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A review by katiescho741
Heartsick by Chelsea Cain
3.0
I don't usually read Crime Fiction, but I was drawn to this one when I learnt it had a twisted female serial killer who seemed to have this detective under her thumb. Gretchen is a brilliant character and I liked that she seemed to commit violence because she liked it. Detective Archie is the other side of her coin and he was interesting because of how super broken he was. I liked that it started with the moment Archie found out that Gretchen was the killer.
Unfortunately, their story is the side plot of a pretty weak main story about the "After School Killer". I enjoyed the main story chapters well enough but as the book went on I realised I was waiting to get back to Gretchen and Archie and when she did to him for 10 days. I felt that things were teased but never quite revealed properly - like his ex-wife says something like "Everytime he was with me and the kids he looked like he wanted to tear his eyes out", and I was waiting for the Nineteen Eighty Four-style mental torture scene to explain this but it never came. Don't get me wrong, the things that were described were grim as fuck, but it felt like the author was holding back in order to keep it mainstream Crime Fiction.
Perhaps the sequels will expain more of their time together but I wish there'd been more of it in Heartsick. It was a quick and easy read though, and worth a look if you want a female serial killer.
Unfortunately, their story is the side plot of a pretty weak main story about the "After School Killer". I enjoyed the main story chapters well enough but as the book went on I realised I was waiting to get back to Gretchen and Archie and when she did to him for 10 days. I felt that things were teased but never quite revealed properly - like his ex-wife says something like "Everytime he was with me and the kids he looked like he wanted to tear his eyes out", and I was waiting for the Nineteen Eighty Four-style mental torture scene to explain this but it never came. Don't get me wrong, the things that were described were grim as fuck, but it felt like the author was holding back in order to keep it mainstream Crime Fiction.
Perhaps the sequels will expain more of their time together but I wish there'd been more of it in Heartsick. It was a quick and easy read though, and worth a look if you want a female serial killer.