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The Child Finder  By  cover art

The Child Finder

By: Rene Denfeld
Narrated by: Alyssa Bresnahan
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Publisher's summary

A haunting, richly atmospheric, and deeply suspenseful novel from the acclaimed author of The Enchanted about an investigator who must use her unique insights to find a missing little girl.

"Where are you, Madison Culver? Flying with the angels, a silver speck on a wing? Are you dreaming, buried under snow? Or is it possible you are still alive?"

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?

Told in the alternating voices of Naomi and a deeply imaginative child, The Child Finder is a breathtaking, exquisitely rendered literary listen about redemption, the line between reality and memories and dreams, and the human capacity to survive.

©2017 Rene Denfeld (P)2017 HarperCollins Publishers

What listeners say about The Child Finder

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One Dimensional

This book was filled with hints at deep dark back stories and hidden plot lines--but in the end, to me, the writing never reached beyond the obvious and the predictable. The characters remained flat and undeveloped no matter how much this reader tried to connect. The narration maintained the same unwavering degree of intensity throughout the story independent of what was happening at the time in the plot.

I found the whole thing exhausting and thought it felt like a contrived moody set up for a series. Be aware the book presents children in peril and suffering from extreme abuse. There is a strong feeling of voyeurism in the telling of this story. I am really sorry I wasted my time.

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43 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

The Strength to Survive


A very good author can tell even the hardest story to hear with merciful skill. Here is a novel, a hard story to participate in, where that admirable talent is wonderfully evident. How else could we endure a story that takes us into such dark places, and not feel overwrought? But Denfield accomplishes that merciful bit of magic and even sends us off into the light with an affirmation of strength and compassion. An author that works professionally with some of the most hardened criminals, Denfield could most likely load her novels with sensational graphic details uglier than even the fiction of Karin Slaughter -- but Denfield is a very intelligent and talented author that works with real human beings in real situations. I learned from reading her previous novel, The Enchanted, that it is not her intent to spare the reader the horrible details, but rather a respect for the victims/survivors and their experience that drives her to elevate a story above cheap exploitation. She avoids the low road of sensationalism by pulling the reader into a story with characters and consequences that feel authentic. She expands the reader's ability to experience their own compassion in this story.

The Child Finder is a heart pounding, painful story beautifully and purposefully told. A little girl disappears in an isolated snowy forest. The distraught parents hire a *child finder* with a good recovery record to find out what might have happened to their little girl. There have been no clues for years, no bones, no signs found by the authorities looking for the child who seems to have just vanished. But the forest is dotted with old miner's encampments, families who have stayed in the area for generations, and former misanthropes that passed away leaving their secrets. The Child Finder has a special knowledge...her own experience of being abducted, her own secrets to atone for. The search is a race to save more than one life.

This is a sophisticated psychological thriller, with beautiful introspection and glimpses of humanity in the most hopeless situations. It will keep you on the edge of your seat, but you may find yourself being choked up as well as coping with a pounding heart. Denfield leads us to challenge our own constructs deeper with every thought. We may not change how we see evil when we finish this story, but we can begin to understand its complexities and how our judgements limit our capacity to understand.



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43 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Beauty and Brutality, Haunting and Healing

I was blown away by this novel. The concept of the Child Finder herself was very unique and captivating, and the story, between different points of view, contained elements of magical realism that I have never experienced before. The writing was lush and exquisite, and the narrator did great justice to the author’s work. I became lost in this icy, haunted landscape as Naomi works in her subtle, quiet way to try to find a little girl who has been lost from the regular world for many years. The descriptive beauty of the words coming together to form such haunting, beautiful writing was brilliant, to me- as if each word carried meaning. The words could be strikingly painful, brutal while also profoundly touching and affecting, and redemptive. I loved this book and give it my highest recommendation!

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23 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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Kept asking questions

While the story’s premise is interesting, there were what seemed to me to be obvious questions. A recurring one was how a 5 yr old had such advanced powers of deduction & an advanced vocabulary while being in captivity for several years.

The main character’s final words of wisdom were pedestrian to the point of silliness and the author’s lead-in to her next book was a bit too obvious.

The value of a book like this for me is heightened awareness of these missing & exploited kids. For that, Denfeld is to be commended.

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21 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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Intriguing premise, failed execution

First off, the narration in this book was very good. I think that's the only thing that kept me listening as long as I did.

The story has a really fascinating premise, to the point that I am kind of bothered by the fact that I don't know exactly how it ends. I can guess some general outcomes that a little sneak searching told me were correct, but part of me would still like to know how it shakes out. However, I gave up in chapter 7 I believe, mostly because I just hated the heroine so much. I was also not a fan of the prose, which struck me as overly melodramatic and flowery in many spots. The heroine was just selfish and much of the wilderness searching described was ridiculous and dangerous. I stopped after she apparently was too stupid to understand how a PLB works or why you should carry one when searching unfamiliar terrain alone without telling anyone where you're going and then recklessly almost kills herself (and then the ranger does a technical rope rescue without assistance? and she's been unconscious for a significant period of time in frigid weather and then is pretty much fine? that's not how any of that works!). It was too overwrought and unrealistic for me.

This book was recommended to me by several people who liked it so your mileage may vary, but it's the only book I've returned because I just didn't like it.

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9 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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Good but Strange

I have some mixed thoughts about this one. At times the story was exciting and moved quickly -but then sometimes I couldn't figure out where it was trying to go. At the end it all made sense of course but some listeners may not have the patience to see it through. It's also a bit of a unique style of storytelling - the kind where you have to pay more attention in the "boring" parts or you'll lose track of what's going on. The ending (last few chapters) were quite exciting and wrapped most of it up nicely. There might be a book 2 because some things were left unresolved.

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8 people found this helpful

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Beautiful, inspiring .

This book was intense . Not your usual child abduction book . It was serious , profane . A beautiful character . Will say this , if I had young children today , would chain them to me . The monsters are real . Buy this book , you won't be able to put it down

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I Never Review , Had To For This One

If you could sum up The Child Finder in three words, what would they be?

Raw, Real, Inspirational. Not for the faint of heart.

What did you like best about this story?

It is reality at it's worst and best. It draws you in and you cannot let go until the end. Then you can't forget it.

What does Alyssa Bresnahan bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

You feel the pain, loneliness, darkness and the light through her narration.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I could not stop once I started.

Any additional comments?

This book pulls you into true reality. It will make you never want to let your children out of your sight.

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7 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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Why all the hype? This one left me flat.

An Audible listener for almost 20 years, this is the worst book I have listened to from start to finish. I can't figure out why I kept listening when the book is so predictable (and the reader so awful - too dramatic!) - after all the great reviews, hoping it would get better, I guess. Filled with hyperbole, innuendo, and stock characters, it is the furthest thing from literary fiction this English major can imagine. I don't often write reviews, but this book is so bad I wanted to warn others: If you like good literature, stay away from this one.

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Gripping, haunting, beautiful.

Loved this book. It was like listening to a series, and watching the movie in your mind. I can't recommend it enough. You just have to experience it. By pages or by audibles. It will tear your heart out and put it back together again. Bravo Rene Denfeld. I didn't want it to end and dare hope this is not the last we read/hear of The Child Finder.

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5 people found this helpful