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Heartsick (Gretchen Lowell #1)

by Chelsea Cain

3.83 · rating details · 5,755 ratings · 1,017 reviews

Damaged Portland detective Archie Sheridan spent ten years tracking Gretchen Lowell, a beautiful serial killer, but in the end she was the one who caught him. Two years ago, Gretchen kidnapped Archie and tortured him for ten days, but instead of killing him, she mysteriously decided to let him go. She turned herself in, and now Gretchen has been locked away for the rest of...more

Hardcover, 326 pages

Published September 4th 2007 by St. Martin's Minotaur

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Oct 01, 2007

Karen rated it

Recommends it for: Fans of well-written thrillers.

Serial killer stories are a dime a dozen but Chelsea Cain's HeartSick is a cut above the rest (no pun intended). Not only is this novel a real page turner, but it's also very well-written with characters you believe in and sympathize with, even when they're doing things you suspect are definitely not in their best interests.

The book opens with Detective Archie Sheridan's moments-too-late realization that he's fallen into the clutches of a serial killer, the beautiful, sociopathic...moreSerial killer stories are a dime a dozen but Chelsea Cain's HeartSick is a cut above the rest (no pun intended). Not only is this novel a real page turner, but it's also very well-written with characters you believe in and sympathize with, even when they're doing things you suspect are definitely not in their best interests.

The book opens with Detective Archie Sheridan's moments-too-late realization that he's fallen into the clutches of a serial killer, the beautiful, sociopathic Gretchen Lowell who has tortured to death 199 people and plans to make Archie number 200. She drugs and imprisons Archie, then begins a brutal and flinch-worthy regimen of torture---and this is just in the first chapter. Archie knows he is probably going to die. He counts the days until he's either found alive by his task force, or finally murdered. Flash forward a few years (chapter two) and we discover that Archie did actually survive his ten-day ordeal at the hands of a psychopath---only after Gretchen called 9-1-1 and turned herself in. But did Archie really survive? His life in shambles and addicted to pain killers, Archie returns to detective work a very different man, breaking his work hiatus only because a new serial killer, one targeting sophomore girls, is on the loose in Portland. The chilling Gretchen Lowell sits behind bars in a maximum security prison, but every Sunday Archie goes to visit her and in a sick and symbiotic relationship, Gretchen reveals the location of more of the bodies she dumped years past while continuing to torture Archie mentally. As the current serial killer investigation team rushes to find the new murderer, Archie allows a young reporter, Susan Ward, to shadow him and write exclusives on the "hero cop" who has returned (addicted, as Susan soon learns) to the force. Susan has her own issues, Archie his, and the imprisoned Gretchen Lowell seems deadlier than ever as she manipulates the world from behind bars.

I was surpised at how absolutely satisfying this book was. I'd read and enjoyed Cain's first novel, a Nancy Drew parody for adults entitled Confessions of a Teen Sleuth which is just about as entirely different from HeartSick as one could possibly get, and I wasn't sure if I'd enjoy her second book. I did, I did, I did. And now I will be encouraging more people to go out and enjoy it too. I just looked up Chelsea Cain on amazon.com and there is an interview with her about HeartSick in which I learned that she has already written a second book in this series. Normally I'm not a series reader, but I will definitely be looking for Sweetheart when it becomes available.(less)

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Mar 04, 2010

Kemper rated it

Shelves: crime-mystery, serial-killers, thriller

Serial killer thrillers are a dime a dozen anymore, but this one added just enough of a twist to make it halfway interesting. It will also make you cringe slightly whenever you have to handle a bottle of drain cleaner for a while after reading.

The main mystery is pretty conventional with a quirky female reporter getting pulled into a police investigation. If that's all there was too it, then it wouldn't be worth reading.

However, the more interesting portion revolves arou...more

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Oct 31, 2007

Shea rated it

I’ve seen reviews of this novel ranging from calling it "the thriller of the year" to "not a very suspenseful read". For me, both seemed to paradoxically be true. At it’s core, it is a decent psychological thriller centering around Detective Archie Sheridan who was captured by a female serial killer, and is forced back onto the job two years afterwards to catch another serial killer. Cain does not follow a strict chronological sequence in her storytelling, and there are two m...moreI’ve seen reviews of this novel ranging from calling it "the thriller of the year" to "not a very suspenseful read". For me, both seemed to paradoxically be true. At it’s core, it is a decent psychological thriller centering around Detective Archie Sheridan who was captured by a female serial killer, and is forced back onto the job two years afterwards to catch another serial killer. Cain does not follow a strict chronological sequence in her storytelling, and there are two major stories at play here: 1) Sheridan’s experiences and thoughts while in captivity of a serial killer and 2) his struggle to find another serial killer two years later while operating in a majorly dysfunctional manner as a result of his torture and eventual release while in captivity. Cain intersperses scenes from the first story into the second (main) story throughout the novel, and she switches back and forth whenever Sheridan experiences a heightened level of stress or turmoil during his search for the current serial killer.

