Customer Reviews

The Night Season (Archie Sheridan & Gretchen Lowell)

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(19)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

In Chelsea Cain's latest thriller, "The Night Season," Homicide Detective Archie Sheridan is on the trail of a psychotic killer who uses a most unusual weapon to dispatch his victims. Sheridan has stopped popping pain pills and dutifully attends his psychotherapy sessions. However, he will never forget the torture and humiliation that Gretchen Lowell, known as "the Beauty Killer," inflicted on him. "His scars were as much a part of him as his eye color." This time around, Cain wisely puts Gretchen on the back burner; the "Beauty Killer" makes a brief appearance, but is not the story's central focus.

Archie has his hands full: The dead body of a woman is found on a carousel; skeletal remains that were missing for sixty years have suddenly surfaced; and a nine-year-old boy is missing. At Archie's side is Susan Ward, an aggressive, sassy, and extremely sharp reporter with an aptitude for digging up arcane facts. She writes a "quirky crime roundup column" and is always on the lookout for juicy material. She sports raspberry-colored hair and rainbow striped boots, smokes cigarettes, and wisecracks incessantly. Archie has a soft spot in his heart for the irrepressible Susan, so he gives her more leeway than he would to most reporters.

Meanwhile, a potential catastrophe threatens the city. Two weeks of heavy rains ("the kind of rain that got in your eyes and streamed down your cheeks") have pummeled Portland, Oregon, and the Willamette River is threatening to overflow. Cain maintains an excruciating level of suspense, nicely tying the menace of the rising waters to the search for a serial killer who enjoys watching people die. The scenes depicting the out-of-control flood waters washing away everything in their path are terrifyingly realistic.

Along with Archie, who is daring and heroic, the author showcases the ever lively and curious Susan (who in one scene is so uncharacteristically stupid that readers will want to shake her), the witty and astute medical examiner, Lorenzo Robbins, and Archie's friends and colleagues, Detectives Henry Sobol, Claire Masland, Jeff Heil, and FBI profiler Anne Boyd. Although the novel contains a few formulaic elements that do not quite ring true, they do not detract markedly from the book's entertainment value. "The Night Season" has sharp dialogue, an intriguing plot, a brisk prose style, and effective descriptive writing. This is a sure-fire page-turner and one of Chelsea Cain's most compelling works of fiction to date.

First- make sure you read the first 3 books in this series. One of the few redeeming qualities of this book is getting back into the lives of familiar characters.
Second- Spoilers Ahead!!!
I was very disappointed in this book. The series really focused on the relationship between Archie and Gretchen and their chemistry is very much missed here. Gretchen is in the book almost as an afterthought, as if the author felt she had to get Gretchen in somewhere.
The writing is just loose. The plot doesn't pull you in, and the murder weapon is ridiculous. The main "bad guy" is not fleshed out well at all.
Bottom line...
a sad chapter in what was an exciting series.

GOOD LORD!!

I loyally followed this "Heartsick" series from the moment I put the first installment down. I was sucked into the story from the beginning. I pre-ordered the second book, "Sweetheart" with anticipation. It was alright. Then the third book, "Evil at Heart", I was disappointed. Each installment became a little less captivating.
Now this! I read this book with ongoing frustration. What happened here???

This story is so far-fetched in some areas that I had to put it down and take a break more than once. Besides the fact that Chelsea refuses to evolve these central characters in any way, I found the plot ridiculous at best. This series has gone from being a serial killer thriller to being a cheesy detective mystery.
Each book strays farther and farther from realism. I enjoy losing myself in a good fiction book, particularly a thriller or mystery. But it has to have at least a minuscule amount of substance. This book had none.

Archie. The main character, the detective, the victim of Gretchen Lowell and the saint of the criminal world. From the first book to the fourth, he has never managed to evolve as a human being and suffers from severe egotism. Every murder, kidnapping or torture is always his fault. Food and sleep are a crutch and he is incessantly ill. Everyone is always concerned with his well being and he is only concerned with saving the world. There is no depth to this character and I have lost all hope that there ever will be. Even snippets of his therapy sessions reveal absolutely nothing and he insists on keeping the façade of never experiencing emotion. Archie remains the redundant martyr of the story. I'm over it.

Susan Ward. Probably the most irritating character of the entire series. Yes, the ever changing hair color, rebellious attitude and childlike maturity as a grown adult instilled a fair amount of entertainment to the story in the beginning, but this character too has yet to evolve. Time and again she is put into life threatening situations because of her need to tag along like a 5 year old and seek the approval of the detective that she has chased around for 3 years. Her behavior has followed a predictable pattern in every book. So much so that I and everyone else that reads this series could accurately forecast how she will be by Archie's side through every crime scene, be working on two separate news stories that always tie together in the end and act like a frantic dumb a** through every situation WHICH no matter how severe, she never really learns from. Again Chelsea has successfully stifled the growth of the very characters that she has created.

