Quick Synopsis

From the bestselling author of The Child Finder and The Enchanted, a compelling and poignant story of sibling bonds, monsters masquerading as caretakers, terrifying secrets, and the power of love to right even the most egregious wrongs.

Publisher’s Synopsis

Twenty years ago, a nine-year-old boy was swept away by powerful waves on a remote Oregon beach, his body lost to the sea. Only a stone memorial remains to mark his tragic death.

For most of her life, Amanda Dufresne had no idea she had an older brother named Dennis Owens, or that he had died. Adopted as a baby, she learned about him while looking into her late birth mother, and is curious to know more about this lost sibling. A solitary young woman, Amanda has always felt distanced from the world around her. Her brain works differently from others, leaving her feeling set apart. Her one true companion is the orphaned polar bear she cares for working at the zoo. By getting to know her birth family, she hopes to understand more about herself. 

Retired police officer Larry Palmer is a widower with nothing but time and in need of a purpose. He offers to help Amanda find answers. The search leads to shocking and heartbreaking discoveries. Dennis Owen had been a forgotten foster child abandoned to a home for disturbed boys off the coast. As Amanda and Larry dig deeper into the past, the two stumble upon decades of cruelty and hidden crimes—including a barbaric treatment still used today.

Told in Rene Denfeld’s inimitable style, Sleeping Giants is an enthralling and heartbreaking novel that burrows deep in the heart and will leave no reader untouched.

Book Review

Sleeping Giants is a contemporary novel about a woman searching for the story of her biological brother. After being adopted as a baby, Amanda knows little of her older brother, Dennis, who was left in foster care. She only learned of him and his death when looking for her birth mother. Amanda wants to know about Dennis’s short life and hopes that her personal journey will help in her professional life as a zookeeper to an antisocial polar bear that was abandoned at birth.

While I was interested in Dennis’s story, I found myself struggling through this novel. The best way to describe the book’s plot is slow and quiet. While I do prefer a quicker, stronger plot, I think Sleeping Giants could have worked had there been more character development. But the third-person narration failed to create a connection to Amanda, and the lack of her development left little to propel me through the story. There is an underlying mystery that piqued my curiosity; however, I figured it out shortly into the novel.

I enjoyed the portions of Sleeping Giants that described the sea, featured the townspeople, or focused on Dennis. It is clear that Rene Denfeld can write well. But for me, this story just did not come together. A prime example of its lackluster execution is the polar bear subplot. This narrative is used as a metaphor for Amanda’s journey and is simply too on the nose, making it useless as a literary device and resulting in a repetitious story.

Overall, Sleeping Giants is a simple narrative that lacks the character development needed to be compelling. Dennis’s story of growing up in a group home is the strongest portion of an otherwise rather forgettable book.

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Writing

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Character Development