Sweetheart [Hardcover]

Chelsea Cain (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2, 2008

With Heartsick, Chelsea Cain took the crime world by storm, introducing two of the most compelling characters in decades: serial killer Gretchen Lowell and her obsessed pursuer Portland Detective Archie Sheridan. The book spent four weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and garnered rave reviews around the world. But the riveting story of Archie and Gretchen was left unfinished, and now Chelsea Cain picks up the tale again.

When the body of a young woman is discovered in Portland’s Forest Park, Archie is reminded of the last time they found a body there, more than a decade ago: it turned out to be the Beauty Killer’s first victim, and Archie’s first case. This body can't be one of Gretchen's—she’s in prison—but after help from reporter Susan Ward uncovers the dead woman's identity, it turns into another big case. Trouble is, Archie can't focus on the new investigation because the Beauty Killer case has exploded: Gretchen Lowell has escaped from prison.

Archie hadn't seen her in two months; he'd moved back in with his family and sworn off visiting her. Though it should feel like progress, he actually feels worse. The news of her escape spreads like wildfire, but secretly, he's relieved. He knows he's the only one who can catch her, and in fact, he has a plan to get out from under her thumb once and for all.

Chelsea Cain has topped her own bestselling debut thriller with this unputdownable, unpredictable, edge-of-your-seat read.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. In Cain's superb follow-up to Heartsick, damaged detective Archie Sheridan is back home in Portland, Ore., trying to resume a normal life. Archie's ties to serial killer Gretchen Lowell still run deep, even if he's stopped their weekly visits in prison. Meanwhile, reporter Susan Ward is finishing an article accusing a beloved U.S. senator of seducing his children's 14-year-old babysitter a decade earlier. When three bodies are discovered in a local park—where Archie's team found Gretchen's first victim 12 years earlier—Archie worries another serial killer is at large. After the senator's unexpected death, Susan discovers links between the sex scandal and the bodies in the park. When Gretchen escapes from prison, Archie knows he's the only one who can stop her from killing. In Cain's capable hands, Gretchen is both a monster and the only person who truly understands Archie's pain. With its brisk pacing, carefully metered violence and tortured hero, Cain's sophomore effort will leave readers desperate for more. 200,000 first printing. (Sept.)
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From Booklist

*Starred Review* It was apparent at the end of Cain’s masterful Heartsick (2007) that we hadn’t heard the last from either Gretchen Lowell, the most mesmerizing serial killer since a fellow named Hannibal, or Archie Sheridan, the Portland cop whom Gretchen tortured and then freed, locking the two of them into a creepy symbiotic relationship somewhere between Romeo and Juliet and Holmes and Moriarity. Cain picks up the story with Sheridan trying to overcome his addictions to pain pills and Gretchen, respectively, and not doing very well with either. A new case—bodies found in a Portland park, near where Gretchen’s first victim was discovered—provides distraction as well as bringing punky, turquoise-haired reporter Susan Ward back into his life, but neither is enough to get Gretchen out of his mind. Then she escapes from prison, determined to draw Archie away from his family, away from his job, and into her arms for a deadly pas de deux. There is a little less gut-wrenching tension this time than there was in Heartsick—and less gut-wrenching gore, too—but there is considerably more psychological complexity, as the knot binding Archie to Gretchen tightens further. The psychosexual interplay between the two is endlessly fascinating and, amazingly, thoroughly believable. In addition, Cain gives more space to her supporting cast—especially reporter Ward, who seems ready for a starring role herself. It’s hard to say how long Cain can play out this lovers’ duel between Archie and Gretchen before they tumble into their own Reichenbach Falls, but it’s a sure thing we won’t be leaving our seats before the final curtain. --Bill Ott

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; 1st edition (September 2, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031236847X
• ISBN-13: 978-0312368470
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (237 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #557,591 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Chelsea Cain is a humour columnist for The Oregonian and reviews for the New York Times Book Review. She has written for a wide variety of publications. Chelsea lives with her husband and daughter in Portland, Oregon.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

65 of 82 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Meh., July 21, 2008

By 

Seven Kitties "7kitties" (Blue Point, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Sweetheart (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

Second novels in a series are notoriously hard to write: the honeymoon period of just getting to know the characters is over, and look for more depth and roundness, while still demanding more of the 'good stuff' from the first novel.