And by the way Miss. Cain, are there anymore natural disasters that are prominent in the Pacific Northwest that you have left to incorporate into your detective series? What's next a tornado? Will the murder weapon be a deadly caterpillar next time? How about when Portlanders go to grab a newspaper, a deadly trout jumps out and rips their faces off? Does that sound anymore ridiculous than an Australian native blue ringed octopus poisoning people around the city?

I hope your next book Gretchen Lowell escapes prison and puts Archie out of his misery. Someone should. Too bad I won't be spending my money to find out.

While others descibe the plot as "implausible," I feel even using a word like that gives it too much credit. The whole thing was just ridiculous. And when Susan put herself into the killer's hands the way she did? I always feel when someone is that shockingly stupid the writer can't kill them off fast enough after that.

Chelsea Cain has always been able to enrapture me with her characters. Their personalities, dialogue, and rationales. Here, it seems to lack a bunch of that. The lack of Gretchen Lowell in this is somewhat like Silence Of The Lambs without Hannibal Lecter. While there is a villain, it just doesn't compare. I felt there just wasn't enough to this book. Not enough Archie and Susan. While what was there I enjoyed, it just didn't live up to the previous books. The antagonist here was without any real charisma or interest. His motivation and especially his weapon of choice weren't interesting. I don't want it to seem that I didn't like this book, it just doesn't compare favorably to the previous three books. With all that I still have faith that the next time I read about Archie and Susan I will be pleased.

This novel is a real treat for suspense fans. I read the first book in this series, Heartsick, which involved Portland, Oregon cop Archie Sheridan with a bizarre female serial killer named Gretchen Lowell. It was good, but I didn't much care for Gretchen, so I didn't read any more of the series until now. I was drawn to THE NIGHT SEASON for two reasons: Gretchen is no longer the main focus, and the present-day hunt for a killer is augmented with fascinating flashbacks to an actual disaster from the 1940s, the flood that wiped out an entire town in Oregon. And now the floodwaters are rising once more...

Chelsea Cain mixes past and present beautifully in this story, and the killer has a very unusual murder weapon. Archie Sheridan is much more believable (for me) without Gretchen around to torment him. And I like Susan, the woman who joins him in this investigation. The combined suspense of the killer-on-the-loose and the rising river is very well done. Most of all, there's a dark, brooding atmosphere of impending doom that is truly thrilling. I don't have to convince Cain's many fans to read this--they'll read it anyway--but if you've never read her books before (or if you stopped reading them for the same reason I did), give THE NIGHT SEASON a try. I really enjoyed it.

The old gang (Susan Archie, Henry and Claire)is back together again and under some very unusual circumstances. During one of the worst floods (ok 2nd worse, apparently there was one in the late 1940s) in recent history, a deranged (ok, maybe that's a little common) serial killer is hunting in Portland. Oddly enough, the killer uses some highly poisonous blue ringed octopus (i.e., weapon) to kill his prey, before drowning them, leaving virtually no physical evidence with the exception of a tiny key (i.e., his signature).

Archie has finally kicked his 7 a day vicodin addiction and is back to what he loves....working ...his job as a Homicide Detective and saving lives. This time he is trying to save, an abducted boy (who has ties to the killer), his partner Henry (who has become one of the killer's victims), and even Susan (his girl Friday whose job is on shaking ground with her boss/ex-lover).What I enjoyed about this story is Cain's continued dedication to remain true to her characters. Archie is still the martyr, occasionally punishing himself for his past mistakes, while always staying focused on discovering the truth, all while still trying to heal from being mentally and physically tortured. He's a dichotomy of a man who should be broken, and yet his mere spirit prevents it. And then there is Susan (an eager reporter), who is still a zealot for the truth, but unlike most in her profession, she looks at the people involved in the story more so than the angle.

What I enjoy most about this story was Cain's ability to weave seemingly unrelated events (missing boy, skeleton, a woman in a nursing home, a dead woman on a carousel, and the flood of 1948) into one coherent story that offers suspense, thrills and chills. And of course, there is still the usual Cain gloom, doom and darkness that is only intensified by the horrific weather conditions in the story.

The killer, while ordinary on the surface eventually became mildly interesting because of his killing method (killing people with octopus). And there was his misguided sense of revenge over the death of a family member . Again, how someone so ordinary could kill in such a compelling way was mindboggling. I was also glad to see that "Gretchen" who was throughout the first 3 novels was virtually absent, merely an echo or briefly mentioned. Although we know that Gretchen will always be a part of Archie, it is also time for him to move on with his life. Therefore, Cain's ability to continue the series by strengthening the central characters is an achievement in and of itself.

My only criticism, and it is small is that I would have liked Archie to find true happiness....with Susan. All the signs are there and I think they would be perfect for each other. Think about it, both are broken but with a little healing could make it work.

Overall, this was a decent read. For those who love a slow building and suspenseful read, with some tortured characters and a sick serial killer, this is the story for you. I can't wait to see what Cain comes up with next.

