Published by Harper Genres: Crime, Fiction, Mystery, suspense, thriller
Format: ARC, eBook
“There 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.”
Three years ago, five-year-old Madison and her parents were picking out a Christmas tree in Oregon’s Skookum National Forest. Somehow, she got separated from her parents and has not been seen since. She would be eight years-old today. Her parents have never given up hope and have hired Naomi who is known as “the child finder.” to find their daughter. She is their last hope. The police have investigated, the park service has searched the park for her, search parties have looked for her – no lead have ever been found. She is presumed to be dead, buried deep beneath the snow. That is not an image any parent wants to visualize. Nor do they want to imagine that she has been taken and held captive. All they want is for their daughter to be returned to them and desperately hope the child finder will find Madison.
Naomi has a gift for finding lost children as she is a little lost herself, some say she is afraid of being found. When Naomi was younger she was found by migrant workers while running across a field. With no memory of her ordeal, and only knowing her first name, she was raised in a loving home by her foster Mother. She had/has a foster brother Jerome, who is the only person she fully feels safe with.
Naomi searches the park and questions locals; her dreams haunt her. She recalls parts of her past as she desperately searches for Madison in hopes of giving her a future with her parents. While investigating Madison’s disappearance, she takes on another missing child’s case as well. Both cases are devastating and tug on the readers heart strings. While searching for the lost children, the reader is given glimpses into Naomi’s dreams and memories. She is a tough yet tender woman with a strong drive to find lost children.
This book is atmospheric, chilly, devastating, and captivating. From the very first page I was hooked. This book became a page tuner for me. I could not put it down! There are sections which are disturbing and may not be easy for some to read. I love how she wove the story of various characters throughout the narrative.
This book is well written and draws in the reader with sympathetic characters and not so sympathetic characters. I loved that this book is told through various characters perspectives and touches on mystery, utilizes fairy tales and uses nature as a character. This book has earned all the stars and then some!
I highly recommend this book!