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The Search
When Philadelphia assistant district attorney Sydney Cooper gets an urgent late-night call from her best friend asking to meet her, she can't help but wonder what kind of trouble investigative journalist Lily Gilmore has gotten herself into this time. But exasperation soon turns to fear when she becomes the sole witness to her friend's brutal kidnapping. Knowing she cannot rely on local law enforcement, Sydney believes she's Lily's best hope for survival.
Armed with only her determination, Sydney delves deep into Lily's two latest high-profile cases --- with shocking results. But when Jake Sloan, an enigmatic stranger, comes to her aid, Sydney slowly realizes that Lily's disappearance is more complicated than she ever imagined. In a perilous race against the clock, Jake and Sydney must uncover a kidnapper's motives ... before the search is too late.
Armed with only her determination, Sydney delves deep into Lily's two latest high-profile cases --- with shocking results. But when Jake Sloan, an enigmatic stranger, comes to her aid, Sydney slowly realizes that Lily's disappearance is more complicated than she ever imagined. In a perilous race against the clock, Jake and Sydney must uncover a kidnapper's motives ... before the search is too late.
376 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
September 22, 2020
2.5 stars. In this story published in 2004, Philadelphia's Assistant District Attorney Sydney Cooper responded to a message to meet her best friend, investigative journalist Lily Gilmore. Upon arriving, she sees two men forcibly putting Lily into a van. The hunt is on to find Lily. This is not a bad romantic suspense but it's not one I'll remember in a few days. The story line wasn't that interesting to me. At least I got another one of these paperbacks off my shelf.
dnf
August 19, 2023On page 46. Part of the Chapter Challenge
The story begins with a kidnapping and now is continuing with an undercover operation in the camp of a home grown militia. Both stretch the level of what is believable, and I'm not really interested in the whole militia idea. I will be stopping here and moving on to another book from the Chapter Challenge.
The story begins with a kidnapping and now is continuing with an undercover operation in the camp of a home grown militia. Both stretch the level of what is believable, and I'm not really interested in the whole militia idea. I will be stopping here and moving on to another book from the Chapter Challenge.
September 9, 2019
In Christiane Heggan's The Search, this compelling romantic suspense will keep you hooked from the first page to the last. Sydney Cooper is an ADA in Philadelphia, working on a complex case in the courtroom. But when her best friend Lilly Gilmore requests to meet her in New Jersey, she drives them and watches Lily being kidnapped right before her eyes. Now the search is on to find her. But life became complicated, when Jake Sloan, a former Vet and an New Orleans oil rigger, comes into her neighborhood and deals with his former buddy from the Army, Victor Van Heusen, who's a known arms dealer who wants to blow things up. And he has to work with the FBI to get to him.. And he's also one of the same people in one of Syd's cases. As Jake gets closer to her, they learn that they might be spied on by one of Victor's men. While Syd deals with her ex and Lilly's ex and other people who might want to harm her, she uncovers a lot of secrets, lies, and deception to get to the truth even if she's in harm's way. And in the end, it's a fight for the fittest to get answers and solve the great mystery of them all.
January 23, 2018
Enjoyed it just as much as the other one I read
September 24, 2022
This book kept my interest start to finish. Loved the colorful characters . I recommend it to anyone who likes a good mystery.
May 31, 2023
We started with a kidnapped best friend. But the handsome new neighbor got most of Sydney’s attention. The end went faster than the rest of this story.
August 4, 2025
This book moved the way I like books to move🥸
October 18, 2024
As is often the case, I had a completely different idea of the plot based on the synopsis. I expected that Syd (our assistant district attorney leading lady) would be forced to work with Jake (an ex-army guy turned oil driller, now helping the FBI) as she searched for her kidnapped friend. I figured there would be a forced proximity trope where she would need to rely on him for assistance. And because the synopsis said she "cannot rely on local law enforcement", I expected a bit of danger and excitement to follow the kidnapping.
Instead, Syd gets interviewed by the local Chief of Police right after the kidnapping, and finds him to be laid back but competent...so I have no idea where the "she can't trust the cops" concept is in this book. 🧐 I kept waiting for some proverbial shoe to drop where it would be revealed that the cops were untrustworthy or maybe even "in" on the conspiracy. But that didn't happen.
