Title: The Child Finder
Author: Rene Denfeld
Publish Date: September 5, 2017
# of Pages: 256
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
(**Warning: Possible spoilers!**)
(From Goodreads) Three years ago, Madison Culver disappeared when her family was choosing a Christmas tree in Oregon’s Skookum National Forest. She would be eight years old now—if she has survived. Desperate to find their beloved daughter, certain someone took her, the Culvers turn to Naomi, a private investigator with an uncanny talent for locating the lost and missing. Known to the police and a select group of parents as The Child Finder, Naomi is their last hope.
Naomi’s methodical search takes her deep into the icy, mysterious forest in the Pacific Northwest, and into her own fragmented past. She understands children like Madison because once upon a time, she was a lost girl too.
As Naomi relentlessly pursues and slowly uncovers the truth behind Madison’s disappearance, shards of a dark dream pierce the defenses that have protected her, reminding her of a terrible loss she feels but cannot remember. If she finds Madison, will Naomi ultimately unlock the secrets of her own life?
ReviewNaomi, a formerly lost child herself, has a talent for finding missing children. In The Child Finder, she’s on a mission to find Madison Culver, a girl who disappeared three years prior . . . but will she find her before it’s too late?
I loved this book. If I didn’t have kids to take care of, this would have been read in a single sitting. It was that good!
First off, Naomi’s character is awesomely complex. She was kidnapped as a child, and though she lost most of her memories during that time period, she understands what it’s like to be missing. Naomi is driven by an unquenchable urge to find, find, find. Only in the end of the book does she discover that there’s a reason behind this unstoppable urge. She’s meant to find someone else–someone very close to her.
While there isn’t a lot of romance in this book, Naomi does have a semi-relationship with her former foster brother. The relationship is complicated, since Naomi has more than one demon in her closet that she needs to conquer. I’ll be curious to see how their relationship plays out in the next book. I liked that the relationship added to the complexity of Naomi’s character and didn’t distract from the main storyline.
Madison’s character also knocked it out of the park for me. In order to protect herself in the three years she’s kidnapped, she buries herself deep into a Russian fairytale where she plays the central role of a girl formed from frost and snow. While her captivity is devastating in a lot of ways, Madison is able to make the best of a very bad situation. She’s also clever to boot, and her quick thinking ensures her rescue.
The storyline and pacing is wonderful. This story proves that there’s hope in the bleakest of situations. Kidnapping is a scary topic, and the author handled it beautifully. The writing was flawless, and all around, this was a great book.
If you haven’t read this book already, add it to your TBR shelf! You won’t regret it.
Quotes“This is something I know: no matter how far you have run, no matter how long you have been lost, it is never too late to be found.”
“Are you aware that joy is life and life is love?”
“Like a leaf that drank from the morning dew, you didn’t question the morning sunrise or the sweet taste on your mouth. You just drank.”
Let’s Talk!Have you read The Child Finder? Did you like it as much as I did?
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