What happens when everything you have is not enough?
Restless property developer, Peter Calliet, meets Natalie, a sullen young artist at a party and an obsession begins that has echoes of his troubled past. Peter has everything in terms of material success and security. The obligatory fast car, lucrative contracts with his powerfully connected father's property empire and a plush renovated flat. Devoted fiancée, Claudia, expects to move in and marriage is imminent. But Peter has a dark past that taints his movements. Starting an affair with Natalie, who has an equally disturbed background, can only lead to more heartache. If Claudia discovers that Peter has been seeing Natalie, her dream world will be destroyed, adding to his burden of guilt. But even that can't stop him. The secure and rewarding life he has worked so hard to achieve begins to unravel.
What others are saying...
Friedfrog says;
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I read it in two days because i spent every spare moment with it glued to my hands! Although it was difficult to get in to for the first two or three chapters it was totally worth the perseverance. The characters were well rounded, and i felt oddly drawn to the main character Peter. I empathised with him and was annoyed by his girlfriend Claudia, who i think was actually intended to win the audience over! However i found her needy and obsessive. The story perhaps would have benefited from a character or two being dropped from the book (Brendan and Barry) as i felt they didn't add much to the overall plot and did make me have to turn back a page or two to understand their significance on a couple of occasions.
I did not expect the ending at all, it was masterfully played out and actually made my heart skip a beat (which is rare in any novel these days).I think that because this title was so emotionally evocative for me i cannot recommend it highly enough!!
Ian Kingsley says;
`The Butterfly Collector' is very enjoyable read. Even though Peter, the protagonist, has many foibles, and seems to be a bit of a user when it comes to women, you gradually find yourself drawn into his predicaments and understand why he is having second thoughts about his impending marriage to controlling girlfriend, Claudia. Peter's relationship with his daughter is also a controlling one, and gradually he comes to realise this is one of his own failings. His relationship to his own, even more, controlling father, a property developer, no doubt explains the reason for his own nature. Peter's dalliance with Natalie, despite her prickly character, adds to his own uncertainty of where his future lies. Characterisation of the principal characters, and the emotions of the protagonist, is brilliantly handled and the narrative is unusually professional for a debut novel. Here is a new author with a gimlet eye well worth following.