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Heartsick Archie Sheridan Gretchen Lowell Chelsea Cain Books

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Heartsick Archie Sheridan Gretchen Lowell Chelsea Cain Books

Archie Sheridan & Gretchen Lowell are by far my most favourite serial killer, Detective duo and since reading all of the books in this series I have never found any that shine so bright. I was so excited when a book flashed up from Chelsea Cain for pre order that I felt like a kid at Christmas but I so was disappointed it wasn't the continuation of their story but a whole other series.
I am pleading with Chelsea Cain to bring Archie and Gretchen back into our lives and hearts asap! Please :-)
As serial killers go, Gretchen is just brilliant and I cant help but admire some of her torture methods and even though I raced through all these books a few years ago now I still can see in my minds eye the trials and tribulations these two pull as through and they are just as sharp now as they were when I first read them. I own them on in book form as well as kindle versions and they will never be deleted from the kindle as they are books I can read and re read without every loosing the magic.
So Please Please Please Chelsea Cain - Bring back Archie and Gretchen.
One Kick: A Kick Lannigan Novel was good but not a patch on your previous books. I have had long and in depth discussions with my friends regarding this and our local Book Club so Im by far not alone in this wish!


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Heartsick Archie Sheridan Gretchen Lowell Chelsea Cain Books Reviews

As a book about serial killers, for me, it was very different from any others that I have read previously. There were quite a few differences and I would have to go into details to explain, which I will not do, for the sake of a potential reader. My advice is to read the book and see for yourself.

I will say that, in parts., the book is pretty graphic. With that being said, I felt that everything in the book was essential to make the impression on me that it did..

Thanks for reading this review. I am now hooked and on to the authors next book. My fingers are crossed hoping it will be as good as this one!
I don’t often read crime thrillers, but I’m aware of many of the tropes. And Cain pulls a lot of the standard ones out of the box for this story. However, while I found the serial killer plot line rather weak, I also got the feeling that Cain was simply using it to gradually build up the story of Gretchen and Archie, which is by far the most interesting aspect of the book. Gretchen is a sufficiently creepy and perceptive psychopath, made even creepier by the fact that she is a very pretty woman who seems more suited to beauty pageants than ruthlessly torturing and murdering people.

Basically, Cain takes a different approach to a well-worn story instead of a crack detective furiously hunting down his arch-serial-killer-nemesis, you have the repercussions of the end of that hunt — a broken detective, a world still filled with other evils, and a crazy killer who seems to have the ability to keep pulling stings even after she’s been caught. She frames the classic cop-killer relationship from an interesting and fresh (and creepy) perspective.

Despite the overall weakness of the crazy teacher plot, I get where Cain is coming from, and I appreciate her attempt to try something different. I think she just needs to work on the depth of the “killer of the week” plots while building up the beautifully frightening interactions between Gretchen and Archie. In other words, she needs to concentrate on making sure all her plots and sub-plots are the same quality. With Heartsick, I found myself quickly skimming through some of the crazy teacher guy chapters so I could back to the Archie-Gretchen parts — one plot was noticeably stronger than the other. Balance, Cain. Balance.

Other than that, I found the story pretty enjoyable. The characters are well-characterized. Her settings are adequately described. Her style isn’t anything to write home about, but the pacing works well for a semi-standard crime novel.
I am not into bloody, gory, serial killer novels, with the exception of Thomas Harris's Hannibal Lecter - a real favorite of mine, although I wouldn't want to have lunch with him! However, author Chelsea Cain has come up with a new take on the genre. Her psychopath is a woman, Gretchen Lowell, and an extremely beautiful, brilliant woman at that.

We don't hear about many female serial killers, and that may be partly because women aren't as prone to commit this type of crime as men. Criminologist, Eric Hickey, has assembled the most extensive database on demography of serial murder. He states that, "88% of serial killers are male, 85% are Caucasian, and the average age when they claim their first victim is usually around 28.5. Women account for 15% of violent offenders (men are 6 times more likely to commit violent crimes)." Gretchen Lowell makes Ted Bundy look like a pussycat!

Detective Archie Sheridan is a hero in Portland, Oregon. Sheridan headed the so-called "Beauty Killer Task Force," and solved the case two years before the novel begins. It was proved, in a court of law, that Gretchen Lowell was responsible for the deaths of 26 victims. She claims she has murdered over 200 people, brutally torturing each one first. She has no profile and is an equal opportunity killer - blacks, whites, Hispanics, young, old, men, women - it doesn't matter. However, she does not victimize children. She is called "The Beauty Killer," not because she is beautiful, but because when the medical examiner was asked to categorize the condition of the first of many corpses, he whistled and said, "It's a beauty!" Autopsies are usually boring, according to the ME - mostly drownings and suicides. He is positively "tickled" by Gretchen's original work. It is just a coincidence that she's a "looker."