If you loved _Heartsick_, you'll probably like this one. Like, not love, though. She's toned down the gruesome and replaced it with monumentally needless graphic sex and a metric ton of f-bombs. Even the exposition uses the naughty word. It makes her seem to be trying just a bit too hard to be gritty, rather like her character Susan who thinks she's edgy but is constantly out-edgied by her mother. And once again, you'll be treated to unnecessary descriptions of what EVERYONE is wearing. Seriously--why do I need to know that a morgue tech who doesn't even get a name or a line of dialogue is wearing corduroys? Or my personal favorite: "'There's a press conference at six,' Ian said. He was wearing jeans and a t-shirt he'd bought at the MOMA gift store. 'You want it?'" 'Scuse me, but I'm not sure why I need to know Ian's sartorial choices at this particular juncture? Relevant to plot? No. Relevant to mood? No. Relevant to character building? Nope, we already know Ian pretty well. His clothes haven't changed from his carefully overdescribed wardrobe in _Heartsick_.

Because, oh yes, everyone's back. Remember that Molly Palmer story Susan was trying to promote in novel one? It's back, and apparently a key to a really rather trite and played out conspiracy-of-dunces scandal. And once again, the fresh dead bodies seem to take second stage to the older dead bodies, victims of Gretchen. Susan's less annoying this time, but Archie goes from a sympathetic character to a whingeing sad-sack. Take that as a double-entendre if you wish.

Gretchen is unrealistically prescient--maybe she's secretly psychic. I won't blow the plot, but please do google naloxone and vicodin before you read the climax, and you'll figure out that All is Not Right in Sciencetown. Moreover, what an *odd* thing to pack in a handbag. I'll have to remember that for my next romantic getaway.

What no one seems to remark about this series is how bloody sexist it is. Gretchen, great spooky serial killeress, dangerous yet apparently stunning at, ahem, *pleasing* men. She makes men murder for her. How? Why? By the power of her hot bod. She reminds me of what is called, in fan-fiction (shudder) "Mary Sue." Gretchen is Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS with a bit more (but not much more) medical training. Either that or she's straight out of Freudian Thanatos imagery. All she needs is some teeth down 'thar'.

Some of the physics need to be reworked as well. I suspect that it's unlikely for a woman of Gretchen's delicate build to be able, one-armedly, to haul a man's body backwards across carpet. Does the author even try these things at home? Even these basic ones? (I don't hold the botched splenectomy from book one against her, nor do I expect her to drink Drano in pursuit of literary veritas, but surely she could get a male friend to lie on the carpet and be dead weight?)

The gross is gone, the sadism is gone, the spooky only shows up at the school scene (which is quite good), and I'm sad to say but a good bit of the mysterious tarnish has worn off Gretchen. Like any woman, she just wants to be (sniff sniff) loved. And laid. Archie is trapped, but only because she can't wash that man right outa her blond flowing tresses.

Cain promises us 'more Gretchen to come.' I'm not on the edge of my seat. This book did not grip me, and I like the thriller genre. I came to this book with visions of Jeff Lindsay's Dexter series in mind, or at least Tess Gerritsen. This was okay, but honestly, there's better stuff out there, whatever you want--creepier killers, scary medical stuff, murder conspiracies. My recommendation? Wait for paperback.

24 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars High hopes and rave reviews...but..., August 4, 2008

By 

David Segrove "DinA" (Phoenix, AZ United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sweetheart (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

Following hot on the heels of the bestselling HEARTSICK, Chelsea Cain continues the story of Gretchen Lowell and Archie Sheridan in SWEETHEART. The second installment is really a continuation of the first as opposed to a full-blown sequel. The narrative picks up about two months after the conclusion of the first book. Sheridan is now back at home with his wife. He is no longer visiting Lowell in prison, though he obsesses about her and half-heartedly battles his downward spiral of prescription drug cocktails and dark fantasies.

