll - RAM

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Luke Croll - RAM

Luke Croll - Conference interpreter and translator
http://lukecroll.translatorscafe.com