Previous book in this series, "Sweetheart" was scorching hot but this was more of a drawn out tepid bath, it wasn't bad but it certainly lacked the spice. I recommend reading these in order, and for those who haven't read "Heart Sick "and "Sweetheart" this shouldn't be the starting place, that said I'm happy I got to read it but a bit disappointed to how it turned out. The sheer lunacy of Gretchen being a superstar in the media world was hard to believe, people are obsessed more than ever with the Beauty Killer, her images are selling newspapers, there are clubs and secret societies obsessed with her, tee shirts and mugs with her name on them, all a game with a sick undertone, that was something I had a really hard time believing as I don't fall easily for charms and gimmicks of any sort, and I certainly don't believe in glorifying any sort of man killing scum, not even one as pretty as Gretchen. The woman who can manipulate men to do her bidding as she uses her body and seduction to keep them glued to her, is on the run and no one seems to know how to track her except for Archie, trouble is that he has voluntarily checked into a psych-ward and is considered a citizen until proven non threatening to himself.

The game is back on but this time it circles around a story that I frankly wasn't interested in, the possibility of copy-cat killings was just too much as it took the bulk of this novel into directions that didn't seem interesting. I wanted some sort of a conclusion and battle between Gretchen and Archie ad this sadly wasn't it. The writing was silky and smooth as ever but the topic was less satisfactory, something was gone from the novel, perhaps it all lays in Gretchen and without her the storyline loses it's bulk and that pleasurable buzz. If something else comes out in this series I will read it but with caution and weariness, I felt like I jumped into it and came out a bit disappointed, although it's hard to say why without spoiling most of the time line, one major reason for being disappointed depends on lack of something very specific. It was a fast read but less pungent than its predecessor, it wasn't as gory and shocking as it's believed, more like a filler between two other books...I think that people who are expecting a gory psycho story will be rolling their eyes more than once.