Black Butterfly is a psychological thriller with paranormal overtones. In it, a young artist, Emily, is avoiding dealing with psychological issues in her past, not even fully opening up to her therapist. She has to prepare for an upcoming exhibition, so when her art dealer friend offers to fund a month’s retreat at Lake Lure, Emily accepts. When she arrives at her rented cabin, she meets the next door neighbors and fellow vacationers and, when she asks them about the history of her cabin, give her conflicting or non-answers to her questions, leaving her wondering if it is indeed haunted. She does find that she’s able to paint but feels like her hand and brush are driven by unseen forces. She thinks she sees images of her acquaintances, Mei and Michael, and of her daughter, Sienna, who Emily abandoned due to postpartum depression. And the basement is a dirty somewhat terrorizing place in which she has to do laundry.
Overall, as a thriller, it didn’t have a lot of action, but if you like lots of psychological content, you may enjoy this book. Black Butterfly is heavy on self-reflection as Emily attempts to come to terms with her emotional problems. . There wasn’t a lot of external threat, but Emily’s delving into her psyche is interesting as she has something of a psychotic break in the basement. Also, I pictured one of the characters as an adult and much later learn that they are a child. I found this confusing rather than suspenseful as I was never fully able to re-envision the character as a youngster.
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Black Butterfly (Black Butterfly Productions LLC, March 13, 2026) is available through:
Your local independent bookseller | Amazon | Barnes & Noble (paperback and hardcover only)
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