HeartSick by Chelsea Cain (2007)

Started: 2/10/2008
Ended: 2/27/2008
Synopsis:
Archie Sheridan spent ten years tracking serial killer Gretchen Lowell, but in the end she was the one who kidnapped Archie and tortured him for ten days. Instead of killing him, she mysteriously decided to let him go and turn herself in. Now Gretchen has been locked away, while Archie is in a prison of another kind, addicted to pain pills, powerless to get those ten horrific days off his mind. 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.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>WARNING-SPOILERS AHEAD<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< <<<<<<<<<<<
Characters:
Archie Sheridan:Homicide detective; slightly handsome with sad dark eyes; has thick head of curly brown hair; 40 y/o but looks at least 5 years older; brought out of a 2 year medical hiatus to head "The After School Strangler" task force( 7 person crew); worked "The Beauty Killer" task force for 10 years until he was captured by Gretchen; divorced with 2 kids; has a master's degree in criminology; after he was found he spent a month in the hospital, followed by rehab; addicted to several pills (Vicoden-for pain; Xanax-for panic attacks; Zantac-for stomach; and Ambien-for sleep)
Gretchen Lowell:Psychiatrist; given up her practice to write a book; psychopathic serial killer; tortures victim for a couple of days before dumping body; victim profile was all over the place: included all ages, male & female, different backgrounds; would carve a heart on each victim's torso with an X-Acto knife while they were still alive; always consistent with inflicting damage to the torso:she either cut them, stabbed them, carved them, dissected them or even burned them; sometimes she made them drink drain cleaner; had accomplices that she would manipulate; contacted the task force offering her psychiatric expertise; broke six of Archie's ribs by hammering in a nail at each rib; fed spoonfuls of drain cleaner to Archie over time; basically she tortured him, killed him and then resuscitated him; ended up saving Archie by calling 911 and performing CPR for 30 mins. until the EMT's arrived; not even a psychiatrist-but did work as an ER nurse; dropped out of medical school
Henry Sobol:Archie's ex-partner; large man with a gleaming shaved head and salt-and-pepper mustache; has kind blue eyes; dresses all in black; showed Archie the ropes when he became a detective and has been looking after him ever since; aware of Archie's pill-popping habit
Susan Ward:Reporter for the Oregon Herald; striking with pink hair and green eyes; having an affair with her married boss, Ian; ambitious; went to Cleveland High; father died when she was a 14 y/o from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma; slept with her drama teacher
Bliss: Susan's mother; cuts hair for a living; has bleached hippie dreads down to her waist; free-spirit
Howard Jenkins: Publisher of the Oregon Herald; former public-relations executive from NYC
Derek Rogers: Reporter for the Oregon Herald; hired the same time as Susan, but being groomed to cover crime; same age as Susan; jock; square-jawed and clean-cut; Susan is competitive with him
Debbie Sheridan: Archie's ex-wife; college sweethearts; has custody of kids (Ben & Sara); divorced Archie when he became a different person after his abduction; had given Archie an ultimatum of picking her or continuing his visits with Gretchen in prison; late 30's with stylish short dark hair; trim with an athletic body
Quentin Parker: City crime reporter; balding & fat with multiple chins; belligerent, condescending, but very smart; always smells like stale cigarettes; married; Susan likes him
Anne Boyd: Profiler on "The After School Strangler"task force; large black woman; married with 2 kids; also worked "The Beauty Killer" task force
Claire Masland: Task force member; 5'3 with a short boyish haircut; slight build and angular; grey eyes; also worked "The Beauty Killer" task force; suspected to be a lesbian
Mike Flannigan: Task force member; medium height & build; dark-haired; Archie nicknames him and Jeff Heil, "The Hardy Boys"
Jeff Heil: Task force member; medium height & build; light-haired; Archie nicknames him and Mike, "The Hardy Boys"
Martin Ngyun: Task force member; always wears a Portland Trail Blazers cap; also worked "The Beauty Killer" task force
Greg Fremont & Josh Levy: Task force members
Chuck Whatley: Rookie patrol cop; freckled face with a shock of unnaturally orange hair
Maria Viello: Best friends with Kristy Mathers; Spanish with long straight black hair; 15 y/o
Jennifer Washington: Best friends with Kristy Mathers; black with a short Afro
After School Strangler (aka Paul Reston): Strangles each victim (possibly with a belt) , rapes and then soaks them in Clorox; victim profiles are brown hair with wide-set eyes; high school girls-all sophomores; the victims' bodies have all been found along the Willamette River, suggesting the killer has a boat or access to one; revealed that all victims auditioned for the district-wide musical last year
Lee Robinson: DEAD: First victim; high school student (sophomore) at Cleveland High; abducted Oct. 27th and her dead body was found on Nov. 7th; she had been raped and strangled to death
Dana Stamp:DEAD:Second victim; high school student (sophomore) at Lincoln High; abducted Feb. 2nd and her dead body was found on Feb. 14th; also raped and strangled to death
Kristy Mathers:DEAD: Third victim; high school student (sophomore) at Jefferson High; abducted March 7th; 15 y/o
Addy Jackson: Snatched 4 days after they found Mathers body; abducted from her bedroom at night; like the previous girls, she has brown hair and wide-set eyes; rescued
Evan Kent: Custodian at both Cleveland & Jefferson High Schools; has a past record of exposure; mid-30's; handsome with dark hair a goatee; has a Virgin Mary tattoo on his arm; suspected as possible killer; fired for lying about his record
Ethan: Susan is pursuing in order to get info about his ex-girlfriend, Molly Palmer, who is involved in a sex scandal with a local Senator
Nedda Carson: Assistant news editor at the Oregon Herald
Ian Harper: Star news editor at the Oregon Herald; Susan's boss; has a ponytail and is married; fucking Susan
Clay Lo: News editor; overweight and wears glasses
Dan McCallum: DEAD: Physics teacher at Cleveland High School; short barrel of a man with an enormous mustache and a ring of keys that pulled down one side of his pants; has a boat that was suspiciously torched in the marina; suspected as possible killer; found dead inside his kitchen-appears that he committed suicide by blowing his brains out with a .38; revealed that Reston killed him and set up scene to look like a suicide; Reston had been "borrowing" McCallum's older, unused boat to dispose of his victims' bodies
Justin Johnson: Susan meets him in the teacher's parking lot of Cleveland High School; nice-looking with a mop of longish hair; tall with clear skin; drives a boxy orange BMW his father gave to him when he split from his mother; Susan is slipped a note anonymously giving her Justin's court-case file number (a sealed juvie record)-was busted when he was 13 y/o trying to sell pot to an undercover cop; turns out that Justin was best friends with the Senator's son-the same Senator that Susan has been investigating for a possible story involving him sleeping with the 14 y/o babysitter (Molly Palmer)
Dr. Fergus: Archie's doctor; mid-50's with graying hair; treated Archie for 6 fractured ribs, lacerations to his torso, stab wound to the abdomen, tox levels dangerously high and an infection caused by his spleen being removed (Gretchen had mailed his spleen with his wallet to the police)
Lorrenzo Robbins: Works for the ME's office; young black man with shoulder-length dreads; informs Archie that Dan's death may not be a suicide
Sarah Rosenberg: Psychologist; curly black hair and in her 40's; has 2 sons; rented house to Gretchen when she was oversees; same house that Archie was abducted from
Darrow Miller: Assistant DA (lawyer); middle-aged with soft features and a receding hairline; has a pronounced belly; meets with Archie and Susan at the prison where Gretchen is incarcerated
Rico: Young Hispanic man that runs surveillance room at prison
Paul Reston (aka After School Strangler): DEAD: Drama teacher at Cleveland High School; slept with Susan when she was his student in high school; became obsessed with Susan and would write her hundreds of letters after she went off to college (she did not write back but destroyed them); revealed that Paul actually raped/forced himself on her when she was messed up about her father's recent death; years later dated Gretchen Lowell who manipulated him into embracing his inner demons which propelled him into serial killing; would abduct, rape and kill girls that resembled Susan when she was his student in high school; in present day-abducts Susan and takes her on the stolen Chris-Craft boat (McCallum's) that he also has Addy Jackson held captive on; killed by shot to the head by a sniper's rifle

