The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchison

Still on a bit of the serial killer thing, here is another book that caught my attention (that Amazon recommended to me).

Near an isolated mansion lies a beautiful garden.

In this garden grow luscious flowers, shady trees…and a collection of precious “butterflies”—young women who have been kidnapped and intricately tattooed to resemble their namesakes. Overseeing it all is the Gardener, a brutal, twisted man obsessed with capturing and preserving his lovely specimens.

When the garden is discovered, a survivor is brought in for questioning. FBI agents Victor Hanoverian and Brandon Eddison are tasked with piecing together one of the most stomach-churning cases of their careers. But the girl, known only as Maya, proves to be a puzzle herself.

As her story twists and turns, slowly shedding light on life in the Butterfly Garden, Maya reveals old grudges, new saviors, and horrific tales of a man who’d go to any length to hold beauty captive. But the more she shares, the more the agents have to wonder what she’s still hiding...

You can purchase the book here: The Butterfly Garden (The Collector Trilogy Book 1)

This book was very creepy. Nothing too overtly graphic (though there were some graphic parts), but the whole concept was a total creep fest. Maya is a victim of the Gardener a man who collects (kidnaps) beautiful girls and tattoos butterflies onto them. He them preserves them. He keeps them locked up in his garden for YEARS. The crazy thing is that he truly believes that he loves all of them, i mean outside of the rapeyness of it all, he is rather gentle and caring when it comes to their well being and what they like (as far as hobbies are concerned).

You learn all about this garden while Maya is being interrogated by the police. I had a hard time really buying into the fact that they thought she was guilty of anything... even they seemed to have a hard time buying into it, and maybe that was the point. But I found that the more she talked about the garden and her life there, the more I got sucked into it. Maya does talk about her life before being a living butterfly, but that didn't hold my attention as closely as all the rest of it.

I am definitely looking out for the next book in the series. I would give this book a solid four stars. I am glad I read it.

I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga

         I recently watched American Horror Story for the first time (Oh my goodness I am obsessed, I binge watched all the seasons). But after having finished the first season I was having a craving for understanding the mind of a serial killer. And I didn't want it to be Criminal Minds-esque where someone else was analyzing them. I wanted to be in the killer's head, and I wanted to feel something more than fear or disgust. Holy Moly did this book hit the spot. I was scared and grossed out and totally compelled to like the characters. I am a wimp though and struggled with showering by myself after reading it, for fear of someone on the other side of the curtain.

 What if the world's worst serial killer...was your dad?

Jasper "Jazz" Dent is a likable teenager. A charmer, one might say.

But he's also the son of the world's most infamous serial killer, and for Dear Old Dad, Take Your Son to Work Day was year-round. Jazz has witnessed crime scenes the way cops wish they could—from the criminal's point of view.

And now bodies are piling up in Lobo's Nod.

In an effort to clear his name, Jazz joins the police in a hunt for a new serial killer. But Jazz has a secret—could he be more like his father than anyone knows?

You can purchase this book here: I Hunt Killers (Jasper Dent)

I mostly read this book during slow hours at work (I know, I am bad). It totally sucked me into the story. Jazz is a teenager who was raised by his serial killer father, to be a serial killer. He is constantly fighting the urge to give in to all that his father filled his head with, and there are graphic details of all the things he stops himself from doing.

He is accompanied by his best friend and girlfriend, both of whom help brighten up what would have other wise been a very very dark story. I really learned to like Jazz, he is prickly and really messed up, but he is a solid character that I looked forward to finding new things about who he was.

This story really makes you think. Really makes you wonder about murder and nature vs. nurture, and when Jazz struggles with it all, you are doing it right along side him. Now, like I said before, I am a major wimp, I am scared of everything, so that being said, this book is not for the faint of heart. It took me a few days to get out of that head space, and not without some serial killer dreams.

I think this was a very well written, and very well researched book. If you like this genre, then this is definitely a much read!

I give it 5 Stars!