Heartsick

I found this book for 5$ and was not expecting much but it was pretty darn good. I do not find it lives up to the hype of a lot of these reviews so if I read the reviews first, I think I would be disappointed.

I felt a lot of sympathy for Archie and found his character to be developed, likable and someone you felt you knew.

However, when it came to Gretchen, I was not shocked by her and I did not get what was so awful about her that would be worse than any other serial killer no matter if in fiction or real life.

I would have liked more on her killings, more on the killings that were currently happening and not so much just flashbacks of Archie and his time with Gretchen.

I will be ordering the second book in this series.

Book 1 in the Archie and Gretchen series

The story explores what make up a psychopath and the relationship between a serial killer and his/her victims. "Heart Sick" is a gruesome tale of torture and manipulation, a fiction depicting a twisted and creepy serial killer.

Detective Archie Sheridan (main character) has spent ten years on a task force hunting a beautiful serial killer named Gretchen Lowell. Gretchen eventually turned the table and the hunter became the hunted. She lured him into a trap, tortured him for several days and contrary to her M.O. she mysteriously sets him free, leaving him haunted in many ways by the experience for the rest of his life.

The story picks up two years later with Gretchen in prison and Archie recently off medical leave and returned to duty. Still on strong medication he quickly finds himself deeply involved in another case of multiple abductions and murders. Many teenage girls have mysteriously gone missing in the Oregon area.

During this period, Detective Archie Sheridan's experiences attract the attention of the press and Susan Ward, a young eccentric journalist, is assigned the task of writing his story. In her research, she tags along and records every move he makes but unknown to her, this action leads her straight into the serial killer's web…

The gruesome torture Archie endured at the hands of Gretchen is rehashed in flashback sequences and the gory details create a graphic and violent atmosphere at times. Archie, one of the main characters, is overshadowed by the strong characterisation of Gretchen, a beautiful serial killer. The story only comes alive when she appears and dims when she is off stage. It leaves the reader wondering if this is a suspense thriller or a twisted love story between a cop and a serial killer. Susan Ward the pink hair journalist is thrown into the mix to add a touch of colour and help tell the story. This novel is riddled with old clichés, very basic suspense and is rather unrealistic at times. This does not measure up to other thrillers I read this year.

Heartsick, Chelsea Cain's first book in the Archie Sheridan, series is simply addictive. It is both entrancing and horrifying, like a raging fire that you just cannot look away from. Gretchen Lowell, "the Beauty Killer" is by far one of the most complex and fascinating serial killers that fiction has ever seen. The numerous comparisons to Hannibal Lector are well deserved and right on the money. Heartsick starts this series off with a bang and it only keeps getting better. Just beware: this is one of those books (and series) that will keep you up reading into the wee hours of the morning. It is impossible to put down. If you love mystery and suspense, you cannot allow yourself to miss out on this amazing series!

In Heartsick, her debut suspense novel, Cain delivers what fans of this type of thriller expect - a lurid and suspenseful story with well-drawn characters, plenty of grisly surprises and tart dialogue.

Archie Sheridan is a police detective who spent ten years tracking the "Beauty Killer" serial killer before he was kidnapped and tortured for days by Gretchen Lowell, the beautiful serial killer he was chasing. Now Lowell is behind bars and Archie is a walking dead man, damaged by his time with her both physically and psychologically. When another serial killer starts grabbing teenaged girls and raping and strangling them, Archie is drawn out of his misery and back into police work to run the serial killer task force. But this time Archie has an additional agenda and he allows a young reporter, Susan Ward, to profile him during his manhunt.

Cain has created some memorable characters in Archie, Susan and Gretchen. Told in the third-person, the story mainly rotates between Susan and Archie with FBI profiler Anne Boyd picking up the leftover pieces. Archie is easily the most interesting, largely because Gretchen has done such a number on him. Plus, the flashback scenes that detail his captivity with Gretchen are some of the book's most compelling moments. Susan is no slouch herself though and proves to be a multilayered character. While she starts out as an opportunistic young journalist given the opportunity of a lifetime with the Archie Sheridan scoop, it's soon revealed that there is more to Susan than meets the eye.

Heartsick is quite compelling. There is lots of graphic violence, and Archie's time with Gretchen may make you squirm, but if you like your serial killer mysteries, this is a good example of the genre. I look forward to the next book, Sweetheart.

2010-120

Detective Archie Sheridan spent years tracking serial killer Gretchen Lowell, until she caught him and held him hostage and tortured him within an inch of his life. Now Archie is working on another task force tracking a serial killer who is murdering young girls and dealing with his obsession with the beautiful woman who tortured him.
A classic cop thriller, this novel didn't really offer me much by way of uniqueness and after having this book recommended to me by many, I was expecting much more. Archie is the stereotypical divorced, burned out, pill popping detective fighting old demons. The writing wasn't suspenseful and in fact it took me a while to get into the story.
Some of the tortures that Gretchen subjects Archie to is a little creepy and sickening, but better stories can be found on any episode of CSI.

