Butterfly Lost

David Cole's Butterfly Lost is an interesting, very well-written, novel about how the main character, Laura Winslow, navigates the vagaries of where life on and off the 'Rez' meet. A half-Hopi cyber hacker, Winslow uses a combination of modern computer skills and knowledge of ancient traditions to track the disappearance of a Hopi teenage girl. David Cole's use of rich and authentic detail weaves an intricate web of deception and intrigue that is enhanced with each succeeding chapter. Butterfly Lost captures and holds the attention of the reader through the last page. I highly recommend the book to anyone who enjoys a good mystery of any stripe. It is an especially good find for those who like novels about the southwest and Native American culture. I look forward to reading David Cole's next book, The Killing Maze.

I have been a avid reader of mysteries for all of my life. I found Butterfly Lost to be very well written keeping my attention rivted from beginning to end. The plot lines are many requiring the reader to pay careful attention, but they are all thoroughly developed. The attention to detail is superb. Eagerly awaiting the next book from this author!

Through an array of characters and a painted portrait of reservation life in Northern Arizona, "Butterfly Lost" drips with the verisimilitude this reader thirsts for. Take every stereotypical portrayal of both a woman detective and life for the Native Americans of the Southwest and check them at the front cover, because they are not welcome within the pages of "Butterfly Lost." David Cole cuts right to the chase as we follow the introverted Laura Winslow through a week where her life is turned completely upside down.Cole's grasp of Hopi and Navajo culture add to the depth of this mystery. As a reader you are faced with trying to interpret Navajo and Hopi terms, only to realize about half way through the novel you are completely acclimated to the culture he presents. In the majority of literature today, besides the terrific work of one of Cole's inspirations-Sherman Alexie, we find that the Native American is still represented as either the Tonto stereotype or as the predictable drunk. Cole does not let the hundreds of years of cultural bigotry influence his writing. "Butterfly Lost" gives the reader life on the reservation as Cole sees it today. Life is not financially prosperous for the Navajo or Hopi, and the struggle to hold on to tradition while fighting to compete in turn of the century America is a major theme. Laura Winslow is a symbol of the struggle. Laura's goal is to live apart from her Native American past and prosper in the information age, while living on the outskirts of the reservation. The close proximity of Laura's home and work proves to be a subconscious decision to reconnect with her past. When given the opportunity to begin investigating the disappearance of young Hopi girls, there is no question that Laura Winslow will once again become Kauwanyauma. I really feel that Cole may be one of the freshest novelist out in years. The dialogue is quick and true. Cole does not wait for the reader as he fires through the unwinding of this mystery and we are forced to keep up. I recommend "Butterfly Lost" for a fast, but thoughtful read, which will leave the reader wanting more.

David Cole breaks with the mold in this fascinating first mystery. It includes a dark, unromantic, and completely unexpected view of the contemporary American Southwest. Where else could you find a central character who is a half-Hopi, Ritalin abusing, computer hacker, living on the run while battling the demons behind her own anxiety disorder. Laura inhabits social, psychological, and geographic borderlands, where the reader learns to appreciate and ponder the ambiguities of Native/non-Native identity, the ties and terrors of personal commitments, and the seedy backstreet life of the US/Mexican border region. The author manages to evoke complex worlds of sense and character with an economy of verbiage, and had me puzzling over the mystery and its personalities at odd moments during the day until I had finished it. Butterfly Lost is also an unusual mystery in that the pieces never all fit back together -- the bodies are not necessarily found and accounted for, there is unfinished business -- this feels disturbingly like reality, rather than a typical work of fiction. I am looking forward to his next book, while bracing for another wild ride.

Butterfly Lost is one of the best and most original mysteries I've read in a long time. I live in southern Arizona during the winter months but I knew little about the Hopi and Navajo reservations other than reading books by Tony Hillerman. But David Cole writes so well about many things. I gained new insight into the tribal land conflicts, resulting from the US government's decision to give Navajo property to Hopis, with families who owned land for generations forced to move away. Laura Winslow is a complex central character, haunted by her past and trying not to repeat it as she tries to regain some sense of her Hopi heritage. I'm impressed that a man can have his main character a believable, compelling woman. Cole has a main plot about missing Hopi girls, but he weaves many fascinating subplots and characters around the main story. Bounty-hunting and theft of sacred Indian artifacts are both talked about in Arizona, but Cole tells the dark sides of these problems. And Cole gets into aspects of computer hacking that are so believable I got new insight into how many people have access to my personal information. I completely enjoyed this book, and look forward to reading more about Laura Winslow.