The Butterfly Trap

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 Ted Drozdowski 
 
11 July 2025
 
 
 Verified 
A Perfect Balance of Classic Mystery and Original Storytelling! The classic elements of great mystery novels are the fabric of Clea Simon’s engrossing new thriller. Are people who they claim? What are their true motivations? And there’s the real suspense of what might happens next. And to whom. The Butterfly Trap is fodder for a great unmade Hitchcock film. Nonetheless, while embracing all of what makes great mysteries great, this book also has a life of its own and a truly refreshing—and timeless—balance to its storytelling. Readers will be spellbound!this book also breathes new and original life into all of that.
  
 
 
 
 
 
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 wmwalsh 
 
29 June 2025
 
 
 Verified 
Buuterly expresses both love and entrapment Clea Simon is a Boston author on the lines of Dennis Lehane and that guy that wrote Spenser for hire, and she has lived deep within Boston/Cambridge's most important cultural scenes: Harvard, the rock scene, the Museum of Fine Arts School and art scene, the publishing world, the high tech and science industry. When reading her books I can picture places and faces now gone by, such as the Arsenic and Old Lace store. She creates compelling characters and vivid imagery and build suspense, it's hard to put this book down!In this book, she creates two characters who are both passionate about their very separate worlds. Greg is a doctor, Anya is an artist. The title, The Butterfly Trap, refers to a bright blue butterfly in a frame that Greg purchases at an arts market. Greg sees it as an inspiring specimen and a loving symbol of Anya. Anya sees it as a one-living creature that is now in a cage.This central conflict between these characters represents their differing views of the world, which one can see and feel played out in Boston/Cambridge at large. The urge to create and to experience life versus the urge to classify, codify and profit from life and its creations.
  
 
 
 
 
 
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 A. Trumbore 
 
13 June 2025
 
 
 Verified 
A Haunting, Twisting Masterpiece of Psychological Suspense A a darkly elegant and addictive page-turner that hooked me from the very first chapter. A fine sense of dread permeates the fairy tale romance at the heart of this book until you realize these two characters are on completely different pages , and the truth lies somewhere in-between. Told in a riveting “he said/she said” structure, the story keeps you questioning every motive and memory, building a slow-burning tension that explodes in the most unexpected way. Beautifully written, deeply unsettling, and impossible to put down!
  
 
 
 
 
 
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 Anthony Tommasini 
 
22 April 2025
 
 
 Verified 
Clea Simon's engrossing new novel An excellent, compelling and richly subtle story of a complex relationship between a gifted and intense artist and a decent and needy doctor, told from both perspectives. Terrific writing. Vivid characters. Highly recommended.
  
 
 
 
 
 
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 James Rutenbeck 
 
13 April 2025
 
 
 Verified 
Engrossing Engrossing--I couldn't put it down.
  
 
 
 
 
 
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 Amazon Customer 
 
24 March 2025
 
 
 Verified 
Toxic self-delusion and self-justification, portrayed with scary clarity What a brilliant, evocative, and haunting book! I thought I had it all figured out by the second chapter, as it was creepily reminiscent both of Clea Simon's earlier "Bad Boy Beat" and "World Enough" and (going farther back in time) of "Lolita," and the 1960 novel/film "The Collector." My guesses were way off, and the ending was a horrific surprise. Simon's use of the "unreliable narrator" technique is masterful in characterizing both protagonists.
  
 
 
 
 
 
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 Laurie H. 
 
22 March 2025
 
 
 Verified 
A taut thriller. Excellent book! I was pulled in from the very beginning. I love the different perspectives that make you wonder who to believe. Well written, a page turner that doesn't disappoint.
  
 
 
 
 
 
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 M Ferris 
 
20 March 2025
 
 
 Verified 
Good bleak fun Magnificently dark and highly recommended. This is the most cynical take on a male-female relationship I've read since "Gone Girl."
  
 
 
 
 
 
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 Chris M. 
 
16 March 2025
 
 
 Verified 
Deep and Dark The best Simon mystery yet, A page turner with a surprise ending.
  
