Heartsick
Books | Fiction / Thrillers / Suspense
3.7
(194)
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, but instead of killing him, she mysteriously decided to let him go. She turned herself in, and now Gretchen has been locked away for the rest of her life, while Archie is in a 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. Archie's a different person, his estranged wife says, and he knows she's right. He continues to visit Gretchen in prison once a week, saying that only he can get her to confess as to the whereabouts of more of her victims, but even he knows the truth---he can't stay away.When another killer begins snatching teenage girls off the streets of Portland, Archie has to pull himself together enough to lead the new task force investigating the murders. A hungry young newspaper reporter, Susan Ward, begins profiling Archie and the investigation, which sparks a deadly game between Archie, Susan, the new killer, and even Gretchen. They need to catch a killer, and maybe somehow then Archie can free himself from Gretchen, once and for all. Either way, Heartsick makes for one of the most extraordinary suspense debuts in recent memory.
AD
Buy now:
More Details:
Author
Chelsea Cain
Pages
336
Publisher
St. Martin's Publishing Group
Published Date
2007-09-04
ISBN
1429918535 9781429918534
Ratings
Google: 3
Community ReviewsSee all
"Absolutely amazing!! The imagery is so vivid and the relationship between Archie and Gretchen is both disturbing and alluring. This book delivers on every possible level!"
Ryan Fisher
""When he woke up? It took us a long time to convince him that he was out of that basement.” She paused. "Sometimes I wonder if we ever did."<br/>3.5⭐️<br/>I have mixed feelings about this one. I really enjoyed the premise and the characters. The idea of a female serial killer, a tortured detective, and a naïve journalist all being interlocked was fascinating from the start. Finding out what happened between Gretchen and Archie those 10 days, the banter between Susan and Archie, and watching current day parallel the past were all my favorite aspects. In fact, the side humor between the characters helped balance out some of the brutal and horrific natural of the overall story. My issues were towards the end of the book. I thought the current day killer paled considerably in comparison to the past storyline with Gretchen, to the point where it was almost unsatisfying in its simplicity. I also didn’t love the direction Gretchen and Archie’s dynamic started to become as it felt romanticized which was unnecessary for a bond that is already rooted in a disturbing and complex nature. Overall, this was a very dark book that felt similar to an episode of Criminal Minds. I am throughly surprised that despite its age, I still relatively enjoyed the story and was hooked throughout. I haven’t decided if I’ll continue on in the series yet."
C Z
Cailin Zoltak
"I read about 20% of this book and just couldn't get into it. I felt like it was put together without much critical thought, it was written in such plain speech. I loved the concept – three stories of heartache involving three different situations. I even loved the normalcy of 2/3 of them. If the writing was more compelling, I would have gotten through even the low points of the narratives, but I just felt it was dry and straightforward and a lot like reading someone's blog. I DNF<br/>Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free eARC."
kelsey
