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: 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 reporter Susan Ward helps 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.
Cain's second Oregon-based thriller brings back the emotionally and physically wounded detective Archie Sheridan and the turquoise-haired investigative reporter Susan Ward. Susan is investigating a senator's impropriety with a 14-year-old babysitter while Archie, still obsessed with the beautiful serial killer who spared his life, is looking into unidentified corpses. When a young woman's body is found, Archie and Susan are brought together in a fast-paced adventure. Carolyn McCormick's precise articulation and bouncy tones seem at first to be better suited to juvenile or young adult narration. At times, the gravelly quality she gives to Archie's speech gets confused with the sultriness of the seductive serial killer. But as the story proceeds, McCormick's voice and Cain's story hit a rhythm like a single beating heart. S.E.S. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine
About the Author
Chelsea Cain lived the first few years of her life on an Iowa commune, then grew up in Bellingham, WA, where the infamous Green River killer was "the boogieman" of her youth. The true story of the Green River killer's capture was the inspiration for the story of Gretchen and Archie. She started writing Heartsick to kill time while she was pregnant. The author of a weekly column in The Oregonian, Cain lives in Portland with her husband and daughter.
