Review: The Search by Nora Roberts

Casee‘s review of The Search by Nora Roberts.

To most people, Fiona Bristow seems to have an idyllic life-a quaint house on an island off Seattle’s coast, a thriving dog-training school, and a challenging volunteer job performing canine search and rescues. Not to mention her three intensely loyal Labs. But Fiona got to this point by surviving a nightmare…

Several years ago, Fiona was the only survivor of the Red Scarf serial killer, who shot and killed Fiona’s cop fiancé and his K-9 partner.

On Orcas Island, Fiona found the peace and solitude she needed to rebuild her life. But all that changes on the day Simon Doyle barrels up her drive, desperate for her help. He’s the reluctant owner of an out-of-control puppy, foisted upon him by his mother. Jaws has eaten through Simon’s house, and he’s at his wit’s end.

To Fiona, Jaws is nothing she can’t handle. Simon, however, is another matter. A newcomer to Orcas, he’s a rugged and in-tensely private artist, known for the exquisite furniture he creates from wood. Simon never wanted a puppy-and he most definitely doesn’t want a woman. Besides, the lanky redhead is not his type. But tell that to his hormones.

As Fiona embarks on training Jaws, and Simon begins to appreciate both dog and trainer, the past tears back into Fiona’s life. A copycat killer has emerged out of the shadows, a man whose bloodlust has been channeled by a master with one motive: to reclaim the woman who slipped out of his hands…

I can always count on Nora Roberts to deliver a story that engrosses me from the first page. She’s one of those authors that won’t necessarily bring me out of a slump, but I won’t go further into one either. I picked up The Search b/c I was starting to feel meh about the books I was reading. As usual, Roberts didn’t disappoint.

Fiona trains dogs. She does obedience training and search-and-rescue training. Fiona has three of her own dogs that are search-and-rescue certified. The book begins with Fiona coming to the scene of a missing toddler. She and her dog will instantly win you over. Roberts did a great job of showing the importance of search-and-rescue.

Fiona’s story unravels little by little. When she was younger, she was targeted by a serial killer. Fiona was the only one that got away. It was only after the killer killed Fiona’s fiancee that the cops were finally able to catch him and put him away. Now girls are disappearing and it seems like the same man. That shouldn’t be possible b/c that man is in jail. All the hard won peace Fiona has gained over the years starts trickling away.

Simon was such a Roberts hero. He was standoffish, but not too much so. He was rude, but it was a rudeness that was without arrogance. When he first approaches Fiona to train his dog, it’s hilarious. He basically drops his puppy at her feet and orders her to train him to stop chewing his stuff up. Having been in a situation with dogs that like to chew and get into everything, I really felt where Simon was coming from.

There was a little much as far as search-and-rescue information. Just like the one book that had the contractor heroine and building was discussed ad nausea. I could have gone with a little less on the information and a little more on the interaction between Fiona and Simon.

They were well matched even though they didn’t see it at first. Fiona was the perfect type of woman for Simon because she did put demands on his time. Her attitude actually baffles him, which was really amusing to read about. He couldn’t understand why she picks up after him without asking him to do it himself. She’s a neat freak, he discards things wherever.

In the end, it was the dogs that helped save Fiona, which was fitting and worked perfectly with the story.

4 out of 5.

This book is available from Putnam. You can buy it here.

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