If that is not enough, Cain sets the story in Portland during the late winter/early spring time period. This is something that I’m sure was more than intentional as she not so subtly alters the weather to reflect what Sheridan is thinking and how is feeling during the investigation and his subsequent flashbacks. While it seems like this could be an all too obvious scene tactic, it actually does not backfire on Cain and works very well throughout the novel.

While the plot was certainly one of the more original ones I’ve seen in a while, I figured out the ending about two thirds of the way through it (i.e. who the killer was and how each main character fit into the "big picture"), but that could just be a product of my line of thinking and/or current studies. ;) I finished the novel in a hurry once I thought I had it figured out to see whether I was correct in my predictions hoping that I had been led astray and there was actually a big surprise in store for me at the end. There wasn’t, and while that did detract from my overall impressions of the story, I can still recognize the decent effort Cain made to prevent people like myself from accurately predicting the ending.(less)

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Jan 30, 2009

Brooke rated it

Shelves: 2009, thriller

I've heard Heartsick billed as the next Silence of the Lambs, and I think that description is deceptive. Gretchen Lowell, the beautiful serial killer that Detective Archie Sheridan visits in prison every Sunday, isn't consulting on the current case he's working on. Gretchen kidnapped and tortured Archie when he was investigating the trail of bodies she was leaving. Now he visits her once a week as she slowly reveals locations of her victims, and also because he's mentally dependent on her in a s...more

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Dec 05, 2008

Gina rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: own, mystery-detective, mystery, mystery-detective-journalism, suspense, thriller

A deadly nightmare you can only pray to wake up from…

Archie Sheridan is a detective with the Portland PD. During his rookie year as a detective, eleven years ago, he’d joined the task force that had been set up to capture the serial killer known as The Beauty Killer. For years, they tried to capture the killer, who evaded them, until a beautiful woman came into the picture. She approached the task force, introduced herself as a psychologist, and baited Archie until she kidnapped him,...moreA deadly nightmare you can only pray to wake up from…

Archie Sheridan is a detective with the Portland PD. During his rookie year as a detective, eleven years ago, he’d joined the task force that had been set up to capture the serial killer known as The Beauty Killer. For years, they tried to capture the killer, who evaded them, until a beautiful woman came into the picture. She approached the task force, introduced herself as a psychologist, and baited Archie until she kidnapped him, and tortured him. She kills Archie, but, unlike her previous victims, she brought him back, dialed 9-1-1 and turned herself in. And yet, she’s not done torturing Archie, and he knows it.

Two years later, divorced from his wife, refusing to see his kids and addicted to prescription drugs, Archie is asked to head a new task force for a new serial killer, one who kidnaps teenage girls, strangles them, rapes them, douses them with bleach and dumps them in the river. With barely any clues or leads, they are on the hunt for the After School Strangler.

Meanwhile, Susan Ward, feature writer for the Herald, is assigned to follow Archie and write a feature about him. Dogging his heels, Susan sees things most reporters wouldn’t unless they were to stumble upon a body themselves. For Susan, the After School Strangler hits close to home, for, years before, she’d actually gone to one of the murdered teenagers.

And all the while, hunting for a new serial killer, Archie continues his visits with Gretchen in prison every Sunday. The reason? Supposedly because she will give up a body of one of her victims; name and location of burial, but it has to be Archie. Does he go simply for closer to her victims families, or is there something more? Will they catch the After School Strangler before the fourth victim is found dead?

Incredible novel! Throughout the book, we visit Archie’s past, during the time when Gretchen tortures him. The torture is described as such that the reader feels it, and it’s gut-wrenching! She not only does a number on his body, but fractures his mind as well. Gretchen is such the narcissistic psychopath that just listening to the way she talks gives you the shivers while your stomach jumps in revulsion. Archie is very much now a broken person in mind as well as body, for her marks may heal, but they scar, both ways.

