Heartsick is the first thriller from Chelsea Cain. It takes place in Portland, Oregon, one of my favourite places, so I'm already in. She used to work at a local newspaper and since publishing Heartsick, she's had several sequels, won major awards, been on the NYT bestsellers list, and Heartsick was optioned for a movie. All the hype and I was not disappointed.
She has created a great flawed hero, detective Archie Sheridan who left the force after working on a serial killer case. He was very involved and ended up being trapped and tortured by the creepy sociopathic killer Gretchen Lowell. By the way, when I mention torture, I mean, squirm in your seat, hold the book away from you, do I really want to read this, sick torture. I've read a lot but this was at the limit of disgusting, especially as you envisage the novel your mind goes right there - maybe not strapped to the table, but standing beside them watching which is almost as bad. Think The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, but instead of bursts of explosive violence, there is just Gretchen and you, strapped to a table in a white basement, doing medical torture with an X-acto knife. Oh, and rotting bodies on the floor.
But the thing is, it's a terrific thriller! By this time, I was so into the story and the characters, I had to read all the disgusting bits as well.
Archie lives through it and is on the trail of a new serial killer in Portland. He has the help of a young newspaper reporter, Susan Ward. She is a quirky pink haired rebel type, who has lots of tricks up her sleeve to help him as well as expose the true story of this case, and his involvement with Gretchen.
Gretchen has been kept alive in prison, slowly feeding the police details about her killing spree, slowly giving names of victims and where they can be found. It's a long list.
And every Sunday Archie visits her for the information, and...
After she was caught, Archie returned a broken man to a broken home. Like the Stockholm Syndrome, Gretchen is his closest relationship and he can't severe the tie. It's a new twist for a thriller, weird and fascinating. It starts off with a bang and keeps going, alternating between what happened when Archie was strapped to the table and current day with his police team.
Great set up, and well written. I liked all the characters, they all had a back story and if the novel veered off and followed any one of them, it would still be interesting. I thought I could guess where the plot was going, but couldn't see how she could work it in ~ the twist caught me by surprise! When I think back on it, there was just enough story to get you involved, nothing wasted, and lots of threads for you to speculate on. Great characters that I hope continue into the other books.
After the review I made of the boring Don't Look Twice, I was happily surprised by a terrific thriller. One of the best I've read in a long while.
If you are into thrillers, and haven't read Heartsick, I highly recommend it!
2007 / Hardcover / 336 pages
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