Honestly this blog is one of the best gigs around. I get to read some truly captivating reads and also some books that make me wonder how they got published. And, on occasion, I get to step outside my literary comfort zone and explore an author I’ve not yet spent time with. And so it was with Nora Roberts. Oh, I know she sits on the shelf at every library, corner store and grocery store checkout. But until this month she was an author I had little desire to read. Then The Search landed on my desk and well the queen of romantic suspense captured my imagination. So we spent a couple of enjoyable weeks together. Until now I believed this author to be romantic pulp fiction and yet, this one intrigued me enough to delve into the story. Luckily I found more there. The Search is the story of Fiona Bristow, who runs a dog training school on the island of Orcas, in the Pacific Northwest. She is also a volunteer with a canine search and rescue unit, which is where the plot begins. The very kickoff of this novel has a toddler that has gone missing from inside the cottage where his parents are holidaying and enjoying temporary-lapse-of-judgement-holiday-sex. Well, let’s just say the topic matter resonated and, when a plot jumpstarts in that manner I am hooked for the ride. I will not spoil this incredibly suspenseful story for my readers but it centred around Fiona and a carpenter named Simon, who seeks her help with his unruly pup named Jaws. Simon is brusque and handy and incapable of disciplining his puppy. Naturally, neither one is looking for a relationship when love comes knocking. The romantic part of the plot is, at times predictable, and there were definite scenes that felt like lady porn, but the suspense kept me on the edge of my seat. The amount of detail in the search and rescue scenes was intriguing and it leant authenticity to the story. Roberts purposefully juxtaposes canine training sessions with the romance plot so that readers will draw parallels between canine and human behaviour. It is not ham-handed but a rather clever insight. Fiona Bristow, a sort of dog whisperer, leads a quiet life on her island until she gets word that a serial killer has begun copying crimes that are tied to a psychopath she helped put away, the Red Scarf Killer. She is a strong and competent heroine, which truly is rather refreshing. She is believable throughout as a person who could fight back if abducted off the street. Dubbed RSK II, the new copycat killer, is hunting Fiona, because she was the only survivor of the intial Red Scarf Killer.  There were moments in the middle of this 488 page novel that I thought the story slowed to a crawl and might have benefitted from more aggressive editing, but overall the story is well told and a definite page-turner. It’s enough to make me pick another one of the author’s many books to see if she is as consistent with character and suspense. Nora Roberts is a New York Times best-selling author of 191 novels. Over 400 million copies of her novels are in print and a total 169 of her 191 novels have been New York Times bestsellers. Stunning, really!

The Search, By Nora Roberts is published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons, $31.00 Hardcover. July 6, 2010.
ISBN 13 978-0-399-15657-1
$$$$ out of $$$$$. At times it seemed like The Search might never end, but the story is suspenseful and a good summer read.
Thriftymomma was not paid to review this novel. Instead I was given a copy so that I could review it. The opinions are my own.