Susan, the reporter, is as screwed up as Archie, in a totally different manner. Having lost her father at 15, she rebelled, and hasn’t been the same since.

And while this new serial killer is nowhere as bad as Gretchen, the killer is just as screwed up in the head as she is.

There may not be much action in this novel except at the end, it’s the mind games and past torture that really grip you. You continue reading, as fascinated as you are repulsed, and even though you close the book, thinking there’s no way you can continue reading it, you’ll pick it right back up, wondering what else Gretchen does to Archie, wondering who the new serial killer is. I sooooo can’t wait to get my hands on Sweetheart, book #2 in the series.(less)

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Aug 16, 2008

Geoff rated it

When I started reading Chelsea Cain's Heartsick I didn't really expect to enjoy it. Cain isn't a fantastic writer, she gets very caught up in over describing her characters, her environment and everything in between. I'm in great agreement with Stephen King who wrote in his book "On Writing" that the building of a scene in a book is collaborative and that if an author describes every detail in that scene they take away from the reader and their role in the collaboration. Cain uses des...more

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Jul 27, 2008

Samantha rated it

I was worried about reading this book. It was being compared to Silence of the Lambs which I felt was fascinating book. I was worried that I would be disappointed, but I definitely wasn't. I can't believe that Chelsea Cain is a new author. The pacing and the interactions between characters aren't what you normally find with a new author. I love how she has intertwined the Stockholm syndrome with a serial killer investigation. In this book, the detective isn't seeking answers about the current se...more

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Apr 01, 2008

Kendra rated it

Consider yourself warned: it's rather gruesome.

Two years before the "present day" events of the book, Detective Archie Sheridan was captured, tortured, and released by Gretchen Lowell, a serial killer that he had been hunting for 10 years. After an extended sick leave, Archie is returning to work to head up a task force that has been assembled to capture another serial killer. The chapters alternate between events from two years earlier and the current search for the new...more

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Mar 02, 2009

Big Bertha rated it

· review of another edition

Recommended to Big Bertha by: oej

Gripping, gruesome, compelling - a fabulous read!

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Feb 08, 2012

Monique rated it

Shelves: disturbia-murder-and-nightmare-book

Should be asleep but just finished and wanted to get this down while it was fresh, but something tells me I will remember this book for a while..It is the story of a detective on a ten year manhunt for a calculating serial killer infamous for the victims's "beauty marks" or heart shaped scars inflicted by driving nails in their chest..while Detective Sheridan is hot on the trail of who he thinks is the killer he is surprised and drugged by Gretchen Lowell, the beautiful psycho actual k...moreShould be asleep but just finished and wanted to get this down while it was fresh, but something tells me I will remember this book for a while..It is the story of a detective on a ten year manhunt for a calculating serial killer infamous for the victims's "beauty marks" or heart shaped scars inflicted by driving nails in their chest..while Detective Sheridan is hot on the trail of who he thinks is the killer he is surprised and drugged by Gretchen Lowell, the beautiful psycho actual killer that is now intent on inflicting some kind of sick, intense control over him in life and death. For ten days Dt. Sheridan is tortured, killed and resusitated, drugged and basically driven insane by Gretchen when she decides to save his life and turn herself in..From prison she delivers the names and locations of more bodies she has accumulated while Dt. Sheridan falls into his own personal hell of isolation, pill dependency and a strange intense obsession to Gretchen that is more than sexual, psychological or even rational..He abandons his family and friends for her and the visitation scenes between the two are eerie and intriguing and I think more time should have been devoted there but I see its a Book One so we'll have to wait and see..Alternating in between the chilling ten day torture period and their weekly meetings there is another serial killer, the Afterschool Strangler that Dt. Sheridan is called on to assist in capturing although he is still mentally unwell from his own ordeal... Doped up on prescription meds and a well meaning honest desire to help people he follows another killer and this time has allowed himself to be followed by Susan, a spunky reporter with pink hair who unknowingly gets closer than she thinks to both serial killers and Dt. Sheridan, her past comes to haunt her and the ending was surprisingly suspenseful as you suspect the killer but are never really sure..I was impressed by this book after reading so much about it from other reviewers and definitely think I will read more, a gorgeous, smart female serial killer, very interesting, piqued my interest and if it would have been longer and alittle more fleshed out would have satisfied me....(less)

