I was caught by the comparisons to Stieg Larrson but it didn't have the same effect or style. It felt like it was trying to be Larrson but different and it would have been better to just be different. I also didn't care for the character cliches. Surely we've moved beyond the fierce but soft as marshmallow women. Or the knows six types of martial arts to the highest levels but loves kittens. I know this could be possible at a stretch but I don't want or need my characters to be so rare and deified they're completely implausible. I also found it irritating to have an action or a thought happen, only to then have it verbalised by the character. "They arrived at a locked door. 'Oh damn, it's locked' said Sophie." It doesn't make the story better and it doesn't help with the flow.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book. This was an excellent read.
Thoroughly recommended

This was a DNF for me unfortunately. When I first started this book I was intrigued and really wanted to know what had happened to the little boy in the middle of the road. This book raises a lot of issues and I think that a lot of people would enjoy it, I may try and pick this up to try again some other time as I did find the premise interesting, I just got bored and didn’t care about what happened to the characters. 🌻💜

Completely forgot to download this, from other reviews it sounds like I didn’t exactly miss out though. Star rating in line with Goodreads average, apologies for not reading!

Butterfly on the Storm is a multi-layered thriller with an original premise, it was something that I haven't seen tackled in another thriller before. It wanted to achieve so much, and the story and characters were so ambitious, and while in the end it didn’t really work for me, I can acknowledge the mastery in which the author presented themes such as corruption, sexual slavery, political games and greed, all in a way was that felt extremely genuine.

It was well written and you can clearly see how much research went in creating the story and the world but unfortunately, at times, it’s hard to care about the story when the characters don’t resonate with you. The only character that I liked was the doctor, Danielle, but she gets the most page-time at the start of the book, which is probably the reason why I liked the first part of this book better than the last.

If you’re into complex political thrillers that are not only fun to read, but also reflect on the current issues of our society, then you should give Butterfly on the Storm a go.

Thank you to Netgalley for letting me read this book. It took me a few chapters to get into this but then I was hooked. Lots of characters with lots going on but all starts to come together. This is the first in a Trilogy and I am now looking forward to the next two books in the series.

It took me a long time to read this book, not through any fault of the author or storyline but it is a long one. Although not difficult, with a simple style of writing, quite good as a holiday read.

The storyline is fairly complex with various strands coming into play and Walter Lucius is certainly ambitious in his scope and tackling seedy subjects with lots of cultural references thrown in.

I am looking forward to reading the next in the series as I want to find out just how it all resolves and if those in powerful positions ever have to play by the rules which govern the rest of us; as in the real world, I'm thinking not.

So as a story and idea, this is a solid four-stars for me but it is over-written and too grammatically correct in places and this makes it seem a little pedestrian at times, as if being told by a child. Hats off to anyone who can write in their second language but it can affect the easy flow and colloquialisms our sub-conscious so enjoys when absorbed in a book.

I'm sorry to say this book was just not for me. Nothing to do with the author or his writing I'm sure. It just wasn't for me

I haven't read anything else by this author before so didn't really know what to expect. I also probably should have paid more attention to the description. I did manage to read the book but i'm afraid it wasn't one for me as i did find matters in the book a little out of my comfort zone.

I don't like being negative but there are trigger warnings for paedophilia and related practices discussed in this book-and unfortunately I just couldn't read on.
I received this copy in return for an honest review, sadly I could not connect to the main characters, and found the translation clunky and not the best for an international political thriller.
The jist of the story is that Farah Hafez, a reporter who begins the book in mortal peril, but is rescued by a man who becomes her partner in exposing injustice, investigates a hit and run accident.
The victim is a young boy who is dressed up to look like a girl and as she digs further, she finds it has links to an ancient Taliban practice of using boys in this manner, people smuggling and international crime.
It is probably me not the book but I just couldn't finish it.
I am grateful to the publishers and Netgalley for the opportunity to read 'Butterfly On the Storm' but sadly I am not the targeted audience

I requested this book as I was a huge fan of the Stieg Larsson Millennium trilogy and I love books which have been translated. However, 'The Butterfly in the Strom' was not for me. Translated from the Dutch, this thriller is the first in the 'Heartland' trilogy, it concerns an intrepid reporter who finds herself caught in a web of intrigue whilst investigating a hit and run.
However, this boy is made up to look like a girl and before long, Farah, the journalist is soon entangled in a paedophilia case with links to the Taliban. Starting with a literally explosive opening, I found I couldn't connect with the style of writing or with the characters.
Some things I find incredibly difficult to read and for me, I found the details of the paedophilia ring and their customs really made me stop.
Everyone has their triggers and unfortunately the way it was written I found hard to handle. I am unsure whether the style was deliberate or the way the translator had tackled it, but I am afraid it was not for me.
I appreciate the opportunity to read this novel, and am grateful to Netgalley and the publishers for offering me this ARC in return for an honest review.

I was very kindly sent this book after receiving an offer to review a later volume in the series; I wanted to start with this one first so that I'd have an idea of the characters and storyline. I'm sad to say that I really struggled with it, though...

This book begins with the story of a young child found hit by a car on a desolate road, a terrible accident that is stumbled upon by Farah Hafez, an intrepid Afghan female journalist now living and working in Amsterdam. The story follows Farah's investigative journey through the mystery of the child's identity, how they came to be found where they were, and just who, exactly, is involved in this most terrible of crimes - and why.