The city of Portland, OR is in crisis, as heavy rains have flooded the Willamette River and several people have drowned in the rising waters. Or, at least that's what was thought until the medical examiner discovers that the latest victim didn't drown. She was poisoned before she went into the water. Soon after, three of those drownings are also proven to be murders. As a result, Portland has a new killer on its hands, and Detective Archie Sheridan, the protagonist from Cain's first three books, and his task force have a new case. The Night Season also brings back Reporter Susan Ward who is chasing the story of the new serial killer, as well as another lead for an entirely separate mystery.

Prior to reading the latest installment from Chelsea Cain, I was hoping she would be able to provide at least the same level of intense drama as in her earlier books. Unfortunately, while The Night Season is fast-paced, provides a good amount of excitement and (for the most part)interesting main characters, it, for me, lacked the fever pitch that made me unable to put down the earlier books. Despite its various scenes of excitement, the book's story line and characters never captivated me enough to put reading it above most other things I had to do. Mainly, this is due to my becoming increasingly annoyed with Reporter Susan Ward, who displays an unbelievable amount of stupidity -- okay, maybe I should say naivete -- for a person that is considered to be a respected and experienced crime reporter. This is also due to the motivations of the murderer not being made important enough for me to care a lot about, and of the method chosen for committing the murders being both over the top and somewhat gimmicky.

Overall, despite what I view as its flaws, The Night Season is fairly entertaining and enjoyable. It is not, however, a book that I'd recommend that you rush out to read. Maybe, get it from the library or wait for it to come out in paperback.

I have read the other books in the Gretchen Lowell-Archie Sheridan series to mixed review. This one is so unrelated as to be understandable if read as a stand alone.

First off -- the reader of this audio version, Christina Delaine, was the WORST narrator I have ever heard! I almost threw the CD box in the trash but forced myself through to the end hoping for improvement. There was none. Her pronunciation of words (skele DON instead of TON and BOOO kay instead of Bow) drove me up the wall as did her hoarse-voiced raspy attempt at Archie (and all the other male characters come to think of it). He sounds like he has no personality and is almost dead most of the time -- no emotion. Anyway, the audio version was horrible. If you want to read more in this series, at least get the book.

Now for the review of the story. Well, hate to tell you, but it was not very good either. Victims are found in the waters of the Willamette river - they drowned -- but wait -- what is that puncture wound??? The killing method (blue ringed octopus???) = ridiculous and the whole motivation for the murders quite lame. There was absolutely nothing in this book to redeem the boring characters or the plot. The relentless and pedantic descriptions of the Willamette flooding and the water, water, water, were redundant and uninteresting. The only thing that got me were the needless deaths of some perfectly fine people.

I do not like any of Cain's characters. Susan Ward makes me crazy -- she's so immature and stupid (you'll agree when you read how she manages to yet again insert herself into the clutches of the killer) and I'm tired of Saint Archie and his sad sack life, addictions, and in-need-of-therapy self. I was bored by turns and irritated by others. I didn't even care when the climax occurred but wondered why the book went on for several more chapters of blah blah blah. Gretchen Lowell? Well she's not in this book :) This was not suspenseful and not a thriller. Pass.

I won't read another in this series and urge you to just say NO. It really isn't worth your time.

I have been of fan of Chelsea Cain's, Archie Sheridan and Gretchen Lowell novels, for the last several years. In Heartsick,Sweetheart, and Evil at Heart, the stars are, Archie Sheridan, a police detective from Portland, Oregon, and Gretchen Lowell, a serial killer who has played cat and mouse, tormenting Archie, landing him in a psych hospital briefly, hooked on painkillers, but finally as of the last novel she is behind bars. The other two characters are Henry Sobol, Archie's partner, and Susan Ward, a newspaper columnist that Archie has the hots for. I wondered what direction her new book would take without Gretchen, the serial killer, to keep readers on the edge of their seats, and biting their fingernails as they turned each new page. I was anxious to find out what Night Season had in store.

In this latest offering, Archie Sheridan and fellow partner Henry Sobol have their work cut out for them. Susan Ward is another returning character, who, in this novel is covering a story about a flooding which had wiped out a town many years earlier.

The story opens with a horrific flood in 1948 that wiped out the entire town of Vanport. Some 15 people who lived in a public housing project at that time, lost their lives. The story then flashes to the present time when once again heavy rains, and flooding are occurring in the Portland area. A skeleton surfaces around a dog park, with origins from as far back as the flood of 1948. Before long a woman who was reported missing turns up dead, and two more people who were thought to have died from drowning, turn out to have strange bite marks on their bodies, and tests show they have been poisoned.

Without saying much more about the serial killer, the source of the poisonous toxin, or how the story ended, I'll just say that I was extremely disappointed in this thriller. It was not a nail biter like Cain's previous three novels, and quite frankly, once the mystery began to unravel, I thought the whole story was far fetched and just plain crazy. The audio book was read by the author and the reading was well done, however the story itself left me disappointed. For me, I think it is probably time to try a new thriller series.