Survival thriller with predators, trauma, and enough tension to ruin your blood pressure.
When They Find Me is one of those books that takes a little patience in the beginning, but once the pieces start falling into place, it becomes genuinely unsettling, and I enjoyed that.
The story follows Annie, a woman hiding in a small town with her daughter, Coral, while another timeline follows Riven, a young girl being raised by her father, Coyote, and his son Boone in an isolated and deeply disturbing “pack” mentality. Those two timelines will collide, but initially I struggled a bit because we are dropped directly into survival mode without much context. I knew Annie was terrified and hiding, and I knew Riven was being prepared to kill someone, but I didn’t yet understand why. That confusion made it harder for me to connect immediately.
Once Part 2 started revealing the backstory, though, everything started falling into place for me. I finally understood exactly what Annie and Coral were running from. When the timelines collided and Coyote, Boone, and Riven invaded the safety of Annie’s isolated home during a snowstorm, I was genuinely nervous for them.
Coyote was probably the most memorable character for me because he felt terrifyingly believable. His obsession with turning his children into “pack animals” instead of fully human individuals created this constant sense of dread throughout the novel. You cannot reason with someone like that, and the book understands this. Boone felt more like an extension of Coyote’s violence, while Riven became increasingly interesting as the story unfolded. She starts as someone completely controlled by fear and manipulation, but little cracks begin forming as she starts questioning her role in her father’s world.
The book explores a lot of heavy themes: survival versus truly living, predatory behavior, male dominance and control over women, trauma, consequences, and mental illness. I appreciated that the psychological elements added to the danger rather than feeling exaggerated just for shock value. Unfortunately, people like Coyote exist, and that realism made the story even more disturbing.
That said, the slow and somewhat confusing beginning kept this from being a full five-star read for me. I understand why the author structured it this way, but it took me a while to feel grounded in the story. Once I was invested, though, I flew through the rest of the book.
Overall, I’m giving When They Find Me 4 out of 5 stars. I would recommend it to readers who enjoy dark psychological thrillers, character-driven suspense, survival stories, and small-town thrillers with heavy emotional tension.
Content warnings for violence, predatory behavior, psychological trauma, manipulation, mental illness themes, and threats against women and children.
Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for providing me with an advance review copy in exchange for an honest review.