It's an interesting premise, and normally the type of thriller novel I would really enjoy, but I found myself struggling even after the first few chapters. The two initial things that turned me off included an early scene where Farah - the lead female character - assesses and describes her naked body in the narrative as she looks at herself in the mirror, in a way that most women would never do. Following fairly quickly on from that is a scene just after the accident where, amidst the pretty gruesome tragedy of what is going on around them, two male detectives alternately flirt with, or lasciviously ogle at, Farah's braless breasts under her wet shirt. I'm afraid to say this turned me off right from the start.

Sadly I also found the writing hard-going at times, with scenes and characters leapfrogging from one place to the other in a somewhat jarring manner. I also grew more and more sceptical of the way Farah was always at the epicentre of the action and excitement - always in the right place at the right time, witnessing accidents and deaths and bumping into people relevant to the story all over the city just at the right time. There's also a slightly inexplicable part of the story where Farah's entry into a martial-arts tournament is pounced on by the press and raked over again and again, not just on the front page of the newspapers but in night-time talk shows, and I just struggled to see how the spare-time antics of a local journalist would garner so much press attention.

The intricacies of the plot line ARE interesting and, with this particular novel finishing on a big cliffhanger leading into the next volume, I would be interested to know what happens next. Some of the characters are nicely drawn, and the settings are often vivid, but I really felt like I had to force myself through the greater part of this book.

I started this book and was very surprised at the poor writing and unbelievable characterisation and actions of the professionals e.g. the CSI people at the crime scene. When I reached the wet t-shirt scene at the ridiculous car crash and nearby fire (was it linked ? LOL) I wondered whether I wanted to continue, so I went and looked at the reviews elsewhere. Finding that many people shared my surprise and learning that the story continued with paedophilia I gave up.
Sorry, not for me.

Have you ever read a book that you don’t know why, you just can’t seem to leave it alone? This is one of those books. A story that doesn’t quite captivate me but I need to keep reading. Intriguing and thought provoking, where nothing is quite what you think.

I wasn’t going to finish this one, because I couldn’t stand the over sexualisation of the “heroine”, I had a very hard time trying to understand where all the racial stereotypes fit in the story (I still think it was unnecessary) I gave the book 1.5 stars because I think the way that the story developed was very well executed, I definitely appreciate how the story was woven and intertwined, but I only saw that between 65% and 90% section of the book. The first 45% of the book wasn’t for me, and I wish the last 10% was left for the following book, so I didn’t have to read it.
But there we go. I’m sure loads of people would enjoy this book, but wasn’t for me.

I don’t know why this book is compared to The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.

Walter Lucius takes us on a roller coaster ride. I approached the book with no expectations or preconceptions, so as the story took the predictable climb towards the peak, a boy found on the road, can't communicate a beautiful journalist sucked into the investigation, suspicion pointed towards upstanding members of the Amsterdam community etc. I reached the critical point ready for the crash down to a solution to the mystery while being threatened and worse from the establishment. But that's not what happened, Lucius, levels out the car, then starts climbing again another level of mystery and intrigue, then he does it again and again. Until what started as a run of the mill hit and run event becomes a complex and global mystery drawing disperate levels of desperate and powerful characters.
When you finally reach the highest constructed point of the rollercoaster the blistering free fall on the other side is shocking and mind-blowing. An imaginatively constructed thriller that makes insightful observations on today's global village.
It's not very clear to me if this book was translated into English, or was written by someone in their second language. In some passages and sections of the story you can detect a fall off in the level immediacy of the language, enough to be noticeable but not enough to distract from the richness of the storyline.

I really tried to get into this. I kept plowing through. I made it to 80% and realised that it wasn't going to get any better, and that I would prefer not to waste any more of my time on this.

Thank you to Netgalley for a complimentary copy of this book.

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.

This was a well-written story tackling some difficult issues along the way, such as cultural taboos; corrupt police and politics. I liked Farah as the lead character so I felt she was overtly sexualised to some extent. I'm not sure how much value some of the peripheral characters added and could have done without a few of them.

Still, on the whole, this has piqued my interest enough to want to see what happens in the nest instalment.

Thanks to netgalley for the opportunity to have read this book. It is said in Amsterdam, and the descriptions of the scenery made me want to go there!
The book starts with the hit-and-run of a young boy, and the investigation there of. I did not see the point of the journalist investigating the crime, but that's just me!
Recommended.

A densely plotted thriller that spans the globe, this is a book that isn't afraid of challenging the reader and making you work for your ending. A young Afghan boy is found in the road, seemingly a victim of a hit and run but it soon transpires that there's a whole lot more to this case. Investigative journalist Farah Hafez goes from accidental translator to advocate for the boy as she tries to uncover a web of human trafficking and corruption at the highest levels.

The story begins in the Netherlands but also covers Russia, South Africa and Afghanistan. The author is nothing if not ambitious as the book also features an Italian and Moroccan detective partnership. There's plenty of distrust and double crossing going on between the characters as each has their own motives and emotional baggage they carry with them. There's a slew of characters and a couple of them seem to lurch from one disaster to another which makes for an entertaining read at least. Each one of them tries to be a hero in their own way and I couldn't help feeling that some of them stopped thinking about the injured boy and became preoccupied with their own personal crusade above all else.

Inevitably this is part of a series and the ending pretty much guarantees that if you're even slightly emotionally invested you'll be looking out for the next instalment. There's a lot jammed into this book but I'll certainly be intrigued to see how the series carries on.

I received a ARC from Netgalley in exchange for a fair review.