Heartsick: A Thriller (Archie Sheridan & Gretchen Lowell, #1)

by Chelsea Cain

Damaged Portland detective Archie Sheridan spent ten years tracking Gretchen Lowell, a beautiful serial killer, but in the end she was the one who caught him. Two years ago, Gretchen kidnapped Archie and tortured him for ten days, and then mysteriously decided to let him go. She turned herself in, and now Gretchen has been locked away, while Archie is in prison of another kind-- addicted to pain pills, unable to return to his old life, powerless to get those ten horrific days off his mind. He continues to visit Gretchen in prison once a week, saying that only he can get her to reveal the whereabouts of more of her victims.

• ISBN10: 1429918535
• ISBN13: 9781429918534
• Publish Date: 4 September 2007 (first published 3 August 2007)
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Minotaur Books
• Format: eBook
• Pages: 336
• Language: English

Reviews

[Amanda]

Original review: http://onabookbender.com/2012/10/15/review-heartsick-chelsea-cain

3.5

In a weird way, Archie reminds me of the J.P Beaumont of J.A. Jance’s series. Of course, J.P. marries a murderer rather than being kidnapped (and then released) by one, but the twisted feelings are there. Despite Archie being a central character, he is closed off to us readers, only letting us see certain things about himself–much like how he controls the information that Susan, a reporter writing a feature on him, receives.

Heartsick is set up so that we get snippets of Archie’s time with Gretchen before she released him tucked in between the current serial killer case. I found that even though we were getting the information, there was still a lot left unsaid or untouched. Either we were supposed to fill in blanks, or there will be more information in the next few books (I’m hoping for the latter, actually). Other than knowing Gretchen is one messed up person, we don’t truly know much about her. And she is fascinating enough to want to know why she is the way she is.

The current serial killer case doesn’t necessarily strike me as a “thriller”; the thriller is more in Archie and Gretchen’s relationship and how it affects the case. I was also intrigued in Susan–the reporter–and her story. Her role in Heartsick is…never quite what it seems on the surface. I believe she continues to play a part in future stories, so I think it will be interesting to see how that develops.

And I don’t quite think a review would be complete without mentioning the setting. In some ways, Portland plays its own role in this story, as vibrant (or dreary, as the case may be) as if we were there ourselves. Chelsea Cain brings Portland alive much the same way that Karin Slaughter does with Atlanta. You feel you’re there, and that is not something that many authors can achieve with real live cities.

Overall, Heartsick is an intriguing mystery that actually depends more on its characters than the mystery itself. I look forward to seeing what becomes of all our players–the game is far from over.

[Leah]

He thinks he sees a flash of emotion in her eyes. Sympathy? Then it’s gone. ‘Whatever you think this is going to be like,’ she whispers, ‘it’s going to be worse.’ When beautiful serial killer Gretchen Lowell captured her last victim – the man in charge of hunting her down – she quickly established who was really in control of the investigation. So why, after ten days of horrifying physical and mental torture, did she release Detective Archie Sheridan from the brink of death and hand herself in? Two years on, Archie now returns to lead the search for a new killer, whose recent attacks on teenage girls have left the city of Portland reeling. Shadowed by vulnerable young reporter Susan Ward, Archie knows that only one person can help him climb into the mind of this psychopath. But can Archie finally manage to confront the demons of his past without being consumed by them?

Heartsick by Chelsea Cain is probably not a book for the fainthearted. I'm a more casual crime reader, so my crime experiences prior to reading Heartsick is limited to Tess Gerritsen, Harlan Coben an Jilliane Hoffman. Compared to Chelsea Cain, they're all rather tame it has got to be said because Heartsick is one of the most twisted but absorbing books I've ever read. The book is actually like two books in one. You have the modern day story, of a person who's killing brunette teenage girls, and then you have the back story, the story that I was most interested in. The story of how Gretchen Lowell kidnapped and tortured the man who was looking for her, Detective Archie Sheridan. I found the present day story to be tame, and I definitely didn't think it was the main attraction, it was rather murder-by-numbers if you will, but Gretchen and Archie's story is sublime.