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May 25, 2010

Julie rated it

Shelves: own, fiction

Tormented detective Archie Sheridan is summoned to head up a task force to find a serial killer who is kidnapping teenage girls. But Archie is battling his own demons, including an addiction to painkillers, as he races the clock before another girl is taken and murdered. He is haunted by his own abduction and torture at the hands of serial killer Gretchen Lowell, who turned herself in to authorities upon releasing Archie. Many reviewers have compared Heartsick to Silence of the Lambs and the ...more

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Sep 12, 2008

Christa rated it

Shelves: library

Heartsick is a riveting thriller that is not for the faint of heart. The book has flashbacks describing brutality directed towards the hero that I found to be more graphic than what I usually read. The hero, Archie Sheridan, is a man who basically views his life as having ended two years earlier when he was held and tortured for ten days by a serial killer. He is now estranged from his family, addicted to pain killers, and completely focused on his Sunday visits to the murderer who held him ho...moreHeartsick is a riveting thriller that is not for the faint of heart. The book has flashbacks describing brutality directed towards the hero that I found to be more graphic than what I usually read. The hero, Archie Sheridan, is a man who basically views his life as having ended two years earlier when he was held and tortured for ten days by a serial killer. He is now estranged from his family, addicted to pain killers, and completely focused on his Sunday visits to the murderer who held him hostage. Even so, Archie Sheridan is a sympathetic character - a good man who cannot get beyond the horrors that he endured.

When several high school girls are found murdered, Archie Sheridan is placed back on active duty as lead investigator of the task force. Archie has been on leave from his job for the last two years. For ten years, he was part of a task force investigating a serial murder,but then Archie was captured and brutalized by the killer. For ten days, beautiful Gretchen Lowell committed atrocities against Archie, including hammering nails into his chest, carving his torso, and feeding him drain cleaner. Gretchen assured Archie that she was going to kill him, but when his heart stopped beating, she resuscitated him. When dangerous infection set in, Gretchen called an ambulance for Archie and turned herself in. Now in prison, this killer still controls Archie's life. He visits her weekly, and in return, she occasionally gives information on one of her victims. Due to his experiences with the press during the last investigation, Archie decides to let a young reporter, Susan Ward, trail him and write a feature series on his background. Archie must pull himself together so that the task force can work quickly to stop a dangerous serial killer.

This was a very interesting and sometimes disturbing book. The relationship between Archie and serial killer, Gretchen Lowell is very complicated and troubling. Archie's many issues are still unresolved at the end of the novel, and I am anxious to find out what will happen to him in the next novel, Sweetheart. (less)

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Jul 09, 2008

Crystal rated it

Recommends it for: Lovers of: Hard Boiled Mysteries/Thrillers, Serial Killer Novels, the Not-Easily Offended

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This book is reminiscent in so many ways of one of my favorite books of all time and perhaps the book that started my love affair with mysteries and thrillers, Silence of the Lambs. In Heartsick, we meet Archie Sheridan, a detective who, after being on medical leave for a couple of years, has just rejoined the police force to help catch a killer of teenage girls . We also meet Gretchen Lowell, the beautiful psychopath who caused Archie's disappearance from the police force - she's now incarcer...moreThis book is reminiscent in so many ways of one of my favorite books of all time and perhaps the book that started my love affair with mysteries and thrillers, Silence of the Lambs. In Heartsick, we meet Archie Sheridan, a detective who, after being on medical leave for a couple of years, has just rejoined the police force to help catch a killer of teenage girls . We also meet Gretchen Lowell, the beautiful psychopath who caused Archie's disappearance from the police force - she's now incarcerated for kidnapping him and torturing him for ten straight days, in addition to the 40+ murders she's confessed to.

Archie and Gretchen have a relationship much like that of Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Starling, except it is taken to an even stranger level. Gretchen tortured Archie and instead of killing him, called 911 and turned herself in. She now keeps an even tighter hold over Archie's life since he feels forced to visit her weekly in jail since he's the only one to whom she will reveal the hiding places of the bodies she has stashed over the years. Gretchen's hold over Archie seems to have taken a turn toward the romantic side it seems and has resulted in divorce and the devastation of his family.

