Child Finder (Denfeld) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
Denfeld endows her novel with psychological heft, with the ravages of trauma placed front and center. For Naomi, whole swathes of her life have been erased, and for years “she had been running from terrifying shadows she couldn’t see.” For the Snow Girl, drawing on her imagination to retreat into a world of fairy tales is the only means of keeping her mental self intact. Even Mr. B’s tragic past is hinted at, obliquely, giving his character a degree of pathos rarely found in typical thriller fare.… Dark though it is, The Child Finder is superb, revealing a world that contains evil but also goodness. And Rene Denfeld’s writing, artful yet precise, make it a pleasure to read.  READ MORE …
Molly Lundquist - LitLovers


[A] powerful novel about a search for a missing girl that's also a search for identity.… Elegaic, informative and disquieting, it artfully moves between Naomi's painstaking search …and the survival tactics of plucky Maidson.
Michael Callahan - New York Times Book Review


Using multiple voices, Denfeld takes an innovative approach to dealing with the pain of trauma, taking moments of darkness and frailty and probing them in heartbreaking, surprising ways.… The conclusion will leave readers breathless.
Publishers Weekly


Investigator Naomi is especially good at locating lost children because once upon a time she was lost herself. Now she's after Madison Culver, who vanished three years ago in Oregon's Skookum National Forest.… Big in-house love.
Library Journal


And though Denfeld is no doubt trying to explore the psychological realities of this abuse…, her tendency toward florid writing can make her depiction feel romanticized and takes the book at times from disquieting into downright unpalatable. Denfeld's intentions are good, but her tone strikes the wrong notes.
Kirkus Reviews