Kiss of the Butterfly Paperback – 13 April 2013

What a debut, without doubt the best modern day vampire story I've read. From a steady build up the story comes together wonderfully with character relationships being a major part of the tale. Using folklore as the basis of his vampires James spins the story around war torn Yugoslavia. Steven is the unwitting student sent by his professor to study Ethnography,(the study of folklore) he soon starts to unravel old manuscripts and finds there's more to vampires than just old wives tales. With the help of some new friends he has no choice but to tackle them head on. Kiss of the Butterfly” weaves together intricate threads from the 15th, 18th and 20th centuries to create a most wonderful story that I for one cant wait for it to continue. A must for any Vampire lovers collection. Congratulations James on a superb debut novel.

I seriously doubted this book - but I was persuaded to give it a go and it's very good. What's excellent is that the background and historical vampire folklore bits are accurate - written clearly by a guy who has a serious academic background in the region and the folklore, excellent detail action, mystery a bit of romance unlikely heros all the ingredients of a good thriller. I am seriously sceptical of ne authors and the rubbish that appears in bookshops but I would compare this favourably with any of the current best seller thrillers being churned out. My view not the best book I ever read but you will enjoy it and it's worth the money.

Vampire fiction has been done and done. But this one REALLY does it!The story has elements of a Bildungsroman as we watch Steven Roberts develop from promising student to intrepid adventurer, questioning his heart, soul, beliefs, and understanding along the way. Lyon makes the characters come alive, allowing us to feel for the most nefarious of creatures - even as they scare us to death.In the background, the historical detail is wonderfully meticulous but not overpowering, making the reader feel that he is really part of the action, no matter when or where it takes place.Strongly recommended!

If there are just a couple of books I have read this year which are worthy of remembering for some time to come, then this is surely one of them! Whether your interest is in the historical and not so distant discord in The Balkans, together with all its attendant atrocities and worldwide moral condemnations, or if it is simply the desire to read an excellent vampire story, unique, intelligently written and certain to keep you on the edge of your seat, then `Kiss Of The Butterfly' surely won't disappoint.The book has been so thoroughly and expertly researched, both for its accuracy in the region's complicated historical detail, together with its excellent and redefining portrayal of vampires based on factual folklore, that we are left with a cleverly crafted, richly detailed storyline, which has been mastefully written with total authority and maturity by its author, commanding almost unanimous respect and praise from readers and reviewers everywhere.The seamless blending of fact and fiction, gives this story a unique and original insight into the mythology surrounding the origins and development of vampire folklore, whilst ensuring the reader is kept grounded and focused by the historical connections and influences, which are introduced within the individual chapters as a series of flashbacks and only serve to add to the intrigue, terror and suspense.The action packed storyline is fast moving, suspenseful, constantly changing and a well balanced mix of character and plot driven events. The many twists and turns in the story left me exhilarated and sometimes trying to think way ahead to the possible outcome of a particular event, only to be brought up sharply when James threw an alternative scenario into the mix, which I wasn't expecting or anticipating, thus changing the whole emphasis of the story.The characters are complex, well drawn and defined and above all, totally believeable .. even those who are not quite who, or sometimes even what, they appear to be! It takes Steven, the main protagonist in the story, some time to work out, that he is being duped and used by those he comes to think of as friends, when friend and foe become almost as one and indistinguishable, until revealing their true identity is either desirable, or indeed unavoidable!Corruption and everything not being as it might at first appear, is a theme which runs strongly throughout the plot and indeed throughout the many centuries this storyline spans. From the historical notion that `The Dragon Order' was formed to take on Satan, only to have Satan take upon themselves the name of their adversary, in order to steal its power and turn it against them ... To the concept that the serpent is associated with both good and evil, a symbol of both God and The Devil ... Right through to the almost unbelieveable concept that in folklore, if a butterfly or moth enters a home in the evening it means that someone will die at the hands of a vampire; whilst conversely and once again in folklore, upon death the human spirit will leave the body in the form of a butterfly...A historic evil of epic proportions, unleashed into an unsuspecting world, turning friends into enemies, dividing families, challenging beliefs and claiming innocent victims ... A military regime inflicting the worst kind of pain and horror, or shapeshifters and lycanthropes coming together in one of the most sinister and terrifying vampire stories written to date.Apart from making me see the ethereal beauty of a butterfly in a whole new light, New Year's Eve and Good Friday, will never be quite the same again! I am running the risk that I am going to give away too much of the stroyline here, so it's probably best that I stop now.There are just so many strong and emotional words and phrases which leapt off the pages of this book, that I could have gone on quoting them forever. It is best that you just grab yourself a copy at the earliest opportunity and immerse yourself in the `Kiss Of the Butterfly'!This is the stuff real nightmares are made of!! ... and remember:-Butterflies make almost no noise, even when flying in groups....James Lyon, has provided me with a copy of `Kiss Of The Butterfly', in exchange for me reading and sharing my thoughts. The fact that my copy was gifted, has not influenced, nor in any way will influence in the future, any comments I may express about the book, in any posts I may publish. Any thoughts or comments are my own personal opinion and I am in no way being monetarily compensated for this, or any other article....I personally do not agree with `rating' a book, as the overall experience is all a matter of personal taste, which varies from reader to reader. However some review sites do demand a rating value, so when this review is posted to such a site, it will attract a 5 out of 5....