Another body and unresolved cases brings many of the characters from HEARTSICK back. The rapid-fire pace of narrative that attracted me to the first novel isn't apparent in the follow-up. Perhaps its because Ms Cain has had time walk around in her characters' skins a little more or perhaps the reduction in pressure of "having to get it right", now that she has a bestseller, has allowed her to relax. Marginal players from HEARTSICK are fleshed out including Sheridan's long-suffering and guilt-ridden partner and his wife.

Lowell is too devious in SWEETHEART. She moves from the very clever to the unfathomably brilliant, able to predict the actions of police agencies and individuals alike as she contrives to end up in the prison hospital (where she will only tell Sheridan who attacked her), followed up a transfer across state, where she is conveniently under-guarded and manages to escape.

What follows is, unfortunately, a long litany of cliches and "just-in-time" arrivals. Sheridan and family, as well as Sue Ward, the reporter from the first story are all placed into protective custody but Lowell manages to track Sheridan down and he is more than willing to give himself to her, quite literally. There is a breathless stacking up of twists and turns and surprises that are heaped upon each other until we're exhausted.

As with HEARTSICK, there are multiple threads at work in SWEETHEART. Ward is still working on the Molly Palmer case. Gone is the gritty "in your face" attitude, though she still has colored hair (turquoise this time). Ward now becomes "super-sleuth", part reporter, part detective and able to access cases and people at a level that is beyond belief. There is a hint of the attraction to Sheridan which I'm sure will be acted on if there are future volumes in this series.

There is the inevitable hookup between Lowell and Sheridan. It's not a torture-fest, now it's a love story. The transition from torturer/victim to more-or-less equals is never properly explained. In HEARTSICK there was some sympathy for Sheridan. By the end of SWEETHEART its gone. No one, no matter how high or screwed up, could be as obsessively dull and undeservedly loved. I actually wanted him to die and he does...a couple of times. He seems impossible to kill.

There are a number of "phew that was lucky" moments; actually too many. A car crash with no one hurt. A half-marathon trek through a smoke-filled forest fire that seems to take just minutes and only results in some inconvenient dirt. An attempt on Ward's life that is thwarted by her mother...just in time...and so it goes.

There's swearing and there's sex. There's blood and gore but it's not shocking. It worked well before but it's old now. The characters are a little more fleshed out but there's little new and little more to care about. At least Ms Cain has tied up most of the loose ends. She's left the possibility of more "Lowell" sequels or, heaven forbid, prequels.

I was really looking forward to reading SWEETHEART. I wanted to know more and I came away feeling a little let-down. Perhaps it's the nature of sequels. I finished this one out of sense of duty.

If SWEETHEART becomes a bestseller it will have to be one that rides the coattails of HEARTSICK. It doesn't have (or shouldn't have) the strength to do it on its own. I've read some of the quotes from publications such as the New York Times and Entertainment Weekly and I cannot make the connection that they have and do not see it as "outdoing" herself. It's not a worthy follow-up.

I hope Ms Cain leaves Lowell and company where it is now and moves on. We know enough about this cast and anything else is overkill. Ms Cain is a talented writer. Let's see what else she can come up with.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Heart Day's Night, July 24, 2008

By 

S. Berner (Cocoa, Fl USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Sweetheart (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

"Sweetheart" is the sequel to last year's "Heartsick" both featuring hapless (and spleenless... don't ask)detective Archie Sheridan and America's sexiest serial killer Gretchen Lowell. Taken together they form a rather complex tale of masochism, sadism, disgusting behavior, horrific, even nauseating, perversion, and grue and gore. Needless to say, I loved every sick moment of it! To note, as the publisher does, that Gretchen is a sort of female Hannibal Lecter, is to oversimplify to the point of ridiculousness. She is her own stunning creation and more than a match for Thomas Harris' cannibal. Add to that the fact that "Sweetheart" is in and of itself, a pretty darn good whodunnit, and you've got a winner. One thing though: while some series/sequels are stand-alone enough to be read on their own, "Sweetheart" loses FAR too much if you don't read "Heartsick" first. Not to worry, though, you'll love it!