A young boy is kidnapped from a bus stop as he comes home from school. Around a year later, he’s found and returned to his family.

What happened to him? And can he help investigators find the ones who did this to him before they strike again?

Found by Erin Kinsley is a thriller, but it is also poignantly character driven to the point where you truly feel for the characters involved. It’s unconventional in the sense that the integral mystery–finding Evan–is accomplished rather quickly in the novel.

However, the characters and the storyline keep you around until the very end when the final truth is revealed and resolved.

*Spoilers Ahead*

This novel follows the story of Matt, Claire, and their son, Evan. 

Evan is a young boy coming home from rugby with his friend, Stewie, when he’s left alone at the bus stop to take the bus home. That’s when he’s kidnapped.

But a year later, he’s found. Two strange men arrive at a gas station when witnesses hear strange noises coming from the trunk. The two men flee, and the surrounding witnesses pop open the trunk to find a terrified Evan clinging onto life. It’s almost certain that the men were intending to kill and dump Evan’s body somewhere, had they not been discovered.

Evan is returned to his family, which includes his parents, as well as his grandparents, Dora and Jack. Evan becomes mute because of the traumatic experience, and over the course of the novel, he slowly gains the confidence to speak again. It’s revealed that he didn’t want to speak in fear that his parents would ask him what happened to him while he was with those men.

One thing I appreciate about this book is the author leaving some details vague surrounding what happened to Evan. I think we can all understand what happened to Evan while he was in the hands of four strange men. They were trafficking children, and Evan wasn’t the only victim. And when the children got too old, they were disposed of. I don’t really need or want explicit details behind what happened beyond that. That’s all I need to know, and it’s enough.

What’s truly gripping about the novel is the emotional turmoil and conflict that the parents go through before and after Evan reappears in their lives again. The pain, the stress, the anguish that the parents go through is heartbreaking, but I can imagine it’s pretty realistic.

For example, Claire starts to let herself go. She doesn’t take care of her appearances anymore and she has become an alcoholic to cope with the loss of Evan. When Evan comes back, she has to deal with what her life has become and has a choice to improve for her son’s sake. And she does.

Matt also experiences grief, but in his own way. He’s the breadwinner of the family, so he has to work and support Claire as best as he can. I believe the author was alluding to Matt, at the very least, having an emotional affair with another woman before Evan reappeared. No explicit details are given, but your intuition gives you the sense that he’s doing something behind Claire’s back. But Claire doesn’t really care because her whole purpose in life–Evan–is no longer with them.

When Evan does come back to their family, it’s a difficult process to acclimatize to. Matt and Claire understand quickly that he’s not the same boy that he once was. He’s forever changed by his trauma and they must learn to navigate that together.

To help them, Matt and Claire bring Evan to his grandparents’ home in the countryside, where he is far away from the hustle and bustle of suburbia. And it helps Evan. A lot.

He connects more with his grandparents, Jack and Dora. Jack comforts Evan whenever he’s having a nightmare. And Dora, frail and aging, sits with Evan and holds his hand while they watch TV or do crosswords together. These are small, simple things, but when doing them with the right person, they can do so much to heal the soul.

Evan improves over the course of the novel. Meanwhile, the police investigation goes on to find out who his kidnappers are. I really appreciate the police investigators in this novel because it’s clear that they want to help and find the perpetrators, and they’re frustrated with the system that often presents them with unnecessary obstacles while doing their jobs.

I’m sure that a lot of police officers in real life can relate to that feeling, more or less.

When another young boy is kidnapped in an eerily similar way to how Evan was taken, Evan musters up enough courage to help the police identify where he was kept and the identities of the men involved. Eventually, the police locate the perpetrators, arrest them, and save the children caught up in this sick scheme.

While good things are clearly occurring, bad things are also happening at the same time. Dora suffers from stomach cancer and dies; Jack suffers a heart attack and dies at the hospital.

Evan is a young boy who has experienced a great deal of trauma, and now he’s lost the two people who helped him heal during such a tumultuous time. That’s hardly fair, isn’t it?

I’m very fond of the author’s ability to weave in Evan’s healing into the plotline, making it tantamount to the story’s resolution as the identification of the kidnappers is. I think it’s so important to remember the victims who have to go through such unspeakable traumas, like Evan. 

We also must remember that even though perpetrators are caught and charged for their crimes, the victims have to live with the weight of what happened forever. It’s not something that they can shrug off or forget. It becomes a part of who they are.

At the same time, they shouldn’t have to live with shame. They are entitled to rebuilding their lives again however they see fit.

In the story’s final act, Matt, Claire, and Evan move in to live in the house that Jack and Dora left behind, allowing Evan to continue to heal and thrive in this better environment. Matt and Claire sacrificed a lot to make this happen–which is such a breath of fresh air to read. 

As parents, we have to remember that the children in our lives demand ultimate sacrifices from us every now and then. That’s just the deal. When you become a parent, you accept this as a part of your life.

Evan also befriends, and perhaps starts to fall in love, with a young girl who he starts to take to the farm. Evan finds solace in farmwork, with the farm animals and with the routine that comes with maintaining the land. Matt and Claire’s marriage is saved, all thanks to the hard work both of them put forth in order to salvage it.

Even though this book isn’t a high-action thriller that has you on the edge of your seat at all times, I still greatly enjoyed reading this one. The descriptions of the farm and of Evan’s healing brought me a great sense of peace. And I was so moved to find a story that focuses more on the victims and their healing above everything else.

I give this book five stars!

Happy reading!