Genre: Thriller
Published: June 1, 2016
Pages: 288
Near an isolated mansion lies a beautiful garden.
In this garden grow luscious flowers, shady trees…and a collection of precious “butterflies”—young women who have been kidnapped and intricately tattooed to resemble their namesakes. Overseeing it all is the Gardener, a brutal, twisted man obsessed with capturing and preserving his lovely specimens.
When the garden is discovered, a survivor is brought in for questioning. FBI agents Victor Hanoverian and Brandon Eddison are tasked with piecing together one of the most stomach-churning cases of their careers. But the girl, known only as Maya, proves to be a puzzle herself.
As her story twists and turns, slowly shedding light on life in the Butterfly Garden, Maya reveals old grudges, new saviors, and horrific tales of a man who’d go to any length to hold beauty captive. But the more she shares, the more the agents have to wonder what she’s still hiding…
This was the January book selection for my Twists and Page Turners book club, which I may or may not stay in, I need at least one more meeting for the vibes to settle. This is my honest review.
The way the story is set up, it took a while for me to have any real good idea of what was going on, which put me right in the shoes of the primary detective on the case. He's the main narrator and he hadn't been to the crime scene, so we start without all the information, and only get what Maya is willing to give us. And because she's also being questioned about her past before the garden, the story feels disjointed at times. I really liked this approach to this particular story though.
By the end of the book, when I felt like I had a handle on what went down, I started to question if that was really how things went. Because parts of Maya's story just seem a little too unbelievable and all we have is her word. At no point is it clear that she's telling the truth.
Overall I give The Butterfly Garden 4.0746 out of 5 stars. - Katie
Dot Hutchison is the author of A Wounded Name, a young adult novel based on Shakespeare’s Hamlet, and the adult thriller The Butterfly Garden. With past experience working at a Boy Scout camp, a craft store, a bookstore, and the Renaissance Faire (as a human combat chess piece), Hutchison prides herself on remaining delightfully in tune with her inner young adult. She loves thunderstorms, mythology, history, and movies that can and should be watched on repeat. For more information on her current projects, visit www.dothutchison.com or check her out on Tumblr (www.dothutchison.tumblr.com), Twitter (@DotHutchison), or Facebook (www.facebook.com/DotHutchison).
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