It's one thing to say you can find what people need--it's another to actually do it.

It's 1932 and Sullivan Harris is on the run. An occasionally successful dowser, he promised the people of Kline, West Virginia, that he would find them water. But when wells turned up dry, he disappeared with their cash just a step or two ahead of Jeremiah Weber, who was elected to run him down.

Postmistress Gainey Floyd is suspicious of Sulley's abilities when he appears in her town but reconsiders after new wells fill with sweet water. Rather, it's Sulley who grows uneasy when his success makes folks wonder if he can find more than water--like forgotten items or missing people. He lights out to escape such expectations and runs smack into something worse.

Hundreds of men have found jobs digging the Hawks Nest Tunnel--but what they thought was a blessing is killing them. And no one seems to care. Here, Sulley finds something new--a desire to help. With it, he becomes an unexpected catalyst, bringing Jeremiah and Gainey together to find what even he has forgotten: hope.

"Sarah Loudin Thomas never disappoints! The Finder of Forgotten Things brings together a rich cast of characters, each at war with conflicting desires and ultimately destined to decide whether, even in the worst events, redemption waits to be discovered."--LISA WINGATE, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Lost Friends

"In a hardscrabble 1930s setting, complex characters wrestle with justice, mercy, inequality, honesty, and the fact that they are all prodigals still searching for the way home. Loudin Thomas delivers a stunning tale of one of the worst industrial disasters in U.S. history, underlined with a moral imperative to love one's neighbor that still hits home today."--Library Journal

"Loudin Thomas introduces a multifaceted cast desperately trying to survive the Great Depression in 1930s West Virginia, in this strong historical. . . . The small-town plot's set against the real-life Hawks Nest Tunnel disaster. . . . giving Loudin Thomas impetus to underline the impact of acts of caring in a community." --Publishers Weekly

My Review:

One thing that always impressed me with Sarah Loudin Thomas’s writing is her ability to create characters you simply can’t help but feel something for. You may not always like them, but they are developed so well that they feel real–and regardless of their status as the hero or villian, you can’t help but be intrigued by their journey. That pretty much sums up this story for me. Sullivan was a complex character. In some moments I could trust him about as far as I could throw him (we won’t discuss the point that he’s not actually a real person and if I really wanted to I could throw the book. We’re just going to pretend here haha). Other moments it was as if I could sense his humanity through his own internal conflict. Then even further, there were moments it was as if he’d fully the way to redeem himself. Admittedly at the end I am still not sure how I feel about him, but at the same point I feel something, and that’s powerful in a read. This book easily gets my recommendation to other readers!

*I received a copy of this book from Bethany House Publishers. Thoughts and opinions expressed are mine alone.