Of Butterflies and Spies: A Review of MONARCH — and a Giveaway!!
I am honoured to have received an ARC of Monarch, written by my good friend Michelle Davidson Argyle, for review. Many of you may know, Michelle as the author Cinders, as well as my co-editor and partner-in-charity for the Stories for Sendai anthology. Well, today I’m posting my review of her latest book in conjunction with her promotional blog tour. Plus, readers will get a chance to win a copy of Monarch! More details below…
Blurb for Monarch:
Nick’s life as a CIA spy should be fulfilling, but it has only given him unhappiness — a wife who committed suicide, and two daughters who resent everything he has become. Now, stuck in the Amazon on the last mission of his career, he must track down Matheus Ferreira, a drug lord and terrorist the U.S. has tried to bring down for years. If he succeeds, he’ll have the chance to start his life over again.
Just when Nick is on the brink of catching Ferreira, he’s framed for a murder that turns his world upside down. His only chance of survival lies in West Virginia where Lilian Love, a woman from his past, owns the secluded Monarch Inn. He’s safe, but not for long…
My Review:
“Lies, secrets and betrayals cocoon a love as fragile as a butterfly’s wings.”
– Karen Dionne, author of Freezing Point
I find Karen’s quote sums up Michelle’s novel perfectly. While complex and twisting on the outside, the central story is really a simple one, that revolves around a father seeking forgiveness from his daughters, and the age-old love story between a man fraught with grief and guilt, and a woman afraid of allowing herself to love again. Large parts of the story is set in and around the Monarch Inn, a forest retreat directly in the epic migration path of the beautiful Monarch butterflies. As a testament to Michelle’s leanings towards literary fiction, there are constant and fitting references to these fragile creatures littered throughout the book, from their appearances in the woods, to their sugared likeness on Lilian’s masterpiece of a cake, to the winged tattoos on members of the drug gang, even to the shape of blood spatters on a dead man.
Why do Monarchs travel thousands of miles in their annual migration, battering their fragile bodies until scores of them lie dead and dying en route? The symbolism of the Monarch butterfly is a strong and poignant one, of the inherent struggle for survival and the fragility of life.
Every character in Monarch has a story: the silent, brooding Nick, a father seeking forgiveness from his daughters; the seductive but dangerous Catarina, wife of drug lord Ferreira; Violet, the daughter living with the guilt and blame of letting her mother die. My favourite character is Devan, Lilian’s son. A witness to his parent’s bitter divorce, Devan dreams of joining the Air Force, but worries about leaving his mother to run the Monarch Inn alone. With her fragile state of mind, he didn’t think she’d be able to cope. When Nick Avery appears, Devan is torn between liking the charming, mysterious stranger, and distrusting him: would Nick be the one to finally bring his mother out of her slump, or would he end up breaking her heart all over again?
The writing is vivid, the characters compelling, and the story rises to a gripping crescendo in a bloody showdown in the Monarch Inn. A thrilling debut, and one I would definitely recommend to anyone who likes their romance a little dangerous, or their thrillers a touch romantic.
4 stars
Purchase information for Monarch can be found HERE.
And now, here’s your chance to win a print or e-book copy* of Monarch! All you have to do is comment below and answer one of the following questions:
- Why do you love butterflies ?
- Why do you love spies?
*Note: Winner gets a choice of a print OR an e-book copy. Because of postage costs, non-US participants are only eligible for the e-book prize.
Click HERE for Michelle’s full blog tour schedule and visit her other stops!
Butt-kicking bookworm. Displaced Malaysian. Writes crime & thrillers. Debut novel ORACLE will be released by J. Taylor Publishing on 30th July 2012.
Butterflies are beautiful and colorful, beating gossamer wings. They fly around the summit where the wind threatens to take us around the world. Yet they manage. It's remarkable.
I met a real spies when I lived in DC. They tend to be neurotic and jumpy. Not at all like Mr. Bond.
Monarch sounds like a lovely book. All success to Michelle.
That sounds awesome! I love all the different storylines going on, and the symbolism of the monarchs. Thanks for the review!
I like butterflies because they are beautiful and delicate and yet have the strength to migrate impossible distances. I like spies because they are strong, smart, sexy – totally James Bond
A great review JC. Sounds like an exciting novel.
I do like spies – maybe not the James bond type though. Unless we're talking Sean Connery and not Pierce Brosnan. Smart, sexy, living on the edge; making their own rules basically. What's not to love
……..dhole
I dig on spies. There's a whole dangerous yet sexy vibe to them. The mystery surrounding who they are and what they do adds to the interest. Not everyone can be a spy, and those that are immediately capture our attention… if we can spot them.
Spies and butterflies what a combo. I love them both. Who would not like a fantasy of Bond or the loveliness of an emerging butterfly. Much like a spy is undercover I am seeing an analogy here of the caterpillar turning into a butterfly
Thank you for the fun giveaway opportunity.
dz59001[at]gmail[dot]com
Aside from the obvious thriller aspects, I'm intrigued by the symbolism and all the relationships. Yay for Michelle and thank you for this review & giveaway!
Since I don't actually like butterflies (they creep me out), I guess I'll have to answer question 2. I like spies (at least the fictional ones or the idea of them) because they live mysterious, dangerous lives. They kind of always have to be behind a mask.