Besides the relationship between Archie and Gretchen, there is indeed a mystery; someone is kidnapping sophomore girls with the same features and killing them. So as not to spoil the resolution of this mystery, I will only say that I did find the explanation of who was behind this and why a little far-fetched, and I did not think that this portion of the story was given the attention that it should have deserved.

Besides that, Heartsick is an exciting novel, but be warned, it is extremely graphic in its depiction of torture. It is a fascinating study of Stockholm Syndrome, possibly at its most extreme. For those who are easily offended or sickened by violence, you may not want to read Heartsick. However, I did not feel that the violence was gratuitous; I felt like it was tastefully done and the torture scenes were not dwelt on, just described as necessary so that we can understand the relationship between Archie and Gretchen. If you are able to get past this, Heartsick is certainly a page-turner and definitely worth a read.(less)

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Mar 28, 2008

Tarn Allen rated it

Edited to add: I finished this book about a month ago, and just had a very vivid nightmare about it! I guess it stuck with me. *shudder*

Wow, this book is soooo not my cup of tea. It's a bloody gory Silence of the Lambs-style crime story.

So why did I read it, you ask? Well, it was on sale, first of all. I'd seen Chelsea Cain speak at the Wordstock festival last November with Diana Abu-Jaber, and anyone who knows and associates with my literary heroine Diana is automatical...more

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Jun 16, 2011

S rated it

Recommends it for: thriller fans, fans of psychopathic serial killer books

Shelves: suspense-thriller, crime-fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I am withholding the fifth star from my rating for one reason: the ending was weak. There's a scene where you just *know* who the killer is even before the person is revealed as such. So from then on, the suspense was gone. And the killer's capture was a little too neat as well.

With that said, however, I still really enjoyed this book. The actual hunt for the serial killer took a back seat to what seemed to me to be the main theme in the book: the aftermath of Det. Archie Sherida...moreI am withholding the fifth star from my rating for one reason: the ending was weak. There's a scene where you just *know* who the killer is even before the person is revealed as such. So from then on, the suspense was gone. And the killer's capture was a little too neat as well.

With that said, however, I still really enjoyed this book. The actual hunt for the serial killer took a back seat to what seemed to me to be the main theme in the book: the aftermath of Det. Archie Sheridan's kidnapping and torture at the hands of Gretchen Lowell and his subsequent dependence on both her and prescription meds.

He's high on pills while at the same time leading the task force that's looking into the deaths of three sophomore girls. His life's in shambles - he's lost his wife and children (though not by their choice) and has a complex system of pill-popping that he's managed to make into a science.

He was the 200th victim of psychopathic, sadistic serial killer Gretchen Lowell, who's sitting in prison for infinity for her crimes. But she's still pulling Archie's strings from behind bars, meting out the locations of bodies in exchange for weekly visits from Archie.

The flashbacks (written in present tense) of Archie's torture that are scattered throughout the book are riveting. Gory, yes, but absolutely riveting. And I cared more about that whacked-out relationship than I did the hunt for the present-day serial killer.

I also could have done without, for the most part, the pink-haired writer (not journalist, mind you, but writer). Except, as it turns out, she's integral to the plot. Overall though, I found her to be the stereotypical tough-as-nails bitch whose insides are nothing but mush and whose internal damages manifest themselves in the obvious ways: pink hair, a quirky wardrobe, pot smoking, and multiple affairs with unattainable, married men. She even seems to fall (a little) for poor, damaged Archie.

Oh, and there's an obvious red herring where the supposed killer has been found, but guess what?, it's not the killer! Kind of obvious; I mean, there was still a good third of the book left. Duh!

Read this book for Archie & Gretchen and skim the rest.

More great things than bad; I liked it.(less)

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Oct 17, 2007

Pam rated it

10/17/07
TITLE/AUTHOR: HEARTSICK by Chelsea Cain
RATING: currently reading
GENRE/PUB DATE/# OF PGS: Thriller/2007/496 LP pgs
SERIES/STAND ALONE: stand-alone
TIME/PLACE: presne, Portland, OR
CHARACTERS: Archie Sheridan/detective
FIRST LINES: Archie doesn't know for sure that it's her until that moment. There is a dull bloom of warmth in his spine, his vision blurs, & then he knows that Gretchen Loewll is the killer.

COMMENTS: library book. Ser...more

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Mar 18, 2009

Janene Imgrund rated it

Shelves: thrillers

*yawn*

Forgive the bags under my eyes today. Couldn't turn off the light last night until I turned the last page, and then laid there for an hour with the blankets up to my chin...unable to go to sleep...thinking every creak and groan was Gretchen coming to carve a heart in my chest & force drain cleaner down my throat!

