The first instalment in the best-selling original Dutch thriller The Heartland Trilogy - think Stieg Larsson's Millennium series \\\* A hit-and-run on a woodland road near Amsterdam involving an Afghan boy is connected to a powerful international crime syndicate. Journalist Farah Hafez, together with her colleague Paul Chapelle, gets caught up in an investigation that takes them all the way to Moscow and has greater political and personal ramifications than they bargained for. After this perilous journey, their lives will never be the same again. Butterfly on the Storm, the first instalment of The Heartland Trilogy, is not only a fast-paced thriller, but also an intriguing tale of lost loves and ideals.

Farah Hafez raised her head and stared into the camcorder's reflective black hole. 'Now say what I want you to say. And do it convincingly. You can save this girl's life.' That's when the words came. Unexpected and forceful. Like vomit. 'I, Farah Hafez, support the jihad against President Potanin's criminal regime.' He smiled coldly and pulled the trigger anyway. ——————————————- After investigating what appeared to be a simple hit-and-run, journalist Farah Hafez became caught up in a web of crime and corruption that led to her kidnap. Detained in Russia, she was forced to pledge her allegiance to a terrorist group on camera. Now sought by international security and members of the criminal class alike, Farah flees to Jakarta to continue her investigation while her friends and allies attempt to clear her name from across the globe. If Farah is ever going to regain her freedom, she needs to discover the root of the evil that bought her here. The problem is that discovering this might cost her the only she has left - her life.

Meer dan dertig jaar geleden ontvluchtte Farah Hafez haar vaderland, nadat haar vader tijdens een coup werd vermoord. Nu keert de onderzoeksjournalist terug naar Afghanistan en begint ze een gevaarlijke zoektocht naar een crimineel netwerk waarin jongens worden verhandeld. En dan stuit ze op een geheim dat haar leven voorgoed zal veranderen…