Search Angel [Hardcover]

Mark Nykanen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2005

A riveting suspense thriller about the reuniting of birth mothers with their adopted children and the madman who preys on them fter two highly praised psychological thrillers, Mark Nykanen returns with his most spellbinding story yet. Suzanne Trayle is a 'Search Angel' whose success in tracking down and reuniting birth mothers with their adopted children has earned her national fame. Known as 'The Orphan's Private Eye,' Suzanne has reunited thousands of mothers with their children, but has failed to find the son she put up for adoption thirty years ago.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Nykanen (The Bone Parade) mines the complex world of abandonment, adoption and birth mother searches in an extremely bloody serial killer thriller that takes derivative elements (the female-in-peril plot; the psychotic, abused-as-a-child murderer) to new heights of creepiness with long, gratuitous descriptions of murder and rape. Portland-based Suzanne Trayle is a famous "search angel," a sort of private detective for adoptees looking for their biological parents. The serial killer, a psychiatrist, lives in Phoenix and travels the country murdering mothers who gave up their babies for adoption. In the beginning of the novel, Suzanne admits to having given up a child herself 32 years before and never being able to trace him. This puts her on the killer's list, and he quickly makes his intentions known by raping her. There's a last-minute surprise, but Nykanen falters early as he tries to explain away that pesky fictional problem: why the heroine doesn't just go to the police for help but instead hatches a complicated plan to use herself as bait to trap the murderer. This works about as well for Suzanne as it usually does in novels of this sort. Those with a strong stomach may find this interesting, but most readers will be repelled.
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Review

"The Searcher is one of the most horrifying villains in modern literary history." -- Salem Statesman Journal

"A thrilling page-turner." -- The Oregonian

"Nykanen crafts another masterfully creepy thriller." -- The Seattle Post-Intelligencer

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion (June 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401300197
• ISBN-13: 978-1401300197
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,379,498 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mark Nykanen is the author of six novels that have focussed on a variety of subjects: sculpture, murder, adoption, art therapy, environmentalism, counseling spousal abusers, and post-apocalyptic North America in the latter part of this century. The last tale noted is "Burn Down the Sky," written under the pseudonym James Jaros. It is the first in a series that he's writing for HarperCollins about the collapse of natural systems triggered by climate change. The sequel, "Carry the Flame," will be published in July, 2012. His novels have been widely praised in national magazines and newspapers, both in North America and abroad; Europe's largest newspaper called Nykanen "The new master of the psycho-sexual thriller." Translation rights for his books have sold to seven countries, including France, Russia, and Germany, where "The Bone Parade" ("Totenstarre") was a bestseller. His novel, "Primitive," was a number one Kindle bestseller. Nykanen is also a journalist of note. His many awards in print, radio, and television include four national Emmys for investigative reporting as a correspondent for NBC News, and a duPont-Columbia award for "excellence in journalism" from Columbia University. As the writer of "The Silent Shame," a network documentary on the sexual abuse of children, he won an Edgar Allan Poe Award from the Mystery Writers of America. He was also the reporter for that documentary, which was lauded by scores of critics, including "The Chicago Tribune," which hailed it as "a landmark in broadcast journalism." Nykanen now blogs on climate change, providing summaries and links to the most important news he finds on the subject.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not to be confused with real life or clinical truth., June 11, 2005

By 

David Kirschner "PhD." (Woodbury, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Search Angel (Hardcover)

Mark Nykanen's "Search Angel" is a good summer read, for fans of the Harris, Cornwall genre - but his novel about an adoptee serial killer, raping and murdering birth mothers around the country - should not be confused with real life adoption issues, or clinical truth and forensic fact; as he suggests that it is.

I have examined many adopted murderers, including serial killers (as an adoption expert and forensic psychologist)- but none of them has ever killed a birth mother. Unlike Nykanen's "Searcher," who methodically stalks and mutilates birth mothers, whom he hates for abandoning their children; in real life, adoptees who kill profess nothing but love for their fantasized, idealized biologic mothers. Their rage is buried and dissociated from consciousness, until it is triggered, and acted-out, like a "crime of passion," with the victims being adoptive parents, lovers or prostitutes.

Nykanen suggests many other "facts" about the adoption experience, which are also not based on reality, and the reader is cautioned to take "Search Angel" for what it is - pure fiction.

4.0 out of 5 stars book condition and content, July 3, 2008

By 

Gerald LaRochelle "gerryl" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Search Angel (Mass Market Paperback)

condition of book was as advertised - story line was good and easy
to follow - a good read -

2.0 out of 5 stars Too Much for Me, June 28, 2008

By 

Elaine "Bookish in California" (Sacramento, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Search Angel (Mass Market Paperback)

I liked the author's most recent book, even though it was pretty twisted. The earlier two, including this one, were too gruesome for me!