What a GREAT debut from Chelsea Cain!! Sick, horrifying, twisted, heart-wrenching, sad, & hopeful. Many parts very uncomfortable to read, but the story ...more

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Feb 22, 2010

Maggie rated it

Shelves: 2010, audiobooks, suspense-horror

I love that this debut author undertook writing a thriller that is character driven, rather than relying on the suspense and gore that usually characterize the genre. It was brave, and successful. She didn't skimp on the depravity, blood and guts; but they didn't overshadow her skill with creating very real players in a very twisted game. I can't wait to start the next one.

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May 10, 2009

Allison (The Allure of Books) rated it

Shelves: mysteries-thrillers-truecrime, 2009

This was good, pretty much what I expected. A fast paced crime novel. It was definitely the most twisted thing I can remember reading in recent history, I can barely even grasp what Archie must go through, being so involved with the woman who tortured him for 10 days.

Anyway...it was worth reading, and I'll have to read the next in the series soon.

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Mar 22, 2009

Karen rated it

The sequel to Sweetheart, this is even better. Please, Ms Cain, keep writing about the fabulous Gretchen!

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Jan 05, 2012

Kieran Delaney rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: serial, killer, fiction, thriller

I'll admit I was a little apprehensive before I read this book. Whilst I liked Silence Of The Lambs, I couldn't really see the serial killer inside, serial killer outside dynamic being fresh or original... but i was utterly wrong. </p>

I'll go out on a limb and suggest this book is better than silence of the lambs - the sexual chemistry between Gretchen Lowell (the killer inside) and Archie (her surviving victim) twists things nicely, and their relationship is carefully built through a seri

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Dec 29, 2011

Hoover Public Library Adult Fiction rated it

Shelves: crime-fiction, mystery, thriller

Heartsick is the debut novel, and first of Chelsea Cain’s ongoing series starring emotionally—as well as physically—damaged detective Archie Sheridan. Much praise has been lauded on Ms. Cain’s novel for its scene-stealing antagonist Gretchen Lowell—a femme fatale and serial killer mastermind all wrapped into one. Gretchen’s character has received many comparisons with Thomas Harris’s own serial killer creation, the indomitable Hannibal Lector. Really, this is an unfair comparison, because with G...moreHeartsick is the debut novel, and first of Chelsea Cain’s ongoing series starring emotionally—as well as physically—damaged detective Archie Sheridan. Much praise has been lauded on Ms. Cain’s novel for its scene-stealing antagonist Gretchen Lowell—a femme fatale and serial killer mastermind all wrapped into one. Gretchen’s character has received many comparisons with Thomas Harris’s own serial killer creation, the indomitable Hannibal Lector. Really, this is an unfair comparison, because with Gretchen Lowell, as well as the entirety of Heartsick, Ms. Cain delivers us one of the most unique and inspired novels to come out of the crime genre in years. The story is a familiar one: a young, ambitious reporter and a worn-and-weary detective join forces to hunt down a killer preying on young, teenage girls in the rain-dreary city of Portland. The surprises in Heartsick (and there are many) don’t come from the police procedures (which are handled confidently and convincingly on Ms. Cain’s part), but instead from the characters and their complex relations with one another—in particular the twisted relationship between Archie and Gretchen, the woman who tortured and nearly killed him. It is important to note that though a novel of detection, this is not a book of self-revelation. The characters of Heartsick spend a great deal of time hiding their feelings and motivations for their own actions. And in this way, Portland works as a perfect conduit for these troubled souls. The city is a naturally rainy, gray –clouded place, and Ms. Cain does a good job describing it in a literary—but never pretentious—manner. Over the course of days that spans the length of the novel, one of the main protagonists, Susan Ward—a young, punk-chic reporter—notes time and time again her sense of unease that the weather is sunny, and clear. Everyone in this novel squirms when anyone tries to get a good look at them; they want to control what others know about them. In this way, Ms. Cain does a brilliant performance of putting her finger right on the dark pulse that drives her characters needs and desires. The results are difficult, and oftentimes disturbing, but never dishonest. With Heartsick, we get the debut of a fresh and powerful literary voice in the well-treaded serial killer/detective genre.(less)