Given the title, I believed there would be a rather extensive search. But if there was, it was all in the hands of the police, and none of that was shown to us as readers. Instead, we follow Syd as she goes back to work...🥱
Ok, how about the "romance"?
Meh...It was cute, but extremely tame on the spice. So don't go in expecting smoldering feelings, lustful yearnings, or anything like that. Both leads are hot (as per usual in rom-sus books), and Jake seems like a great guy. But Syd was kind of a stick in the mud.
As far as the writing goes, it was a bit stiff. Quite often the writer would use "it is" instead of "it's", or "they are" instead of "they're". And while there might be times when the correct grammar would be appropriate, most of the time this just came off feeling overly formal or, well, stiff. Our heroin also spoke rather stiffly at times, which felt odd.
So while there were a few chapters where I was invested in what would happen next, it was ultimately just a forgetful plot that felt rather scattered.
Instead, Syd gets interviewed by the local Chief of Police right after the kidnapping, and finds him to be laid back but competent...so I have no idea where the "she can't trust the cops" concept is in this book. 🧐 I kept waiting for some proverbial shoe to drop where it would be revealed that the cops were untrustworthy or maybe even "in" on the conspiracy. But that didn't happen.
Given the title, I believed there would be a rather extensive search. But if there was, it was all in the hands of the police, and none of that was shown to us as readers. Instead, we follow Syd as she goes back to work...🥱
Ok, how about the "romance"?
Meh...It was cute, but extremely tame on the spice. So don't go in expecting smoldering feelings, lustful yearnings, or anything like that. Both leads are hot (as per usual in rom-sus books), and Jake seems like a great guy. But Syd was kind of a stick in the mud.
As far as the writing goes, it was a bit stiff. Quite often the writer would use "it is" instead of "it's", or "they are" instead of "they're". And while there might be times when the correct grammar would be appropriate, most of the time this just came off feeling overly formal or, well, stiff. Our heroin also spoke rather stiffly at times, which felt odd.
So while there were a few chapters where I was invested in what would happen next, it was ultimately just a forgetful plot that felt rather scattered.
July 26, 2009
Assistant District Attorney Sydney Cooper's best friend is kidnapped and Sydney finds herself investigating who and why. Former Delta forces agent Jake Sloan is roped in by the FBI to investigate his ex-military sergeant who has opened a military compound. Even the local Senator is somehow involved.
This is a real page turner and a super quick read (less than 3 hours). These pages practically turned themselves. A well-written storyline that kept me guessing all the way to the last chapter. This is my first Christiane Heggan book but definitely not my last.
This is a real page turner and a super quick read (less than 3 hours). These pages practically turned themselves. A well-written storyline that kept me guessing all the way to the last chapter. This is my first Christiane Heggan book but definitely not my last.
May 13, 2015
This is the first time I've read anything by Christine Heggan. She did a good job with her romance/suspense story line in The Search. I definitely plan to read more of her work. Some romance suspense stories are so saturated with romance there's little room left for the intrigue. Good choice in the characters and the plot revolving around two aspects that somehow intertwine.
February 29, 2008
This romantic suspense was fast-paced and easy to read. The characters weren't very deep and the dialogue was somewhat cheesy, but I enjoyed this book for what it was.
August 28, 2009
Sydney Cooper DA
May 20, 2011
Loved DA Sydney Cooper.
July 30, 2011
a quick read, a mystery.
Read
December 6, 2012the usual, dumb heroine, involved plot, so-so
January 17, 2015
well written and action packed
A well written action packed read that had me in its grip from start to finish and I am thrilled to discover another author I enjoy!
A well written action packed read that had me in its grip from start to finish and I am thrilled to discover another author I enjoy!
February 14, 2015
The Search
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is not as predictable as many I've read and there are enough story lines to not be boring. A good read
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is not as predictable as many I've read and there are enough story lines to not be boring. A good read
December 6, 2015
new author for me enjoyed it.
November 16, 2019
Een boek met onverwachte en minder onverwachte verhaallijnen. Leuk om te lezen.
August 4, 2011
Was a good book, kept the suspense thru out the story. Love the character of Syd and Jake.
February 9, 2012
Very good story line.
May 1, 2017
Goed uitgewerkt, spannend verhaal!
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews