Dead Harvest

I will start this review by stating that this book is dark and disturbing, so you have to like that if you are going to read it. Fortunately for me, I do enjoy an unsettling story, so this book is right up my alley. It is a beautifully written nightmare that will be one of the most memorable reads of the year for me.

The Butterfly Garden is the first book in The Collector series by Dot Hutchison. The story starts with the FBI interviewing a young woman named Maya, who has been rescued from captivity along with several other women. They were kidnapped and collected by “The Gardener” and kept as butterflies in his “garden.” Maya proceeds to tell the story of how she was captured, what happened to her and the other girls in the garden, and how they were saved.

This story is told from two perspectives, FBI agent Victor Hanoverian and Maya. Victor's sections give us insight into how Maya is perceived by others while Maya's sections reveal the horrors through which she lived and their impact on her. I find Maya to be a very captivating narrator during her sections of the book. Maya's story is not for the faint of heart. She is a damaged young woman before entering the garden, and her treatment there is horrifying. It is important to know going into this book that there is sexual assault in the book. It is amazing that Maya has not broken by the time she leaves captivity. As the reader can see as the book begins, Maya has come out of her ordeal strong and remarkably stable. She is able to calmly tell of the atrocities she and the other girls faced while in the garden. This calmness casts suspicion on her involvement in the crimes committed and creates some suspense in the plot.

The writing is often lyrical and beautiful. It is a stark contrast with the horrific details in the plot, and I find this juxtaposition appealing. The author is very good at lulling the reader into a sense of calm even in the midst of a nightmare situation. There were moments when I found myself wondering at the beauty of the garden and the butterfly wings even though I knew they were a prison. That manipulation as a writer takes some skill. She even had me questioning my feelings about some of the captors.

The one drawback to the story for me is the ending. There is a “twist” added at the end that I feel is unnecessary, and it somewhat detracts from my appreciation of the story.

While the story moves a bit slow at some points, I found it overall to be an engaging read. I would recommend it to readers that like their stories dark and twisty, but beautifully written.