2018 Book Review #2: The Child Finder

This is the 2nd book I've read since January 1st and it's another good one!

I could not put this book down so read it while on the treadmill Saturday and also stayed up late Saturday night to read more.  I literally read this book in about 46 hours. The author is someone I'm not familiar with but I will definitely be looking for her previous novel.  

STORY SUMMARY

Madison Culver disappeared about 3 years ago while out searching for a Christmas tree with her parents.  They were in the dense, snowy woods of the Skoogum National Forest in Oregon. Madison was just 5 years old when she disappeared.  She would be 8 years old now, if she survived.

The Culvers decide to engage the help of private investigator Naomi.  Naomi is skilled at finding lost children.  Sometimes she finds them alive.  And sometimes she finds them deceased.  She is known to the police and certain parents as "the child finder".

The Culvers' have given up almost all of their hope.....they are really relying on Naomi to find their little girl or to discover just what happened that late December afternoon 3 years ago.

Naomi's search takes her into the remote areas of the Pacific Northwest.....and right into her own fragmented past.  Naomi doesn't really remember much about her very young childhood....she too was once lost.  And she continues to have dark dreams of running through a strawberry field, before being rescued by migrant workers and brought to the police who then brought her to a foster family.

Naomi has always felt a terrible loss...but she just can't remember the details......maybe if she finds Madison, she will find her self and unlock the buried secrets of her own childhood.

MY THOUGHTS

This book was exciting, real-life like, and full of drama and suspense!!

It is told in the voice of Naomi and of a very imaginative and creative little girl who calls her self "the snow girl".

This is a wonderful piece of literature and I highly recommend it to any book lover.

The ending is exquisite.

The drama is so real it seems like it is ripped from the headlines yet it isn't sensational.  It is more evocative, haunting, sad, and profound.  

The character development is wonderful.  The author does do a strange little sub-plot about half way into the book.  She has Naomi get involved in another local missing baby case......that does get resolved but seems to slow down the story for awhile.

You will fall in love with "the snow girl" and your heart will break for Mr B.

Just who is Mr B??  Do you find him to be a monster or just another victim?  

This book explores the very real horror of childhood sexual abuse and kidnapping without being graphic. 

 Sometimes it seems a bit far-fetched but....it's fiction! Keep that in mind.

There are a few quotes that really stood out to me.  One was:

"You will remember when you are ready.  Naomi, drinking lemony tea through an aching throat had asked, "What if I am never ready?""Then that is okay, too" Diane had said.  "Stop thinking that you have to know everything to understand it." (The Child Finder, pg 123, c. 2017)

and this: "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." (The Child Finder, pg 172, c. 2017)

Well done to the author!

In my opinion, this book is appropriate for ages 17 and older (due to difficult subject matter).

On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I rate this a 10.