Sweetheart
by Chelsea Cain
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Book Reviews of Sweetheart
Book Review: Very poor follow-up...
Summary: 2 Stars
I don't ever recall wanting the protagonist of a book I've read to die at the end, but that's exactly how I felt with the character of Archie Sheridan in this follow up to HEARTSICK. I found him to be utterly annoying, totally lacking in sympathy and quite frankly, a complete idiot. Anyone who has the kind of sexual obsession with a serial killer that Archie has with Gretchen Lowell (a completely off-the-charts lunatic) really doesn't deserve to stick around.
No many problems, so little time to mention them all. Let's just say there are far to many coincidences and stupid characters to make this book a satisfying thriller. One of my main complaints I can't even mention here, as it would give a way part of the ending.
I fear this is going to become a series of books that is going to go they way of Karin Slaughter's "Grant County" series (books I read only to see how progressively worse they get.) Will I read the next one? I'm not sure. I certainly won't purchase it.
Book Review: Hits and Misses
Summary: 3 Stars
Less a sequel, and more a continuation of where the last book left off, "Sweetheart" has some tense moments, but overall is a bit of a letdown. Much of the action from the first book has been replaced with much more analysis of Archie's tortured mind. Needless to say, it's not a pretty place, and doesn't even qualify as anti-hero stuff to me. He just seems self absorbed, (or Gretchen absorbed actually) at the expense of everything else. Frankly, I suppose that's the point, but then we're left with a not very likable protagonist, a serial killer who by the end shows her hand and loses a bit of her mojo. (Is everyone just looking for love in the end?) and a group of supporting players who we only care marginally about.- Except his poor beat upon wife. Cain is clearly creating her own Lecter like body of work, but like those books, hopefully she'll know when enough is enough and move on to other dark pastures.Book Review: Sophomore slump hits Cain hard.
Summary: 3 Stars
Cain's follow-up to Heartsick picks up almost exactly where its predecessor left off; unfortunately, Cain's talent hasn't progressed much either. Once again, Lowell and Archie's relationship is by far the most interesting aspect of the book, so why waste so much time with a secondary story that never grips and never becomes interesting? What's more, Lowell becomes more generically "serial-killer omnipotent" here. I liked the way Cain toyed with that in the first book by showing us some of her tricks, but here she's a little more brilliant and omniscient, and it's far less interesting. I still think there's a lot of promise in the series, but Cain needs to pare down the side stories and focus on Archie and Gretchen, and figure out what she wants to do. I still enjoyed this well enough, but it's pretty forgettable, and if I hadn't read Heartsick, I certainly wouldn't care too much.Book Review: A Sweetheart of a Follow-Up!
Summary: 4 Stars
Chelsea Cain has followed up her debut hit, "Heartsick" with a fine second effort in "Sweetheart".
Once again, we are thrown into a grisly murder case led by Archie Sheridan. Of course, his obsession with now detained female serial killler, Gretchen Lowell, remains at the 'heart' of the novel and he continues to call and visit her to not only reconnect (she was once his therapist) but also to gain her insight into his current case. The case he is working on quickly takes a back-seat as the action shifts to the escape from prison by Gretchen and the eventual reunion of herself and Archie.
Not as gripping as the first book - but a fast read full of good characters and a cop-killer relationship different from anything else in thriller literature. Of course, things end with a set-up for a third novel and I look forward to it!
Book Review: The past is the plot...?
Summary: 3 Stars
I purchased both "Heartsick" & "Sweetheart" at the same time. Heartsick (Cain's First Book in Series) grabbed my attention immediately - this one did not. You get to revisit stories from Heartsick that result in the plot for this book. All the characters are back to assist Archie Sheridan in a (not-so-new) murder plot. Without spoiling the ending - the FEMALE serial killer in this story is not enough to keep Sheridan (I-HATE-MY-LIFE because I was better off dead) interesting. We did get a little background into why Sheridan is SO attached to Lowell. Even though, she kidnapped him, tortured him and killed him However, unlike her other victims she revives him only so she can torture him some more. The past is the plot...you will understand once you read the book - and I do recommend you read it if you liked heartsick.