The Child Finder

Decent read.

I would give it a 2.5. The dialog is kind of kind a really bad Lifetime movie, but I still wanted to see the children found. All of the love interest was a bit lame. Okay yeah, Jerome. But this lady rolls into town and people just get crushes automatically or try to set her up with dudes at church. The dialog was painful at times. The main character basically speaks in bumper sticker.

TW: pedophilia, child abuse

I'm not sure where to start with this one. I enjoyed the mystery, which was really the only thing that kept me reading (skimming) through this one. But as other reviewers have pointed out, Madison (the 5-, later 8-year-old) was depicting as bizarrely mature for her age, whereas the 30-year-old adult Naomi often seemed more like a child instead. I'm not sure whether this was intentional or not, but it didn't do the story any good.

There was also the repetitive prose, and the stinted dialogue. Somehow everyone in this story spoke like Data from Star Trek (i.e never using contractions). The side characters all blended into one, and I found myself cringing more than once at how obvious it was the author wanted every moment to be “deep”.

I was also disturbed by the way the author shows Madison responding to her abuse. I understand her wanting to please her captor to prevent punishment, and a part of her that craved human contact. But I found some of the word choice disturbing and questionable. Saying (from Madison's perspective, again - an 8 year old child) that they reached the “pinnacles of heaven” at night, while her abuser raped her was just ridiculous and grotesque.

The writing was really nice and I really loved how it went back and forth to Naomi and back to Madison with Mr. B. I could not put the book down. I wasn't too keen on the romance but I liked Naomi thoughts on about Mrs. Cottle and Jerome, her family. I can't explain how heartfelt it was reading Madison parts, it was really raw and innocent like to read what she was viewing everything. Overall I'd give this a 4/5. I'd definitely would re-read this when book 2 comes out this year!

*2.75? While it was an exhilarating read at times and had some beautifully crafted moments, it just missed the mark to be anything more to me. Some elements were too pat and some of it seemed forced. I was entertained throughout but just not enlightened or transported.

Dark subject matter .... not for the faint of heart. I had some trouble with some of the scenes with Madison in captivity. Once I reached about 1/4 of the book, I blew through the book because I wanted to see what happened to Madison and Naomi. The book has a very satisfying end. I am glad I read the book and I am looking forward to the second book in the series.

2.75 stars The ratings are so high for this book so I thought I would love it, but it fell a bit flat for me. The writing is beautiful, but I felt didn't really fit with the genre, the transition between narrators wasn't always very smooth and the mystery was sort of cliché :/ Super disappointed

Denfeld writes with the all sun-dappled optimism of fairy tales, and much like her debut The Enchanted, it can quickly put you in it's thrall. But it's disconcerting given the story's subject matter.

We're following 5 year old Madison Culver who disappeared in the snow-covered woods of the Skookum National Forest while looking for the perfect Christmas tree with her parents. That was 3 years ago.

Plucked from the snow, near death, she has been nursed back to health in a dug out cellar locked underneath the floorboards of a cabin deep in the woods, tended by a mute bear of a man. Madison escapes into fairy tale to reconcile the horrible new reality she finds herself in.

Madison dreams of the sky, nurtures hope, and even experiences moments of quiet joy - fiercely holding onto the story book fables she's been told.

Meanwhile Naomi Cottle, the Child Finder is working to find Madison. Gifted with the singular ability to find missing children - perhaps in part because she was once one of them. She remembers running naked across a strawberry field at night, escaping from someone or something. Nothing before that moment exists for her. The Child Finder is also the story of how Naomi wrestles with who that child was she left behind on the strawberry field.

It's beautifully done but becomes almost unbearably difficult near the middle. The story becomes loose and baggy and I have a hard time reading about Madison and her captor despite the language. It misses the opportunity to be a taut thriller, squanders some forward momentum with a tangental case Naomi takes on, but nonetheless pulls it together in the end.

Given that Rene Denfeld is the victim of molestation and abuse, that she has worked with sex trafficking victims, and is currently raising three foster children who have suffered their own distinct traumas, the story she's looking to tell is far different and more personally invested than the story I as a casual reader am expecting. Denfeld is invested in redeeming victims, pointing to the possibility of a future and the promise of something better. How could I begrudge that.

This is a spoiler-free review
Read on In The Sheets

Sometimes you pick up a book to read, it's well written, it's a fun concept, you enjoy the book, but you're always aware of the fact that you're reading. You check the page numbers to see how far you've read and how far you have to go. How far will you be until you're halfway? 172 pages, you can knock that out before bed!

Then there are the books where reading feels effortless, the words are like butter, and you completely lose track of time. The Child Finder by Rene Denfeld falls into the latter category.

The writing, story, and characters are all impeccable. There isn't an emotion I didn't feel while reading this book. It's beautiful, tragic, and dark at times, but even the hardest to read parts are tasteful. It makes you angry at the kinds of people who exist in this world, and then a couple of pages later, it makes you smile with joy at all the good.

The Child Finder follows Naomi, a former child abductee-turned-investigator who specializes in locating missing children while also searching for her own answers. The narration of the story effortlessly switches back and forth between Naomi's perspective and that of one of the children she's trying to locate.

While I received an advanced copy of this book for review, after putting it down, I went out and bought a copy just to support the author. That copy will be given away on my Twitter account in the near future as more people need to read it. 

If that doesn't sum up my feelings on this book, I don't know what will. I think this is an amazing idea for a series of novels and hope this isn't the last we've seen of Naomi.

Trigger warning: Child Abuse.

I picked this book up expecting a garden variety thriller about a missing child and ended up with so much more. The subject matter is pretty standard but the book itself is magical. The author's use of language is beautiful as she weaves her thriller into something akin to a fairy tale; albeit a dark fairy tale. The story is told from two perspectives: Naomi, the child finder and Snow Girl. Naomi is actually involved in two cases at the same time, which is no how she normally conducts her business. The reader discovers that a number of things in Naomi's life are in upheaval and her story is told in parallel to Snow Girl's story. I loved the main characters, finding myself fully vested in their outcomes from the first chapter. In the end I was blown away by this unique reading experience and I will definitely check out any additional offerings from this author.