Story **
Characters **
Readability ***
Overall Rating **

I really enjoyed the book although I don't think it lived up to its reviews, especially the ones comparing this novels serial killer (Gretchen Lowell) to Hannibal Lecter but it was still a very good read!

What I like about it is there's actually a female serial killer this time and she acts close to Hannibal Lecter with some minor differences. It sure is nice to see an evil female part though. It's a refreshing sight instead of having females always being portrayed as victims. The plot got better and better through each chapter and it just seemed as if the book went by really quickly - perhaps because I was just too engrossed in the book. You get two different stories here in this book. You have the current case Archie is on, then you also have chapters in between where they are flashbacks of Archie when he was being held captive by Gretchen. They were gruesome and rather hard to swallow but it added a lot of depth into Archie's character and explains to you why he is how he is. I thought that was pretty well done as it's a great way of explaining his character and his behavior. Gretchen made a wonderful villain. Manipulative, cunning, cruel, sadistic, all in one very attractive package it was perfectly done and even in prison she still continues to fiddle with her puppet strings.

It wasn't blatantly obvious who the culprit was behind the murders of the teenage girls, which was good, and it kept you guessing. What I liked was it wasn't until the last minute when you actually found out who it was and by that time it was cleverly done that you wish you could have seen it in the first place. There were a few twists and turns with the final twist happening between Gretchen and Archie. I thought that was great and it left me asking for more.

No doubt there will be sequels and I see this as a promising series. I'm left wanting to know what's going to happen in the next book. I'm definitely looking forward to reading it. The book however, did leave me with a lot of questions unanswered, particularly why Gretchen is what she is and how she came to be this way. It does drop hints here and there but nothing too specific or defined. Perhaps it's to build up the mystery behind her character.

I do warn, some parts in this book are not meant for the squeamish. However those with a like for police serial killer novels, with a cat and mouse game and lots of twists do take this book and give it a chance. You won't regret it.

Overall a great start to a series, and I'm looking forward to more.

It has been a long time since I read a book where I was actually so freaked out that the idea of having to get out of bed to turn off the light scared me. I had to squish the urge to wake up Ava, bring her into bed with us and turn on all the lights and pop in some Disney movie.

"With Gretchen Lowell, Chelsea Cain gives us the most compelling, most original serial killer since Hannibal Lecter." -Chuck Palahniuk

I have to agree 100% with Palahniuk. Lowell is easily one the most frightening serial killers. The whole book read as if it could be a biography. Lowell was a really vivid character and the scenes in which she was torturing Archie were just chilling. Everything about her, the way she plotted everything out, manipulated people and actions for her own gain. All of it was calculated and did in fact make Lowell right behind Hannibal in serial killers. Then you also have to consider that the serial killer that Archie is after isn't even Lowell yet she plays such a pivotol role. You have the flashbacks of when Lowell had captured Archie and then the post tidbits you get. How Archie visits her in prison every Sunday. All of it so dark and twisted it's past dark and twisty.

When I first started this book I thought perhaps there'd be some sort of relationship between Susan and Archie, but as the book went on I was so glad that Cain didn't go that route. Both characters are so shattered and unwell that placing them together would've been destructive and eroded them more. I liked that they were more friends and had moments together where you could tell that they cared about each other. But it never crossed the line and the story was better for it, in my opinion.

But what I loved most about this book was the ending. Chilling. I don't want to say too much but the way everything wrapped up was brilliant and I totally didn't see some of it coming. There were pieces which I guessed but I was still suckered punched.

Lastly, I couldn't write this review without mentioning how much I loved the acknowledgment Cain made towards her daughter. After thanking her for taking those extra long naps she add, "Eliza, you can't read this book until your twenty-one. I mean it."

This was the first Chelsea Cain book that I have read - she makes "Silence of the Lambs" seem like Mother Goose! Great read!

What prevents Chelsea Cain's debut novel, Heartsick, from being a run-of-the-mill psycho killer story? I mean, truthfully, it has all the ingredients: troubled, lead detective; smart-cookie reporter with a past, crazy killer who targets high school girls, red herrings.

Heartsick opens with a flashback. Detective Archie Sheridan has been tracking the 'Beauty Killer' for ten years and he has finally caught her; or rather, she's caught him. Held captive in her basement, Gretchen Lowell spends ten days torturing Archie in a variety of inventive and gruesome ways. Strangely enough, Archie and Gretchen form a bond and it is that relationship which separates Heartsick from other novels in the genre.

Instead of killing Archie at the end of ten torturous days, Gretchen saves him by bringing him back to life and then calling 911. Then she does something even more remarkable- she turns herself in. She agrees to spill the beans about all the murders she's committed over the years, but she'll only talk to Archie. Their twisted relationship permeates all other aspects of his life, including his relationship with his wife, Debbie, and their two children. It's also the most interesting thing about the book.