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Feb 06, 2009

Vannessagrace Vannessagrace rated it

Heart Sick is the first novel I’ve read by this author and I was impressed how quickly the author drew me into the story and made me care about the characters. Portland detective Archie Sheridan was working on a murder case when he became the prey and was kidnapped and tortured by serial killer Gretchen. Gretchen killed Archie then brought him back to life, called 911, then turned herself in. Archie, now living on pain pills and estranged from his wife and children is pulled off medical leave to...more

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Feb 09, 2012

Sandra rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: 4-star, casa-das-letras, meu

Quando um assassino em série começa a raptar e a assassinar raparigas sem deixar nenhuma pista viável, o primeiro pensamento das autoridades é reactivar a brigada da Beleza Assassina e o seu chefe Archie Sheridan. Mas os elementos desta brigada sentem a sua confiança fragilizada, afinal conseguiram apanhar a pior e mais terrível assassina de que há memória mas com um custo demasiado elevado.
À medida que Archie e os seus colegas vão investigando este novo caso, nós os leitores vamos descobr...moreQuando um assassino em série começa a raptar e a assassinar raparigas sem deixar nenhuma pista viável, o primeiro pensamento das autoridades é reactivar a brigada da Beleza Assassina e o seu chefe Archie Sheridan. Mas os elementos desta brigada sentem a sua confiança fragilizada, afinal conseguiram apanhar a pior e mais terrível assassina de que há memória mas com um custo demasiado elevado.
À medida que Archie e os seus colegas vão investigando este novo caso, nós os leitores vamos descobrindo aos poucos o que se passou entre Archie e Gretchen. Porque afinal algo de muito estranho e anómalo deve ter acontecido para que Gretchen o tivesse assassinado para logo depois o ressuscitar, chamar as autoridades e entregar-se. Algo de muito tortuoso e perverso deve estar ainda a acontecer para que Archie continue a visitar Gretchen na cadeia todos os domingos.
Esta foi sem dúvida a parte do livro que mais me conquistou. A curiosidade em saber e o receio de descobrir o que afinal se passou verdadeiramente naquela cave durante dez longos dias.
Quanto a este novo caso que Sheridan investiga revelou-se, para mim, demasiado óbvio. Ainda estava a cerca de 100 páginas de acabar e já sabia a identidade do(a) culpado(a). Mas mantive-me a ler até ao final apenas para descobrir mais sobre esta extraordinária relação entre Archie e a terrível Gretchen.
Não acho que este livro seja um bom livro mas sim um bom começo. Querendo eu dizer que espero que a Porto editora publique o próximo da série pois serei das primeiras a comprá-lo, embora aproveite já para confessar o meu aborrecimento pelas gralhas parvas que por vezes aparecem ao longo do livro e que com uma simples revisão desapareceriam. Exemplo: "Extraiu a cave do carro da bolsa e saiu da sede da patrulha fluvial" Excerto retirado da página 340.
Quanto à tradução achei-a bastante boa (pelo menos não detectei nada de extraordinário) e os meus parabéns pelo bom trabalho ao tradutor Fernando Dias Antunes.
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Jan 19, 2012

Afsana rated it

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Nov 24, 2011

Jennifer rated it

Shelves: antihero, horror, objectively-terrible-pretentious

I ...can't say I actively like these books, because almost no one in them is actually likable. When I bought them in Portland, however, I sat up all night on my cousin's futon in the dim living room and plowed through them; I absolutely couldn't put them down.

Perhaps the problem is that Archie is the point of view character. Ahh, yet another novel about a white man with lots and lots of manpain. While I don't discount that men have pain, because pain comes bundled with the human condit...more

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Sep 19, 2011

Tyra Masters-heinrichs rated it

I was at McNally Robinson's and they have the On Sale Books section. I always cruise through and have a look. I sat down to see if I wanted to read, and thus buy, Chelsea Cain's book, Heartsick. I looked up around page 34 (you've all experienced this, I'm sure) with that sense of doing something wrong. Sure enough, a store clerk was staring at me and I realized that more than ten minutes had passed. You know the look (then again, I do have a bad head cold, so maybe that wasn't the 'this isn't a ...more

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Sep 13, 2011

Brie rated it

If I could sum up HeartSick in one word, it would be 'interesting.' I found all of the working threads to be just that, but even though my interest was held, the story lacked the punch that I was waiting/hoping for. The After School serial killer case was a bit predictable, and I felt it drug along in places. There was, at times, too much description and then at other times, too little. The eventual tie up of the mystery was unremarkable and most of the characters were blah. But even with all th...more

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Aug 26, 2011

Matthew rated it

Heartsick accomplishes something that no novel to come before it has: it literally lowers the bar as to the depths publishers will sink to to publish horrible material. It is actually that bad.