Usually, most self published books I find in Amazon... Are not very good. This one, however, is fantastic, entertaining, and written by someone who clearly knows a lot of mythology, contemporary European history and sociopolitical issues.The only problem it has is that it's a bit short, and you end up wanting more of the characters.Definitely recommend it, and will read it again in a couple of years to experience it again.

At first glance it seems a crazy idea to combine a vampire story with the wars at the end of Yugoslavia, but it works surprisingly well and kept me pretty glued to the book. The book is nicely written, flows well and has a lot of suspense. One also picks up interesting bits and pieces about vampires in South-Slavic folklore and the 1990s wars, thanks to James Lyon's profound knowledge of the region and its recent history. I hope there will be a second book - we have not even met the vampire leader Vlad Tepes and most of his gang are still around!

This is a great story that brings vampire legend back to its folk tale roots and abandons much of the Bram Stoker creation. Great Read.

I put off reading this book because vampires are usually boring to me with their glam, glitter and romance. Wow, was I in for a wonderful surprise. James Lyon's vampires are real. In Kiss of the Butterfly the modern day vampire mythos is completely shattered and restructured as a truth, backed by historical fact. Now that is frightening.Entombed for centuries, released to seek revenge..The story is set in war ravaged Yugoslavia as society is collapsing. Young Steven Roberts has been sent there to study Balkan ethnography which unwittingly leads him to vampire folklore. What he discovers and experiences will shock you and rock your beliefs not only in vampires but in world politics. Lyon has taken vampires, shown us their place in history, woven a remarkable story that will not only scare you but awaken you to some hard cold truths. Steven's professor Marko Slatina, who arranged for Steven to study in Yugoslavia has a deep, dark secret too. One that will wrench the reader with compassion. As most good horror stories are, this is a challenge between good and evil but you will see there is not always a fine line of distinction and difficult choices have to be made.There is so much about this book I liked. Lyon weaves the historical vampire legend with the modern tale. Starting with the horrible atrocities committed by Vlad Dracul (The Prince of Wallachia) in 1476. He does this without ever losing the reader. Lyon's attention to detail is meticulous, Steven's experience in Yugoslavia is so dark, you can feel his discomfort with the ever present cigarette smoke and the collapsing society and police state. There are some very real frightening parts of the story. None of the factual stuff takes away from that at all. At one point I had to wait until morning to finish reading a chapter, I was too spooked to continue reading in the dark while I was alone.The title of the book is a surprise too, you will want to find out about the `kiss of the butterfly'. I won't give it away but I will say my heart and spirit stirred.If you love vampires, if you don't care a thing about vampires, you should still find this a good read. It is not devoid of romance either if you prefer romantic vampires. This book is just good horror, I give it 5 stars.

An excellent read even if evocative in a number of ways of Seth Gramhame-Smith's ABRAHAM LINCOLN VAMPIRE HUNTER. In that work a young Lincoln discovers the hidden world and agenda of Vampires as Southern slave owners complicit in the succession of southern states from the Union and creation of the Confederacy. In Lyon's novel a young Mormon "priest" finds vampires using the breakup of Yugoslavia as cover for their lust for blood. In both cases the author's try, mostly successfully, to convince the reader of the plausibility of the story.Commendable for its historic perspective but also clearly displaying the prejudices of the author's years in the Balkans. Regardless, Dr. Lyons encapsulates in one sentence his understanding of the essence of the problem facing Yugoslavia in 1990 to whit "the communists unleashed the primitive instincts that had been kept at bay for centuries." Not exactly correct. Readers with a more careful understanding of Yugoslavia's communist history ( including those leading Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia in 1990) would have recognized that the Yugoslavia's Communists first "unleashed primitive instincts" a generation earlier in the bloody purges, massacres and executions of tens of thousands of Yugoslavia's citizens, Croats, Serbs and Slovenes after they came to power in 1945-1946. Lyons is right that it was communists but wrong as to the time line.I'll be recommending this book for its remarkable historical record of "vampires" in the Balkans and its excellent and exciting story line. If Dr. Lyons isn't working on a movie script version- he should be.