Heartsick by Chelsea Cain

ISBN-13: 9780230015890
Publisher: Macmillan
Published: August 2007
320 pgs
Gretchen Lowell Series #1





Homicide detective Archie Sheridan is emotionally damaged after he was kidnapped and tortured by a beautiful, demented serial killer, Gretchen Lowell. Though Archie is saved by Gretchen in the end, no one knew why she decided to save his life and turn herself in thereafter. And as strange as this may sound, Archie could not get her out of his mind. Two years had passed and Archie is still relying much on painkillers to get on with his life (it is more of an addiction than a medication to him). He returns to the force after another serial killer began murdering young girls and he intends to nail whoever that person is, along with the same force he had been working with when they tracked Gretchen down.

Susan is a young spunky news reporter and she is asked to profile him as he works on the case. I find she is another interesting character besides Gretchen Lowell and Archie Sheridan. For starters, she has pink hair (which I think what made her stand out as compared to other fictional characters of the same profession that I read) and she has some issues which arises from her adolescent years (in which I do not wish to say more to avoid any spoilers). Nonetheless, she has a great attitude when work is concerned but it seems she has not much luck when it comes to relationships.

To add complexity to the story, it seems Gretchen, Archie and Susan have their own agendas in mind and they kind of made use of one another's vulnerability or profession to get what they want from the other (Note: Archie visits Gretchen every Sunday in prison so this explains the communications between them). The twist of the story comes when Susan's past catch up on her and Archie has to race against the time to catch the killer before Susan became the next victim. But what I find most intriguing is the captor-captive relationship between Gretchen and Archie; I could not understand what made Gretchen decided to spare Archie's life and why Archie developed a strange feeling towards her; I hate to think there are any romantic feelings between them so perhaps Stockholm syndrome is the answer here.

Speaking of relationship, I hope to see some sparks fly between Susan and Archie as I think they would make an interesting couple. As for the ending, it definitely makes me want to read more and I can foresee myself reading the next installment, Sweetheart, sooner than I expected (hopefully my reading mood will not waver then). To sum up everything, I enjoyed reading Heartsick and it is one of the best thrillers I read this year.

So have you read anything that feature a lady serial killer like Gretchen Lowell, or a female Hannibal Lecter for that matter? I am intrigued to read more about these characters so if you have came across any books that feature them, please share them with me.

Before I end this post, I want to thank Julia for introducing this exciting series to me! This is our buddy read so do visit her blog to check out her review too.

Other reviews:
avidbookreader
Fantasy Book Critic
Julia's Books Corner
Monkey Bear Reviews
Mysteries in Paradise
The Bookworm
The Dreamin' Demon
The Movieholic & Bibliophile's Blog
(I am sure there are a lot more reviews out there that I may have overlooked. Please let me know if I missed yours.)