Archie was the lead detective on the case. He was also Gretchen's last victim. The FBI profiler was sure the killer was a man, an opinion which almost cost Sheridan his life. Ms. Lowell, posing as a psychiatrist, (she was an operating room nurse, in actuality), insinuated herself into the task force by claiming that she gave up her practice to write a book about the killings. She is clever enough to have created a portfolio of credible information which could be backed up when investigated. She told members of the team that she read about the gruesome murders and believed she could be of help. The case had been hell for the detectives, and Lowell "believed" she could talk with them - not counsel - just talk to ease their anxiety. They had been working on the case for ten years and their lack of success was really getting to all of them - all the dead, mutilated bodies, all the grieving, traumatized families waiting for closure, all the dead ends.

One afternoon, two years before, Archie visited Lowell in her office. His supposed colleague gave him coffee with milk, sugar and drugs. When he awakened he was strapped to a gurney in a basement, outfitted like an operating room, with medical-looking machinery, and a drain on the cement floor. His captor cooed in his ear, "Whatever you think this is going to be like, it's going to be worse." Now, two years later, Archie remembers all too clearly what was done to him. His spleen was removed without the benefit of anesthetics, nails were hammered into his rib cage, he was given enough drugs, when he wasn't being physically tortured, to become addicted to an impressive cocktail of medication - uppers, downers, you name it. His tormentor doodled on his chest with a scalpel, including a drawing of her signature, a heart...need I go on??

However, Gretchen did something different with Archie than she had done with other victims. She allowed him to live for 10 days, although he longed for death. She only gave her other victims 3 days before she mercifully killed them. When Archie began to die, she called 911, reported the situation and asked for immediate medical attention. Then she turned herself in to the police.

Archie lives, but after an extensive stay in the hospital, he is placed on long-term medical leave. He is too damaged psychologically to maintain his marriage to his childhood sweetheart, although he loves her and adores their two sons. The couple finally decide to separate. However the worst after effect of his kidnapping and torture is his compulsion to visit Gretchen Lowell in jail every Sunday. His excuse for these weekly visits is that she occasionally divulges another victim's name and place of burial. Her only condition for these revelations is that Archie maintain these weekly visits - thus she continues to exert control over him. Worse still, he is drawn to her sexually. His problem is perhaps a version of the Stockholm Syndrome, "a psychological response sometimes seen in abducted hostages, in which the hostage shows signs of loyalty to the hostage-taker, regardless of the danger or risk in which they have been placed."

I haven't included any spoilers, as this background information is divulged at the beginning of the novel. The plot of "Heartsick" involves a series of murders occurring in Portland, Oregon. Someone is killing and raping teenage girls. Gretchen Lowell does have a role here also, although she is in prison. The police reconvene the "Beauty Killer" task force and Archie is asked to come out of "temporary" retirement to be lead detective on the case. Although he maintains a professional demeanor, he is dysfunctional. To look at him, to work with him, no one would know. He is careful to keep his condition a secret, and, in fact, coming back to work helps keep him sane. He shovels drugs down his throat as if they were candy - just enough medication to relieve his physical and emotional pain, but not enough to really damage his kidneys and liver.

Pink-haired Oregon Herald reporter Susan Ward is assigned to the case and is allowed complete access to the murders, crime scenes, and to Archie - she is to work alongside him. Her goal is not only to write a series of articles, but to write a book also. Why does Archie allow a reporter complete access to the case? Why did Gretchen allow him to live? You will have to read the novel to find out.

This is a "can't put it down" read. The author writes well, the narrative clips along at a good pace, and Ms. Cain's characters are quite compelling. She really brings them to life on the page. The storyline is told in a series of flashbacks, from the present to the time when Archie was a captive. This book gives the term "psychological thriller" a new meaning."

If you like thrillers, you will love this one. Even the gory details are not a real deterrent, given the exciting plot, the depth of the characters and what makes them tick. Highly recommended.
JANA
Archie Sheridan & Gretchen Lowell are by far my most favourite serial killer, Detective duo and since reading all of the books in this series I have never found any that shine so bright. I was so excited when a book flashed up from Chelsea Cain for pre order that I felt like a kid at Christmas but I so was disappointed it wasn't the continuation of their story but a whole other series.
I am pleading with Chelsea Cain to bring Archie and Gretchen back into our lives and hearts asap! Please -)
As serial killers go, Gretchen is just brilliant and I cant help but admire some of her torture methods and even though I raced through all these books a few years ago now I still can see in my minds eye the trials and tribulations these two pull as through and they are just as sharp now as they were when I first read them. I own them on in book form as well as kindle versions and they will never be deleted from the kindle as they are books I can read and re read without every loosing the magic.
So Please Please Please Chelsea Cain - Bring back Archie and Gretchen.
One Kick A Kick Lannigan Novel was good but not a patch on your previous books. I have had long and in depth discussions with my friends regarding this and our local Book Club so Im by far not alone in this wish!