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Title: Butterfly on the Storm
Subtitle: Heartland Trilogy, Book 1
Author: Walter Lucius
Narrator: Alix Dunmore
Format: Unabridged
Length: 12 hrs and 53 mins
Language: English
Release date: 03-30-17
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Suspense
Publisher's Summary:
A hit-and-run on a woodland road near Amsterdam involving an Afghan boy is connected to a powerful international crime syndicate.
Journalist Farah Hafez, together with her colleague Paul Chapelle, gets caught up in an investigation that takes them all the way to Moscow and has greater political and personal ramifications than they bargained for. After this perilous journey, their lives will never be the same again.
Butterfly on the Storm, the first instalment of the Heartland Trilogy, is not only a fast-paced thriller but also an intriguing tale of lost loves and ideals.
Members Reviews:
Excellent Plot Weakened by Writing Techniques & Procedural Aspects
Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley.
This had all the elements to be a great story. Regrettably, the author continually got in the way of the presentation. Hereâs a rundown on the book, without spoilers:
Author Walter Lucius has crafted a world that is filled with interesting characters. The plot is woven with care, and the cast of characters aid in the telling of the tale. Some of the characters are brilliant. Detective Marouan Diba, part of the supporting cast, reveals much of what drives him, and the mysterious, regular caller to his cell phone is a fantastic and scary creation.
You can tell the author has taken great care to understand his characters. Readers are allowed deep glimpses into their thoughts and actions, which is a positive. Understanding the motivations help to drive this book forward. The problem, though, is in the method Mr. Lucius presents this information. We are not given the chance to see how the characters are affected by viewing their actions. Instead, we are taken into that personâs thoughts, and given lengthy explanations on every tiny facet of a reaction. While informative, this is more telling than showing, and adds pages and pages unnecessarily to the book. More pages, more opportunities to slow down the conversations and the plot.
Mr. Lucius also tends to rely on a particular writing technique, and uses it over and over and over. There are constant instances in the book where a point is made, and then it is emphasized with a partial sentence. Numerous chapters end this way, and the method is employed throughout the book. Additionally, the habit of using incomplete sentences pops up a lot. Employed sparingly, this technique can be powerful. Used habitually, it becomes an annoyance.
Because of the nature of the book, it is imperative for the writer to have a solid understanding of the different professions he assigns to his characters. Some of the events that happen in the hospital appear melodramatic and staged, as well as clashing with the reality of how doctors are assigned their tasks within the daily operations of a large medical facility. The police procedures described are not what are usually followed in an early investigation (for instance, allowing the public to walk around in a crime scene area, to allow a forensic expert to ignore their important tasks and instantly fall into a conversation with the crime scene intruder, or to completely ignore the obvious and cordon off or at least investigate the possibility of a larger crime scene area).