Had some issues
While I enjoyed reading this book and the mystery kept me engaged, there were a few issues that I just couldn't wrap my mind around. First, the butterflies. According to the explanation that the were provided in the book, they are actually corpse moths, attracted to decaying flesh. Now, why would they be attracted to bones, with absolutely no flesh on them, since the bones are 20 years old? I understand that in the end these butterflies (well, a drawing of one) played a big role in solving this mystery, but it just seems a sloppy plot device (with a big hole in the middle). Second issue I had was concerning the very questionable parental decisions made by Tom. Clearly Jake is not able to handle the death of his mother (not a spoiler, since it happened long before our story and you find out about in the very beginning), and yet Tom is not making any attempts to get him grief therapy or to even research how he can help (being a writer and all, you'd think he is capable of doing research). Also, he lets pretty much a stranger to babysit Jake, someone who Tom personally knew was NOT known for making good decisions. I just wanted to scream and Tom and be like "DUDE, what the F*CK you were thinking?" Even at the end, after Jake ONCE again goes through a very traumatic experience, Tom is completely nonchalant about it and doesn't even think about how Jake will handle it. It seems like, according to Tom, reading a chapter of Tom's favorite book to Jake at night is all the help little Jake needs.