 
 
 
 
 
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 Ashley Campbell 
 
7 March 2025
 
 
 Verified 
Slow burn domestic thriller! The Butterfly Trap by Clea Simon is a dual perspective thriller that explores the perceptions we have in relationships. A real slow burn domestic thriller.It's a story of opposites attract with Greg and Anya. Greg is a serious doctor who is completely devoted to Anya. Anya is an alluring free spirit artist. Over time their marriage begins to fall apart but the question is who is really to blame?This book was definitely a slow burn but absolutely stick with it. I did really like the dual perspective, it was very intriguing hearing the same story played out but with two different viewpoints. I didn't particularly like either of the characters but they are definitely toxic and that made them interesting. Definitely recommend!Thank you to NetGalley, Clea Simon, and Severn House for this ARC. Publication day is March 4th 2025.
  
 
 
 
 
 
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 Susan Oleksiw 
 
5 March 2025
 
 
 Verified 
One story with two perspectives In any psychological suspense novel it is easy to fall into the trap of slowly revealing where the evil lies—who is victim and who is perpetrator—but we are all heroes of our own story, as the saying goes, which poses a far greater challenge to the writer. Simon meets the challenge without compromise in a brilliant tale of two people who meet and fall in love—or do they?In a rare night out, Greg sees a woman dancing wildly, when, a bit drunk, she falls into his arms. He’s more than smitten, hardly able to believe that such a beautiful creature could even notice him. For a hundred pages we follow him in his pursuit of Anya, and learn everything he’s willing to sacrifice to build his world around her. For the remaining hundred pages we live the same experience through Anya’s eyes.Lots of words have been used to describe what happens to the two: gritty, smart, dark, inventive, and other terms sure to seduce thriller readers. But the book is more—painfully honest in how men and women see each other and their behaviors. The first few pages took me back to my years as a social worker, and were almost too painful to read, but I couldn’t stop. I couldn’t leave the two, Anya and Greg, there. The ending is perfect, one no reader can ever forget.Susan Oleksiw
  
 
 
 
 
 
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 K. Schlosberg 
 
5 March 2025
 
 
 Verified 
A well-done, twisty thriller Well written and complex, the use of multiple points of view keep the reader guessing as to what is actually happening. A good, gripping read.
  
 
 
 
 
 
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 Brett Milano 
 
5 March 2025
 
 
 Verified 
Haunting and fascinating I found this book haunting and fascinating. The author succeeded in tricking me by telling the story from one perspective, then changing the viewpoint and revealing how much I had missed. While there is darkness to the story, the characters feel well-drawn and familiar, and she makes the point that such things can happen anywhere. It makes you ponder the undertones that are present in an apparently stable relationship, and sends you back to catch the nuances you may have missed first time around. The author's language is poetic and the beloved arts milieu of Boston proves a good backdrop for the tale.
  
 
 
 
 
 
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 JerryL87 
 
5 March 2025
 
 
 Verified 
A wild ride! This inventive page-turner had me from the get-go. Simon deftly flips points of view in a manner that recalls Henry James's "The Golden Bowl" -- albeit in a contemporary, much sexier context. Anya is an alluring protagonist, and you can see immediately why Greg is attracted to her. As for Anya's tortured calculations -- well, as an artist trying to establish herself in an unforgiving market, she's completely believable, and relatable. Which makes the novel's ultimate twists even more chilling.
  
 
 
 
 
 
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 shereadbookblog 
 
4 March 2025
 
 
 Verified 
Well written Anya is a struggling artist; Greg a doctor working in research. When they meet, he falls hard for what he sees as her butterfly like beauty. He leaves his job to become a surgical resident so that he can support Anya and her pursuit of artistic success. Despite his friend Pete’s attempt to poison Greg’s view of Anya, they marry. But like many relationships, there are secrets and their relationship slowly dissolves. The first half of the book is from Greg’s POV, the second from Anya’s.This was well written and the he said she said POVs an interesting approach. Wouldn’t we all like to know what our partner is really thinking, doing? However, I found all the characters truly unlikable. Despite that, it was an engrossing read although I found the ending and denouement a bit rushed.