I can’t wait for the movie!

Here is the review of James Lyons’ Kiss of the Butterfly that I posted today on Amazon.com:

What a pleasure to find all these five-star reviews already in place!

I am not a vampire novel kind of guy. I can’t remember ever reading one. Nor do I read a lot of books about the Balkans, of which I’ve gotten my fill in the past 20 years of frequent visits there. I don’t carry a Hawthorne stake or saturate myself in garlic. I haven’t met any vampires at all. Just about all the evil I’ve seen done there is justified as doing good, or as something that couldn’t be stopped. If you are looking for a centuries-old red-eyed femme fatale who can instantly transform into a werewolf, I wouldn’t waste any time on a trip to Serbia or Bosnia.

But that reality doesn’t alter the genius of Kiss of the Butterfly, which is in part a roman a clef that uses folklorically accurate vampires (who is which you’ll need to discover for yourself–the book includes the usual disclaimer) to interweave 1990s Balkans with the previous several centuries of carefully researched history. But none of that gets in the way a really good tale, one that moves quickly and compellingly from California academe through unconsummated romance to homicidal mayhem. This is an ideal quick read for the those who like their fantasy connected to reality.

I should confess that I know James Lyon, who is one of the very best American experts on the Balkans, where he has lived for the better part of the past two decades. I have enjoyed many a conversation with him and knew he was well-informed both on current events and Balkans history. But I had no idea he knew anything about vampire folklore. What a pleasure to discover this additional dimension, in particular in a form so well calculated to entertain. I can’t wait for the movie!