Sweetheart
by Chelsea Cain
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Book Reviews of Sweetheart
Book Review: Review
Summary: 4 Stars
Sweetheart is Mrs. Cain's second novel to her debut, Heartsick. Heartsick is where readers were first introduced to the highly volatile and psychological relationship between Detective Archie Sheridan and notorious "Beauty Killer" Gretchen Lowell.
It has been a couple of years now, since the day Archie became one of Gretchen's victims. It will never matter how much time pass as Archie will always think about Gretchen.
Susan Ward, a reporter for the Herald has a big story about to make headlines. It involves Senator Castle and a fourteen year old babysitter. Before the story can release, Senator Castle ends up dead. As if that was bad enough, a body is discovered in the park...the same park where Gretchen's first victim was left.
Archie appears on the scene. He starts having flash backs to his time in captivity as Gretchen's victim. It has been two months since, Archie last paid a visit to Gretchen in prison. Archie receives a phone call, that Gretchen has escaped prison. Archie knows he is the only one that can bring Gretchen in again. It will be like old times as Archie chases after Gretchen.
I guess you could say I have become obsessed myself with Archie and Gretchen's relationship. It is so sick and wrong but oh so good. The way Gretchen toys with Archie is so entertaining, that I found I can't tear myself away, once I start reading. I think I even set a new record by reading this book in only an hour and a half. I do have to admit though that I did think Heartsick was a little better. It was because in the first book, the story mainly focused on Archie and Gretchen; whereas in this latest story there were more characters playing parts. For me it is all about Archie and Gretchen's relationship. I am anxiously awaiting the next book.
Book Review: Reaching the Tipping Point
Summary: 3 Stars
After reading her first novel, "Heartsick", I was pretty eager to read this follow-up. And again, we have a tense, gripping story of psychopathology as detective Archie Sheridan - aided by his friend Henry Sobol and reporter Susan Ward - try to track down the perpetrator of a series of murders in the Portland, Oregon area.
Archie seems to be on the road to recovery from his addictions to Gretchen Lowell, the Beauty Killer he captured some years ago, and prescription painkillers. He's moved back into his home with his wife and kids, and has stopped his weekly visits to Gretchen in prison.
But the current case endangers all the progress he's made, and threatens to destroy all he's achieved.
I enjoyed this book, but I have to say that I'm starting to lose my sympathy for Archie. Yeah, he made real strides forward as this novel begins, but the fact that he relapses so badly - and I'm not giving away anything that doesn't happen pretty early in the story - has brought me to the point where I'm starting to feel this guy needs someone to give him a swift kick in the butt.
It's very possible to have a continuing series centered on flawed characters; when done well, it makes for compelling reading. Dave Robicheaux's an alcoholic; Harry Bosch is riddled with melancholy; Bob Lee Swagger is trying to deal with the effects on his skills of advancing age.
But Archie Sheridan is absolutely WALLOWING in abject self-pity, and frankly, it's getting very hard to take. I personally have very little to no sympathy for that quality in people.
If this series is going to continue, Cain's going to have to find some way to resolve this and move the character forward.
Book Review: As twisted as relationships come.
Summary: 4 Stars
The "Heart" series has a lot going for it. There's plenty of police procedure, unsolved murders, piles of bodies, a healthy dose of gore and some damned good characters interacting with each other.
Chief amongst them we have Gretchen Lowell and Archie Sheridan. They might make for the oddest relationship in crime fiction since Clarice Starling and Hannibal Lecter. In fact, on second thought, they most certainly do. Archie can't live without three things: his work, his Vicodin and his torturer of mind and soul, Gretchen Lowell -- The extremely prolific serial killer with over 200 corpses in her wake. She's smart, well-educated in the medical field and extremely beautiful. She kills anyone -- women, children, the elderly, young -- it doesn't matter much to her.
But she didn't kill Archie. Instead, she turned herself in and left him with a nice collection of both physical and emotional scars. Ever since his capture, Archie can't do anything without thinking of her.
I won't give anything away but here in Sweetheart (the second book in the series), Archie's life is going down the tubes. He's still popping pills and his liver is paying the price. He is making an attempt at family life with his kids and ex-wife but Gretchen is around every corner in Archie's mind. He's stopped his weekly visits to her in prison and perhaps everything is starting to mend slowly.
Until she escapes from prison during a routine transit.
This was a really fun and fast read. And it has me drooling for the next book in the series. We get a nice glimpse into Gretchen this time around. And I liked what I saw. She shows some very human emotions and it makes you wonder what is coming next. Good stuff Chelsea.
Book Review: Disappointing
Summary: 3 Stars
Sweetheart was a difficult read for me. One of the important attributes of good fiction is that the story allows the reader to suspend reality and go along with the fictional world created by the author. While I was happy to live in Archie's and Gretchen's world during the first book, I did not want to be there during this story. There was a bit too much sadomasochism. Archie is physically and mentally tortured by Gretchen, Archie psychologically tortures his wife (and kids?) and Archie's partner tortures himself. If the author was a male I would think he was a misogynist. Since Ms Cain is a woman, is it misandry? No one seems to come off as sympathetic characters in this second book. It's time to kill off Gretchen and find Archie a new nemesis.
The medical errors in this book make me want to scream. Archie's liver failure is caused by acetaminophen (Tylenol) poisoning one of the active ingredients of Vycodan and not from the opioid in Vycodan. All the rehab in the world would not make his liver better after Tylenol poisoning. In my fictional world Archie would by treated with oxycodone so he would not receive Tylenol. Any physician treating Archie's pain would know this. In several scenes the author just rattles off some medical descriptions she pulled from a book or off the web and incorporates it into the story. It was painful for me to get through those passages. I was reaching for the pill box.
I do love the secondary characters in the book and the fact that I have taken the time out to critique this book indicates I am hoping that Chelsea's next book is better. Three stars is not bad and I am glad I read this sequel and I look forward to rejoining Archie and friend's world in the next book.
Book Review: A fun thrill
Summary: 5 Stars
Reading Sweetheart is like being on a thrill ride at the amusement park. It's something that is meant to be enjoyable at the time, but not something that gives you long-term insights into the meaning of life. And I think that's exactly what one gets out of Chelsea Cain's second book. Granted, it does not have the character or plot development of great literature. Nor is the prose even as well constructed as that of other authors in the same genre, like Tana French (In the Woods). Yet, I don't think Cain is trying to write that type of book. She is aiming to write a fun thriller, and that's what you get with this book.
She wants you to not be able to put the book down, and it is hard to do so. Her paragraphs are relatively short, as is the book overall, something which actually helps one blow through the novel in a day or so. And that's fun.
She continues with the same set of characters as appeared in her first book. I like this because although her books are rather short, repeat appearances allow for some character development. The main characters are not fleshed out like those in a work of classic literature, but for the genre they are not too simplistic either. Archie Sheridan is a good character BECAUSE of all the faults Cain has given him.
And I thought the general mystery to be solved in this second book was more satisfying than the one from Heartsick, her previous novel.
The only potential negative I see from this book, then, is that for a day or so of reading the hardcover price might be a little much when "calculated" that way.