Rene Denfeld

Page-turning contemporary mystery about a woman with a calling to search for missing children due to her own traumatic past. The main storyline, told primarily by the Child Finder and the Snow Child, is the search for a child missing for three years in the Oregon snow country.

I found both the primary and minor characters well-drawn. I could easily imagine the store owner, the poachers and trappers, the ranger, the sheriff, the best friend, and the foster mom. The language enabled me to show more picture the atmosphere of the snow-covered mountains of the sparsely-populated back country of Oregon. I thought the author brought a fresh perspective to an established theme by writing from the child’s point of view, using a fantasy method employed by children for self-protection. It is easy to pick up the clues along the way, but I think this is intentional on the author’s part. I found it more a story of responses to trauma, and coping mechanisms, than a standard mystery. The Child Finder exhibits lingering effects from her own abduction (which we are aware of from the beginning), such as a lack of trust, inability to form deep emotional attachments, and unexplained desire to run away from even those that care for and love her. Even though these traits may distance her somewhat from the reader, I felt it was authentic and very well done by the author. The primary drawback was the obvious setup for a sequel. For example, the romantic plot line seemed out of place.

Due to the subject matter, an extra level of warning is warranted. This book contains content related to child abduction, child abuse, and pedophilia. Sexual assault aspects are handled from a child’s perspective, so it was not as graphic as it could have been. There are also scenes related to trapping and killing of animals. show less

Somehow I managed to miss The Enchanted until it got reduced by Amazon to an affordable sale price. But my friend Tori put Rene Denfeld on my radar, so I've been following her on Facebook and anxiously awaiting the release of The Child Finder.

I'm tempted to give this a one-word review. WOW.

Is it a thriller? Is it a fairy tale that takes the long way around to get to the "happily ever after"? It's kind of both. It tells a horrifying story in a beautiful, poetic way. There's just enough show more distance between the reader and the story to keep it from being too hard to take. There were times I had to remind myself what was really happening. I don't know if I could have read this as a traditional thriller. But as whatever this is, I loved it and HIGHLY recommend. show less

If you would like to have a happy, carefree Friday, do not read further.

Before you read The Enchanted, ask yourself this very important question:

How many rapes of children by adults can you stand to read in a short time period without losing the will to live?

If your tolerance level for this kind of violence is fairly high, then The Enchanted is a beautifully written, complex novel. The characters are well drawn and interesting. The themes, of the lives and people our society treats as show more disposable, of the children and adults who are thrown away, of the ones who manage to find a way to function as adults and the ones who are irretrievably broken, personal vs. societal responsibility, and our absolutely bonkers relationship with the death penalty and life sentences, are certainly profound, meaningful and worthy of consideration.

However, there are all those children being raped. And you need to get through one to arrive at the other.

This book is beyond dark. The narrator goes far past unreliable to a kind of psychotic, disembodied, dissociated dream-state. It is brilliantly conceived, convincing and heartbreaking, but ultimately leaves as an open question almost everything that happens in the book. How could he possibly know what he claims to know about what happened? So maybe it didn't. You can't know.

I've read that the purpose of fiction ([b:The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human|12743473|The Storytelling Animal How Stories Make Us Human|Jonathan Gottschall|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1344670945s/12743473.jpg|17882886], [b:On the Origin of Stories: Evolution, Cognition, and Fiction|6378585|On the Origin of Stories Evolution, Cognition, and Fiction|Brian Boyd|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348021768s/6378585.jpg|6566358]) may be to expand our scope of empathy, allow us to inhabit lives we otherwise would have no knowledge of, which betters society by making us more adept at building relationships and alliances and cooperating in general. That may be so. In The Enchanted, be prepared for the challenge of empathizing with the worst of humanity. show less

4.5 stars.

The Butterfly Girl by Rene Denfeld is an emotionally harrowing mystery. Although this second installment in the Naomi Cottle series can be read as a standalone, I highly recommend book one, The Child Finder, as well.

Still searching for her missing sister, Naomi Cottle and her husband Jerome are staying with her friend, Diane, in Portland, OR. Naomi has scant information about her life before and during captivity due to her memory loss surrounding their horrific kidnapping as very show more young children. She managed to escape the underground bunker where the kidnapper was holding them and she has never seen her sister again. Naomi is drawn to Portland where numerous homeless girls have been murdered but do these present day events have anything to do with her past?

While seeking information about her sister among the homeless community, Naomi crosses paths with twelve year old Celia on more than one occasion. Celia had no choice but to leave her drug addicted mother after her stepfather was acquitted of molesting her. She remains incredibly worried he will abuse her younger sister Alyssa but she is powerless to do anything expect try to convince her mother to leave her stepfather. Celia escapes her hopeless situation with visits to the library where she pores over books about butterflies. She and two other kids stick together in an effort to stay as safe as possible. But will Celia manage to avoid becoming the killer's next victim?

While not working any active missing children cases, Naomi does uncover valuable information about the murders of the young girls. Turning these details over to the local police and FBI, she continues her search for her missing sister. Shocking details about her and her sister's life before their kidnapping unexpectedly opens a new avenue in her investigation. Naomi is inching closer to possibly learning the truth about what happened to them, but will this new information lead her to her sister?

The Butterfly Girl is a poignant mystery that provides a heart wrenching portrait of life on the streets. Celia's plight is absolutely heartbreaking as she continues to try to protect her younger sister. Naomi is clearly struggling as she puts her search for her sister ahead of her marriage and friendship. With the pieces of the puzzle quickly falling into place, Rene Denfeld brings this suspenseful mystery to a surprisingly uplifting conclusion. I highly recommend this riveting installment to old and new fans of the Naomi Cottle series. show less