After Archie puts the pieces together and figures out that Paul Reston is the After School Strangler and has actually abducted Susan Ward-he tracks them down and boards the boat, hoping to free the hostages. As he is talking to Reston who is holding Susan hostage with a gun to her head, a SWAT team takes position around the boat and a sniper is able to pull off a shot, killing Reston. Later Archie visits Gretchen in prison and learns that she actually had a hand in Reston's killing spree, including the assignment of Susan Ward to profile him. It is revealed that Reston was present and had actually assisted Gretchen when she abducted Archie years back. Archie vows that he will never come visit her again. The book ends with Archie reconciling with his ex-wife and Susan pursuing the Molly Palmer/Senator sex scandal story. It turns out that Molly has decided to talk with Susan about the incident.

My Review: Heartsick features an entwined pair of characters that are memorably drawn in serial killer Gretchen Lowell and police detective Archie Sheridan, who returns to the force after a two year medical absence. HeartSick is tough gritty storytelling with a wonderfully detailed backdrop of Portland, Oregon contributing to what looks to be a new promising series. Every so often, a chapter is inserted that takes us back two years to the ten days that Gretchen held Archie. These chapters are without question the strongest chapters in the book, in large part to Gretchen's unspeakable cruelty and graphic detail of Archie's prolonged torture. What Ms. Cain is going to do for a follow-up and how she'll keep these two compelling characters entwined together should be interesting.

Book Score:8.5/10