Tag: missing child

4*, book review, psychological thriller

#BookReview The Child Finder by @ReneDenfield @orionbooks @ifonlyread #amreading

if only I could read faster

 

 

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The Child Finder by Rene Denfield.

 

My Review:

I was immediately attracted to the blurb of The Child Finder by Rene Denfield. The thought of someone whose job was to track missing children was interesting and something that I really wanted to read.

Naomi Cottle is an unusual character, I didn’t find her particularly likeable but she was certainly interesting and her backstory was intriguing. Although the story focuses on Madison, a young child who went missing three years ago in an isolated wood while looking for a Christmas Tree with her parents, we also find out about some of the children that Naomi has found previously which helps to add depth to the story and also a sense of urgency. And we hear from Madison herself, finding out where she has been for three years and how she has managed to survive.

The concept is great and I did enjoy reading it, but I didn’t think that it was particularly well written. This didn’t spoil the read for me though and it was a real journey in many ways as while tracking Madison, Naomi is forced to confront her past as it brings up some of her own childhood that she has blocked out and feels scared to remember, but also aware that it is something that she needs to do in order to stop running from her past.

I really don’t want to give too much away, but this is a great read that I really enjoyed. If you like psychological thrillers then this is a book for you.

Blurb:

Naomi Cottle finds missing children. When the police have given up their search and an investigation stalls, families call her. She possesses a rare, intuitive sense, born out of her own harrowing experience that allows her to succeed when others have failed.

Young Madison Culver has been missing for three years. She vanished on a family trip to the mountainous forests of Oregon, where they’d gone to cut down a tree for Christmas. Soon after she disappeared, blizzards swept the region and the authorities presumed she died from exposure.

But Naomi knows that Madison isn’t dead. Can she find the child – and also find out why this particular case is stirring the shadows of her own memories? Could her future be bound to this girl in a way she doesn’t understand?

About The Author:

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Rene Denfield is the bestselling author of THE ENCHANTED and THE CHILD FINDER. Her lyrical fiction has won numerous awards including the prestigious French Prix, an ALA Medal for Excellence and an IMPAC listing. In addition to writing, Rene works as a licensed investigator. She has worked hundreds of cases, including missing persons, and was the Chief Investigator at the public defender’s office. The child of a difficult history herself, Rene has dedicated her life to helping others. She has been a foster-adoptive parent for 20 years, and is the happy mother to three children she adopted from foster care.

The Child Finder by Rene Denfield is out in the UK on 11th January 2018 and is available to pre-order from Amazon UK. Or you can order the hardback from Amazon US now.

4*, book review

Review: Silent Child by Sarah A Denzil.

if only I could read faster

 

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Silent Child by Sarah A Denzil.

 

My 4* review:

I have to say that I was very intrigued by the blurb of this book. The idea that your six year old son goes missing, assumed drowned, but then returns from the dead ten years later only a few miles from home, his body telling a horrific story of what he had been through during the last ten years, but his voice appears to have gone, he does not utter a single word, he cannot tell you where he has been or who had taken him.

Emma is the mother of Aiden, the boy who went missing, during the last ten years she has been to hell and back. Her life fell apart but she managed to put herself back together with the help of Jake, her new husband and father to the baby that is growing in her belly. While Emma is overjoyed that Aiden has been found and is back home she is wracked with guilt and suspicion, as Aiden was found so close to home she suspects almost everyone she knows in the small village that she lives in, did they take Aiden?

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Silent Child, it’s a great book and will no doubt keep you guessing right to the end. I did feel that the book lost its way a bit in the middle, there was a good chunk where the book pretty much went round in circles, but once it got going again the book did not disappoint.

I read a lot of books, it is easy for me to finish a book and move on to the next one, but this book has stayed with me. I have spent a fair amount of time thinking about Emma, but mainly about Aiden, somehow he got under my skin and a little bit of him has stayed there. He feels very real somehow.

Thank you to TBC for a copy of Silent Child by Sarah A Denzil.

Blurb:

In the summer of 2006, Emma Price watched helplessly as her six-year-old son’s red coat was fished out of the River Ouse. It was the tragic story of the year – a little boy, Aiden, wandered away from school during a terrible flood, fell into the river, and drowned.

His body was never recovered.

Ten years later, Emma has finally rediscovered the joy in life. She’s married, pregnant, and in control again…

… until Aiden returns.

Too traumatized to speak, he raises endless questions and answers none. Only his body tells the story of his decade-long disappearance. The historic broken bones and injuries cast a mere glimpse into the horrors Aiden has experienced. Aiden never drowned. Aiden was taken.

As Emma attempts to reconnect with her now teenage son, she must unmask the monster who took him away from her. But who, in their tiny village, could be capable of such a crime?

It’s Aiden who has the answers, but he cannot tell the unspeakable.

This dark and disturbing psychological novel will appeal to fans of The Widow and The Butterfly Garden.

 

Silent Child by Sarah A Denzil is out now and available from Amazon UK and Amazon US.