Posted to The Literary Lawyer.ca A Guilty 5 Stars I enjoyed Heartsick as much as any thriller I have read in a few years. The main character was damaged and broken but managed to be effective and rational. The counterpoint was the jailed serial killer Gretchen who was pulling on some psychological and mental strings in Archie's mind and soul. I found it to be engaging, entertaining and chilling. That said, there are issues with novel. The "holier than thou" reviewer in me want to give this four stars but the reader inside of me says that I enjoyed this too much to give it less than for stars. The reader inside of me won out, or maybe Gretchen has ahold of me as well...... Plot Outline When I saw this was a cop and serial killer story, I immediately assumed we were going to have a Silence of the Lambs relationship. Thankfully, that is not the case and in fact, the author takes some time to poke fun at that notion. In the story, a series of young girls have been murdered. As they appear to be related, Archie Sheridan is called out of a medical leave to lead a taskforce to solve this crime. Archie has previously lead this same task force for 10 years as he sought to catch another notorious serial killer. We immediately learn that Archie was captured and tortured by that serial killer. He survived the ordeal and the serial killer was put behind bars. Despite surving, the reader knows that the Killer, Gretchen Lowell, is still exerting some control over Archie. The detail of this are not immediately clear. Given the high profile nature of the case and Archie's history, Susan Ward, a reporter, is tasked to follow Archie and write a profile on him, his past history, and his current condition. The investigation becomes personal for all parties involved and the storylines coalesce in an exciting and original finish. The Good Into the Mind of a Killer and Victim This story dealt exceptionally well with psychological condition of the characters. As the story progresses, we learn bits and pieces of Archie's experience at the hands of Gretchen Lowell. As this occurs, we get begin to understand his current mental condition while we get a glimpse into the depraved and broken mind of Gretchen Lowell.Since we are talking about Gretchen, I have to say that she is one of the most interesting characters I have read in recent memory. Although it takes a while for us to be introduced to this character, we glimpse her legacy and personality thorough Archie. When we do meet her, she is everything we hoped for. She is well drawn, well imagined and both charming and frightening, intoxicating and nauseating. I have high hopes for this series and these characters make for exciting counterparts. No Plot Abandonment While I was absorbed in the Gretchen and Archie storyline, I was equally interested in the murder mystery which was the parallel storyline. The other characters that moved this story along were interesting and well drawn. The character of Susan Ward, the reporter, was well drawn and interesting. Portions of the story were told from her perspective which made for multiple interesting perspectives to the issues. The subplot, which was the relationship between Archie and Gretchen, was nicely balanced with main plot allowing each to be dealt with and understood. The Bad I Don't Believe You Some of the plots elements were difficult to believe. Multiple times I found myself saying that I couldn't see the character doing that and some of the elements felt contrived. Even the initial set up (a reporter following around the lead investigator while he was searching for a serial killer) was contrived and hard to believe. Additionally, the final reveal of the main plot felt a bit contrived. While some readers will have issue with some plot development, expertly drawn characters trumped any plot issues for me. Final Thoughts This is not a perfect novel but it is a very entertaining novel. The flaws were completely overshadowed by my enjoyment of the story and the characters. If the rest of the series is written in such an entertaining way, this will threaten to become a favorite series. *Fingers Crossed*It is difficult to find commentary on the sex/violence/language content of book if you are interested. I make an effort to give you the information so you can make an informed decision before reading. *Disclaimer* I do not take note or count the occurrences of adult language as I read. I am simply giving approximations.Scale 1 - Lowest 5 - Highest Sex - 2 There were a few sexual elements in the story. One character is actively involved in an affair. There is some sex between them but it is not graphic. There are other sexualized elements but nothing is graphic or explicit. Language - 3 There is a moderate amount adult language. Moderate usage of mild obscenities and low to moderate use of the f-word. Violence - 4 Violence is a pervasive theme and some elements are graphic. There are multiple murder and the descriptions of the condition of the bodies is at time explicit. There is extensive use of flashbacks to Archie's capture and it involves elements of torture. This occurs throughout the book and it is graphic at times. The fact is, there is violence or descriptions of violence in most every chapter. If you don't like violence, you won't like this book
torture |ˈtôrCHər|nounthe action or practice of inflicting severe pain on someone as a punishment or to force them to do or say something, or for the pleasure of the person inflicting the pain.Archie Sheridan is a torture survivor. He spent ten years as a Portland, Oregon, police detective hunting for a serial killer dubbed “The Beauty Killer,” only to find that the killer was Gretchen Lowell, and that he had become her prey. She tortured him in unspeakably horrendous ways. Finally, she killed him; then she saved him and turned herself in. Archie lived, but he became a physical, emotional, and psychological wreck, dependent on pills and unable to forget…Then he is called out of his medical leave to lead a task force to find the killer of high school sophomore girls. His boss has doubts as to whether Archie is up to the job; after all, it is his first case in two years. Can Archie focus on the task at hand and track the predator before he takes another girl?Enter Susan Ward, a pink-haired young newspaper reporter who is assigned to profile Archie, the “hero detective.” Susan has plenty of her own baggage. Can she handle this project? How do her circumstances meld with the rest of the plot?The book alternates between the present-day “After-School Strangler” case and Archie’s days as a captive with Gretchen. These latter parts are very disturbing to read. What kind of mind even imagines these kinds of punishments? Archie comes out of the experience so damaged that not only is he addicted to pain pills, he also has a serious case of Stockholm Syndrome. Oh, he says that he visits Gretchen every Sunday to get her to reveal the location of more bodies, but why does he really go?I generally liked both Archie and Susan, as messed up as they both are. I wanted them to succeed. Gretchen Lowell? Well, Gretchen scared the you-know-what out of me! I don’t really know how I felt about the book. I finished it in less than two days, so it held my interest. But honestly, I can only take so much torture, and I felt that there was about the right amount of that in Heartsick, and it was spaced out enough that it wasn’t overkill. Sorry – that was the best word I could think of. But I was expecting more from the main storyline, I guess. There were a few red herrings thrown in, but the identity of the killer was no real surprise. The final scene with Gretchen did throw in a little twist that I should have, but did not, see coming. The second book in the series is called Sweetheart. I liked the first one well enough to give the next one a try.I’m conflicted about how to rate this novel. I’m giving Heartsick 4 stars but would probably call it 3-1/2, as I liked it a lot but didn’t love it.
Do You like book Heartsick (2007)?
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 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.
—Christa
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. 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.
—Matthew
Somehow, I picked up the idea that I'd heard Great Things about this book. I was disappointed.This book would make a nice primetime soap opera mimiseries. In some ways, it's better than many police procedural thrillers. Though I wouldn't call it a page-turner, the premise was vaguely interesting enough to make me read it.Despite its apparent urgency--serial killer on the loose, damaged hero cop with a ticking-time-bomb pill problem--the plot moved slowly. I thought Archie Sheridan and his team seemed weak and ineffectual. The stronger protagonist, Susan Ward, was obnoxious--daddy issues, attention-seeking, self-absorbed, and despite her alleged talents, she only ever got anywhere because the men in her life gave her the resources. She annoyed the hell out of me, and the big spoiler at the end (which I thought seemed contrived and unrealistic) made me even more annoyed by her character development. I know she was supposed to be highly sympathetic, but I didn't feel it.Naturally, the Gretchen Lowell plotline is supposed to be more interesting, but it disappointed me, too. She's supposed to be a cunning and terrifying criminal, but there's not much to her.
—Nick
