From the shelf: Heartsick (Archie Sheridan/Gretchen Lowell #1)

Title: Heartsick (Archie Sheridan/Gretchen Lowell #1)
Author: Chelsea Cain
Genre: Msytery, Crime, Suspense, Thriller
Date read: April 10-14, 2015
Dawn Rates: ★★★★ (4/5)

Summary (cr: goodreads)

Damaged Portland detective Archie Sheridan spent ten years tracking Gretchen Lowell, a beautiful serial killer, but in the end she was the one who caught him. Two years ago, Gretchen kidnapped Archie and tortured him for ten days, but instead of killing him, she mysteriously decided to let him go. She turned herself in, and now Gretchen has been locked away for the rest of her life, while Archie is in a prison of another kind---addicted to pain pills, unable to return to his old life, powerless to get those ten horrific days off his mind. Archie's a different person, his estranged wife says, and he knows she's right. He continues to visit Gretchen in prison once a week, saying that only he can get her to confess as to the whereabouts of more of her victims, but even he knows the truth---he can't stay away.

When another killer begins snatching teenage girls off the streets of Portland, Archie has to pull himself together enough to lead the new task force investigating the murders. A hungry young newspaper reporter, Susan Ward, begins profiling Archie and the investigation, which sparks a deadly game between Archie, Susan, the new killer, and even Gretchen. They need to catch a killer, and maybe somehow then Archie can free himself from Gretchen, once and for all. Either way, Heartsick makes for one of the most extraordinary suspense debuts in recent memory.

My Review: (also in goodreads)

This book reminds me of another serial killer/psychiatrist caught and questioned *ahem Hannibal*. I don't know why psychiatrists make the best choice for a killer maybe because of their ability and degree to read the human mind. In contrast to the well-loved Hannibal series, this book is a modern take on the mind of a psychiatric, attractive woman serial killer and it doesn't help that as a reader, when I go through the book my imagination is wild and can vividly see the morbid scenes written. The story starts with Archie forcefully coming out of his sabbatical to work into a new serial killer case together with some of his old colleagues from the Gretchen Lowell case. He might be struggling but he tries so hard to live a normal life divorced but still in love and talking with his ex-wife Debbie. He struggles being a detective but still seeing the serial killer who tried to kill him. It may be dark and twisted but he needed it for closure as well for the families she victimized. There was also Susan, a reporter shadowing by Archie's request who was writing an exclusive on what happened between Gretchen and Archie at the time he was tortured. I think this series would make me addicted. I have an inkling as to why Archie is severely addicted to the pain Gretchen inflicted upon him and I'm curious at what Gretchen's actions towards his "I'm done" at the end.

Till the next read...