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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
A weird, messed up relationship between a female (!!) serial killer and the cop she kidnapped, tortured, and nearly killed (before she suddenly let him go and turned herself in).
There is a mystery going on- another killer on the loose killing girls- but the real story here is cop Archie Sheridan and serial killer Gretchen Lowell who is a sick psychopath. I absolutely loved this, and cannot wait to get my hands on #2. All the stars.
There is a mystery going on- another killer on the loose killing girls- but the real story here is cop Archie Sheridan and serial killer Gretchen Lowell who is a sick psychopath. I absolutely loved this, and cannot wait to get my hands on #2. All the stars.
Intensely graphic and not for the faint of heart, Heartsick deals with a present tense girl-grabbing serial killer while interspersing the horrific background of its investigation's lead detective. Cain doesn't pull punches, depicting grisly scenes of torture and violence. Her main characters, Archie and Susan, are interesting enough - balanced and fleshed out. However, Cain deals some in cliches when it comes to the main plotline. The ending isn't all that shocking if you'd been reading the rest closely. Recommended for fans (with strong stomachs) of suspense stories.
Ah, a nice and trashy serial killer novel. After reading basically ONLY these sorts of books throughout college when I wasn't reading my required English-major stuff, it feels like coming home.
Heartsick has some interesting characters and any book about a female serial killer can always grab my attention.
Detective Archie Sheridan is a seriously haunted man. He was held captive and tortured by female serial killer Gretchen Lowell. She murdered and then resuscitated him and now resides in a prison cell. After his experience, he is unable to be the loving family man he once was and is divorced, addicted to pain killers and is on a mission to provide closure to the families of the victims that Gretchen murdered. In order to do this he continues his bizarre relationship with Gretchen and visits her in jail every Sunday.
When teenagers beginning turning up dead, raped and bleached (in that order) Archie is put back into service. He is being followed around by a pink haired reporter named Susan who is writing an expose on the investigation and Archie's life. During the investigation bits of Archie's time spent in Gretchen's basement are revealed and she turns out to be as darkly disturbed as any of the males usually in her position of power.
This book held my attention because the flashbacks with Archie and Gretchen were captivating and the cast of characters were complex, not always likable and seriously flawed. The resolution to the current murders was a huge disappoint though. It all seemed too coincidental for me to buy into which keeps this book from being memorable for me.
Detective Archie Sheridan is a seriously haunted man. He was held captive and tortured by female serial killer Gretchen Lowell. She murdered and then resuscitated him and now resides in a prison cell. After his experience, he is unable to be the loving family man he once was and is divorced, addicted to pain killers and is on a mission to provide closure to the families of the victims that Gretchen murdered. In order to do this he continues his bizarre relationship with Gretchen and visits her in jail every Sunday.
When teenagers beginning turning up dead, raped and bleached (in that order) Archie is put back into service. He is being followed around by a pink haired reporter named Susan who is writing an expose on the investigation and Archie's life. During the investigation bits of Archie's time spent in Gretchen's basement are revealed and she turns out to be as darkly disturbed as any of the males usually in her position of power.
This book held my attention because the flashbacks with Archie and Gretchen were captivating and the cast of characters were complex, not always likable and seriously flawed. The resolution to the current murders was a huge disappoint though. It all seemed too coincidental for me to buy into which keeps this book from being memorable for me.
This was a re-read and I still love this book!
I love that there is a female serial killer, that the book starts where so many books end - after the rescue of the latest victim of the killer -, that we see how this all affected Archie (his PTSD, his addiction to Vicodin, his Stockholm Snydrom like thing that he has with Gretchen, his depression). I love the characters (Archie! Susan! Henry!), I love the case and how it twists and turns back to Gretchen.
One thing I don't like (which I don't think I realised when I read the book the first time) is that everybody is either so thin or so fat. As if there isn't a "normal" (however you define normal) sized person. It's always her thin arms wrapped around her thin legs or his fat arm touched her and so on and so on. Hmmmm.
I love that there is a female serial killer, that the book starts where so many books end - after the rescue of the latest victim of the killer -, that we see how this all affected Archie (his PTSD, his addiction to Vicodin, his Stockholm Snydrom like thing that he has with Gretchen, his depression). I love the characters (Archie! Susan! Henry!), I love the case and how it twists and turns back to Gretchen.
One thing I don't like (which I don't think I realised when I read the book the first time) is that everybody is either so thin or so fat. As if there isn't a "normal" (however you define normal) sized person. It's always her thin arms wrapped around her thin legs or his fat arm touched her and so on and so on. Hmmmm.
a new series to love. Thanks to Amy King for the recommendation. :)
I do love a murder mystery with flawed main characters. But flawed does not even scratch the surface. Imagine a gender-flipped Hannibal Lector read-alike with an intrepid reporter with serious self-destructive tendencies thrown into the mix. Everyone in this story needs intense therapy, and I love it.
There's so much to love in this book -- two fantastically flawed heroes in Archie and Susan and a twisted yet magnetic villain in Gretchen and the complex ties that bind them all to each other. An intriguing case, characters, and relationships ensure that I'll be starting the second book in this series immediately!
Grim and gruesome, serial killers & body parts, excruciating torture imagery, psychopaths, cops, victims and reporters - definitely a thriller-y thriller. I loved the story - the audio narration was meh. I'm going to grab another of Chelsea Cain's audio books if there's a different narrator.