"It's 'Deliverance' encased in ice. Denfeld's novel is indeed loaded with suspense, its resonance comes from its surprising tilt towards storytelling restraint, a rarity in this typical crackling genre. Elegiac, informative and disquieting. The novel gallops to a suitably heart-racing finish." -- New York Times Book Review "In the necessary and uncomfortable places where Rene Denfeld locates her haunting fiction, the lines between victim and perpetrator can be painfully blurry. Giving voice to those who are metaphorically or even literally voiceless, Rene Denfeld reminds us that consequences continue, aftermath continues -- yet we must somehow find ways of holding on to threads of hard-won hope." -- Elizabeth Rosner, San Francisco Chronicle "At times haunting, at times devastating. Captivating read.
" -- Bustle "A chillingly good read that will stay with you long after you close the book." -- BookPage "Gut-wrenching, its compassion goes a long way toward healing readers' aching hearts." -- Shelf Awareness "It's stunning. From the first page. we are in a strange, forbidding territory. I couldn't put this book down." -- The Globe and Mail "A hauntingly beautiful, chilling novel by a real-life badass heroine. Denfeld brings [her protagonist] to life with precise, lyrical prose.
While the whole book reads like a fairytale for adults, Naomi herself is fully realized and deeply human." -- CrimeReads "A glittering gem of a story--part mystery, part fairy tale, and all white-knuckled, edge-of-your-seat thriller. readers will be drawn in by Denfeld's lyrical prose and undone by the brutal reality that Naomi uncovers, just beneath the snowy forest floor." -- Library Journal, starred review "Aptly unclassifiable, Denfeld's compulsively readable second novel calls on elements of horror, mystery, fairy tales, and even romance to explore legacies of violence and the resilience of the most vulnerable among us." -- Booklist "Intense. Innovative. Heartbreaking, surprising. The conclusion will leave readers breathless.
" -- Publishers Weekly "A darkly luminous story of resilience and the deeply human instinct for survival, for love. Blending the magical thinking of childhood, of fairy tales, dreams, memories and nightmares, The Child Finder is a terrifying and ultimately uplifting novel that demands to be consumed and then once inside you-lingers." -- A.M. Homes, author of May We Be Forgiven "Rene Denfeld has a gift for shining bright light in dark places. The Child Finder is a gorgeous, haunting gem of a novel. Raw and real yet wrapped in a fairy tale, as lovely and as chilling as the snow." -- Erin Morgenstern, New York Times bestselling author of The Night Circus "Rene Denfeld's novel The Child Finder renders atrocity with depth and heart--a compassion made even more credible by her career as an investigator in death-penalty cases.
The Child Finder's moral lesson is not new--that hope and humanity can be found in even the darkest places. But the extent to which Denfeld practices that belief is deeply touching, if not even remarkable." -- Willamette Week.