[close] Search-and-rescue worker Sarah Patrick and Monty, her talented golden retriever, take center stage in this deft, suspenseful outing. The immensely appealing heroine was introduced as a secondary character in Iris Johansen's previous thriller The Killing Game. Back, too, is John Logan from Face of Deception, the charismatic billionaire whose very personal vendetta against a stop-at-nothing killer pulls Sarah into a high-stakes game of search and destroy.

When Logan's top-secret research station in South America is attacked and his chief scientist kidnapped, Sarah and Monty manage to track the hostage through the jungle and save his life. But that's only the beginning in what turns out to be a series of sadistic and deadly attempts to destroy Logan. Despite Sarah's initial distrust, she comes to respect and ultimately love Logan--which makes her and Monty targets for the killer's vengeance, too. The action moves swiftly across the globe, from the American Southwest to Colombia to Taiwan, and finally to North Dakota, in a tense, dramatic denouement. Johansen manages to explicate her characters' back-stories and illuminate their motivation as she moves the action forward with skillful pacing. Fans of the author's previous suspense thrillers featuring forensic sculptor Eve Duncan won't be disappointed that she plays only a bit part in Johansen's newest; Sarah and Monty are worth a series of their own, and The Search is a terrific beginning. --Jane Adams [close]