I have never been more creeped out about a cast of characters than I have whilst reading Heartsick. My fascination with them all was borderline creepy as well, frankly. I'm not ashamed to say that I loved Gretchen Lowell, as far as serial killers go she's one of the most compelling serial killers I've ever read about. There's no doubt about it that she's a total and utter psychopath, but there's something so utterly right about her that just made me like her. I don't know how to explain it, I don't even understand how I could like her, but she's so alluring. Like I said, creepy. Right? No crime novels I've ever read have ever been more honest about the serial killer and I'm not ashamed to admit that I loved the way Gretchen manipulated people, it was riveting. I thought Archie Sheridan was equally as appealing. Since his ordeal he's become a pill-popper and I could, quite happily, have read 300 pages of Archie and Gretchen sat at a table. That is how explosive their chemistry is. It's freaky bad. I could see it all clearly and I have no idea why it hasn't been made into a movie. It would make an awesome movie. I didn't much like Susan Ward. Most of the time, I thought she was still a teenager, what with her pink hair and her rubbish attitude, until I remembered she was sleeping with her boss and was indeed an adult. I never really felt that I liked her at all, I just thought she was an annoying reporter.

I seriously enjoyed the book, and I can see why Chelsea Cain has written three more novels featuring Archie, Susan and Gretchen, because they make a pretty great screwed up trio. That last scene, at the jail, with Archie and Gretchen was one of the most mind-boggling things ever. Honestly, Cain is a genuine the way she's managed to entrap me with the novel. How despite being totally creeped out by Archie and Gretchen's closeness, I can understand it and in a weird way, enjoy it. I think to totally understand why I like a serial killer you have to meet Gretchen yourself. I'm not strange, Gretchen is just written in such a way that you can't help but be drawn in by her. I found the book hard to put down, because it was so compelling despite the lackluster modern day plot. Believe me, the back story and the time Archie spends with Gretchen in that house is storytelling of the highest order that you'll forgive the other storyline. I can't wait to read the next novel. And the next. And the next. It's a heck of a series, and I'm saying that having only read one book.

[empressbrooke]

I've heard Heartsick billed as the next Silence of the Lambs, and I think that description is deceptive. Gretchen Lowell, the beautiful serial killer that Detective Archie Sheridan visits in prison every Sunday, isn't consulting on the current case he's working on. Gretchen kidnapped and tortured Archie when he was investigating the trail of bodies she was leaving. Now he visits her once a week as she slowly reveals locations of her victims, and also because he's mentally dependent on her in a sick, destructive way.

I wanted to give this book more than three stars, but the problem was that the plotline that revolved around Gretchen and Archie was far more interesting than the current-day serial killer mystery. With regards to the latter, there was no tension, no foreboding, no sense of urgency, and the pacing was all wrong. I spent almost 2/3 of the book dying for a scene where we get to see Archie actually visit Gretchen in prison. I thought it was a shame it came so late.

The resolution to the current-day mystery almost ended up being a total bust - without any spoilers, I thought that it was ridiculously coincidental and almost threw the book against the wall. It's redeemed in the end, luckily.

The synopsis for the sequel, [b:Sweetheart|3441591|Sweetheart|Chelsea Cain|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/4180LM3jFtL._SL75_.jpg|3014061], promises more of a focus on Gretchen, even if it does sound a little far-fetched.

[ibeforem]

Not only are female serial killers rare in real life, they’re also rare in fiction. Cain gives you a doozy of a killer in this book. I really thought this was incredible. Archie’s obsession with Gretchen, and vice versa, is compelling and addicting. Sometimes you find yourself so caught up with what happened in the past that you forget they’re chasing a new serial killer. At first I thought that Susan’s involvement was rather convenient, but it all makes sense in the end. This is supposed to be the first in a series, and I can’t wait to see what happens with Archie (and maybe Susan as well?)