Archie is called back into service to lead a task force tracking a new serial killer. That part of the story treads familiar ground and is really only a framework for Cain to explore Gretchen and Archie's co-dependancy. Archie is a complicated character; he loves his wife and children despite the fact that he no longer lives with them, he's addicted to a variety of pain killers and sedatives, he's as smart as hell. Gretchen is beautiful and cunning and one of the most evil characters you're ever likely to meet. If you pick up Heartsick, do it because watching Gretchen and Archie navigate their twisted boundaries makes for riveting reading.

Archie Sheridan is a detective with the Portland PD. During his rookie year as a detective, eleven years ago, he'd joined the task force that had been set up to capture the serial killer known as The Beauty Killer. For years, they tried to capture the killer, who evaded them, until a beautiful woman came into the picture. She approached the task force, introduced herself as a psychologist, and baited Archie until she kidnapped him, and tortured him. She kills Archie, but, unlike her previous victims, she brought him back, dialed 9-1-1 and turned herself in. And yet, she's not done torturing Archie, and he knows it.

Two years later, divorced from his wife, refusing to see his kids and addicted to prescription drugs, Archie is asked to head a new task force for a new serial killer, one who kidnaps teenage girls, strangles them, rapes them, douses them with bleach and dumps them in the river. With barely any clues or leads, they are on the hunt for the After School Strangler.

Meanwhile, Susan Ward, feature writer for the Herald, is assigned to follow Archie and write a feature about him. Dogging his heels, Susan sees things most reporters wouldn't unless they were to stumble upon a body themselves. For Susan, the After School Strangler hits close to home, for, years before, she'd actually gone to one of the murdered teenagers.

And all the while, hunting for a new serial killer, Archie continues his visits with Gretchen in prison every Sunday. The reason? Supposedly because she will give up a body of one of her victims; name and location of burial, but it has to be Archie. Does he go simply for closer to her victims families, or is there something more? Will they catch the After School Strangler before the fourth victim is found dead?

Incredible novel! Throughout the book, we visit Archie's past, during the time when Gretchen tortures him. The torture is described as such that the reader feels it, and it's gut-wrenching! She not only does a number on his body, but fractures his mind as well. Gretchen is such the narcissistic psychopath that just listening to the way she talks gives you the shivers while your stomach jumps in revulsion. Archie is very much now a broken person in mind as well as body, for her marks may heal, but they scar, both ways.

Susan, the reporter, is as screwed up as Archie, in a totally different manner. Having lost her father at 15, she rebelled, and hasn't been the same since.

And while this new serial killer is nowhere as bad as Gretchen, the killer is just as screwed up in the head as she is.

There may not be much action in this novel except at the end, it's the mind games and past torture that really grip you. You continue reading, as fascinated as you are repulsed, and even though you close the book, thinking there's no way you can continue reading it, you'll pick it right back up, wondering what else Gretchen does to Archie, wondering who the new serial killer is. I sooooo can't wait to get my hands on Sweetheart, book #2 in the series.

This is not the usual book that I would pick up, but the cover was very simple and attractive that I had to read the inside flap.

Here is the synopsis from the publisher:
> "Portland detective Archie Sheridan spent years tracking Gretchen Lowell, a beautiful and brutal serial killer. In the end, she was the one who caught him...and tortured him...and then let him go. Why did Gretchen spare Archie's life and then turn herself in? This is the question that keeps him up all night--and the reason why he has visited Gretchen in prison every week since. Meanwhile, another series of murders is tearing up the Portland streets. Archie seems to be getting closer to solving this high-profile case...until he finds himself in a fatal collision course with the killer--one that inevitably leads him back to his former captor. Gretchen may be the only one who can help do justice. The only thing she can't do, this time, is save Archie's life."

I enjoyed how Cain wrote the character of Archie. He is severely unwell in mind and body, but somehow he manages to get the job done and adds a bit of sarcasm here and there. The dynamics between him and Susan are appealing and I hope that she plays up the relationship between them more in the next novel.
As well, I was intrigued by the 'relationship' between Archie and Gretchen. Even though she was the one who inflicted pain on him for a long period of time, he still goes to visit her in prision. It's as if she torture that she did on him created some invisible string that ties their lives together. Their fates are intertwined!
For some reason though, Gretchen reminded me of Irina Derevko from the TV series, "Alias". (Probably because she turned herself in and also helped the authorities with intel.)

There were some characters which I thought were not necessary to put in, as if they were just fillers for some chapters. I suspect that maybe if this becomes a series, there will a spin-off from characters introduced in this book (but that's just a guess).
Also, there were "flashbacks" from Archie's time in Gretchen's clutches, which were not "labelled" or stated at the beginning of the chapters, where each time I had to stop and reread because I'm like "where am I? Didn't I just read this part where he's tortured?" But I did enjoy reading these parts because the readers will get an idea of what Archie went through and how strong he is for continuing on with his life.

And YES, there may be some parts where you will cringe, but nothing too gruesome that will keep you up at night.

Enjoy!

: )