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48 of 58 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Meh. , July 21, 2008
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (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.
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20 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
High hopes and rave reviews...but..., August 4, 2008
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (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.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
So what is new?, August 2, 2008
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
As a seasoned mystery and thriller reader, I found this second novel by the author of this series to be just more of the same. What was unique and interesting in the first book, "Heartsick", becomes redundant and unimaginative in the second.
For me, what makes a mystery series interesting is the familiarity of the same set of characters, usually the protagonists, faced with a new set of challenges and villains. It's perfectly all right to dredge up an old adversary once in a while, especially if they were a reader favorite, but, only after offering a few books in between which give us a look at how the good guys interact with other bad guys.
Personally, I was really tired of Gretchen Lowell less than halfway through this book. She wasn't at all scary, just boring, and more and more unbelievable than in the first book (if that is possible). I was also tired of the gore...sometimes reading this story is reminiscent of viewing a teenage slasher movie. Again, not a pastime of choice, for me.
And Archie, her main male protagonist, is just one sorry loser. At first, with the Vicodin angle, I thought, ok, another Dr. House, but he's a detective, that should be interesting. But it is not interesting. Archie is lacking the one quality that makes House redeemable: House is great at his job. Archies's performance is not even acceptable. While this may be a more realistic portrayal of the effects of drug addiction, entertaining reading it does not make. To me, it just comes off as a sorry attempt to capitalize on the popularity of TV's favorite, vicodin-addicted doctor.
I gave the book three stars instead of a lower rating, just because I imagine the series may appeal to an audience younger than myself. Also, the author has a very good writing style and I found her books fast paced and easy to read. Ms. Cain can write. I just hope her creativity and imagination can keep pace.
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