While other novels before it have been guilty of wandering aimlessly (Tommyknockers) or being offensive (Darkly Dreaming Dexter), Heartsick is horrible on a far greater level: it is thinly veiled plagiarism.

Cain has managed to almost directly rip off the plot to the Hannibal Lecter series by Thomas Harris....moreHeartsick accomplishes something that no novel to come before it has: it literally lowers the bar as to the depths publishers will sink to to publish horrible material. It is actually that bad.

While other novels before it have been guilty of wandering aimlessly (Tommyknockers) or being offensive (Darkly Dreaming Dexter), Heartsick is horrible on a far greater level: it is thinly veiled plagiarism.

Cain has managed to almost directly rip off the plot to the Hannibal Lecter series by Thomas Harris. I'll give you an example: in the first Hannibal book (Red Dragon), Hannibal is already in jail. He had been acting as a profiling consultant alongside Will Graham, when he had in fact been the killer all along. Graham catches Lecter, but is severely injured in the process. Having retired after the incident, Graham is called back into duty to catch a new serial killer with Lecter's help, as Lecter feels he has a special connection to Graham.

Here's the plot to Heartsick: the killer is already in jail, as they'd been helping the detective on her own case as a medical consultant. The detective caught the killer but was severely injured in the process and was forced into retirement. He is called back into active duty to catch a new serial killer and enlists the killers help, as she feels she has a special relationship with the detective.

I'm not kidding, it's that blatant. All Cain changed was the gender.

Other changes are suprivilous or different forms of plagiarism. For example: the detective is addicted to vicodin as a result of his injury. This has potential, except that it's blatantly ripped off of House.

Anouther change is the sexual relationship between killer and detective, which is ripped off of the NEXT Harris book, Silence of the Lambs. This is a particular point of contention, as it rips off the basic idea but had none of the style and finesse that Harris has. I mean, I had no idea you could walk into a maximum security prison at midnight and get molested by an imprisoned serial killer. Who knew?

Oh, and killer has purple hair. I'm sure Cain threw that if to titillate fanboys who will never be laid.

It's Red Dragon. Just go read Red Dragon. Don't read this. Ever. If a friend recommends this to you, ignore them. It's like someone took the plot to Red Dragon, scene for scene, and gave it to the stupidest person on the planet with the directive to ruin it, scene for scene. The only new elements it adds detract from the story. I'm dumber for having read this.

The sequels to this are also ripoffs of the sequels to Red Dragon.

What's worse is an author I used to respect, Chuck Palinuk (Fight Club) praised it as being "the most original serial killer since Hannibal Lecter"... I have to wonder if he was being tongue in cheek with that.

It's horrible. Don't read it. I wish I had a grade lower than 1. 1/5.
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Aug 22, 2011

Lisa Tanoetirta rated it

Shelves: series

This is one of a random pick ups on a book rental.
Gue selalu tergerak untuk membaca buku-buku yang dapet review bagus *mempersempit pilihan* hehe
Sebenarnya thriller bukan genre gue, tapi buku ini sukses bikin gue untuk ngebaca terus.
Bahkan niat buat nyari bukunya Chelsea Cain yang lain.

Heartsick adalah buku pertama dari trilogy karya Chelsea Cain.
Tokoh utamanya adalah seorang detektif bernama Archie yang punya hubungan ajaib dengan Gretchen Lowell , pembunuh ...more

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About Chelsea Cain

Chelsea Cain is the author of Confessions of a Teen Sleuth, a loving mock-memoir of America's favorite girl detective. She also wrote The Hippie Handbook and the memoir Dharma Girl. She edited the anthology Wild Child, about daughters of the counterculture. She has written for a wide variety of publications and is currently a humor columnist for the Oregonian.

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“Something about the way she moves through the world does not lend itself to the care of fragile objects.” — 18 people liked it

“Our relationship is complicated by the fact that I am emotionally retarded.” — 1 person liked it

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Heartsick (Gretchen Lowell #1)

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