A Damned Good Read: Heartsick
I read the scary stuff: Mysteries, thrillers and suspense. The stuff that makes you squirm and think "ewwwwwwww."
As a Librarian I have access to, well...alot of books. I can get advanced reader copies of new titles, but since I'm not in charge of Collection Development anywhere, I just pluck the ones that look like they'll make me have bad dreams. If they do, I recommend them to Acquisitions. I'm also a slave to the NYT bestsellers list, but it's got to be a mystery...I do have my principles. Dean Koontz probably tops my list of favorite authors: his books are intelligent suspense, not just gore.
Lately I've been into crime stories, especially Robert Crais' Elvis Cole mysteries. Robert Crais was a principal writer on the old cop show Hill Street Blues: you see his work more than hear it as you're reading. Elvis is smart, sarcastic, funny, and not living up to his potential. Kind of like me. So as I wait for the early Elvis novels to come in from the branches, I noticed a new mystery author getting a short spot on the NYT list...
Chelsea Cain is an Oregon reporter who has just released Heartsick. The main characters are punk noob journalist Susan Ward, sharing a toke with the high school kids during the interview; Gretchen Lowell, beautiful serial killer who can make a man do anything; Archie Sheridan, damaged detective in love with the monster who killed him. This is a great read, a really surprisingly excellent first novel.
The story line switches between Gretchen and Archie's memories of his kidnapping and torture with Susan's all-access invitation to cover the new, brutal murders of three high school girls. Archie's just back from medical leave, heading the Beauty Killer task force. He visits Gretchen in jail every week: she offers the location of her victim's bodies for his cooperation in her sick mind games. Archie had been victim number 200.
I was kind of spooked at how much I cared about these people. Susan is making all the wrong choices in her life, Archie is wallowing in self-pity and pharmaceuticals...Gretchen is the sickest character I've seen in a LONG time, perhaps even rivaling Hannibal Lecter. Her capacity to inflict pain and kill is bone-chilling.
So anyway...as I mentioned before I'm not much of a blogger but did want to talk about this book. I did try to find the "What are you reading" thread in SiftTalk to spare you this post, and couldn't. If you're into Crime Drama, do check-out Heartsick. It's a damned good read.™
As a Librarian I have access to, well...alot of books. I can get advanced reader copies of new titles, but since I'm not in charge of Collection Development anywhere, I just pluck the ones that look like they'll make me have bad dreams. If they do, I recommend them to Acquisitions. I'm also a slave to the NYT bestsellers list, but it's got to be a mystery...I do have my principles. Dean Koontz probably tops my list of favorite authors: his books are intelligent suspense, not just gore.
Lately I've been into crime stories, especially Robert Crais' Elvis Cole mysteries. Robert Crais was a principal writer on the old cop show Hill Street Blues: you see his work more than hear it as you're reading. Elvis is smart, sarcastic, funny, and not living up to his potential. Kind of like me. So as I wait for the early Elvis novels to come in from the branches, I noticed a new mystery author getting a short spot on the NYT list...
Chelsea Cain is an Oregon reporter who has just released Heartsick. The main characters are punk noob journalist Susan Ward, sharing a toke with the high school kids during the interview; Gretchen Lowell, beautiful serial killer who can make a man do anything; Archie Sheridan, damaged detective in love with the monster who killed him. This is a great read, a really surprisingly excellent first novel. The story line switches between Gretchen and Archie's memories of his kidnapping and torture with Susan's all-access invitation to cover the new, brutal murders of three high school girls. Archie's just back from medical leave, heading the Beauty Killer task force. He visits Gretchen in jail every week: she offers the location of her victim's bodies for his cooperation in her sick mind games. Archie had been victim number 200.
I was kind of spooked at how much I cared about these people. Susan is making all the wrong choices in her life, Archie is wallowing in self-pity and pharmaceuticals...Gretchen is the sickest character I've seen in a LONG time, perhaps even rivaling Hannibal Lecter. Her capacity to inflict pain and kill is bone-chilling.
So anyway...as I mentioned before I'm not much of a blogger but did want to talk about this book. I did try to find the "What are you reading" thread in SiftTalk to spare you this post, and couldn't. If you're into Crime Drama, do check-out Heartsick. It's a damned good read.™
2 Comments
dagComment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)
I don't read too much mystery, but I may have to give this a try. Something about "first" novels are really appealing to me. It's usually before an author has decided to play by the genre rules - and very original.
mlxShe's definitely fresh, dag, I was surprised at how well-defined and honest her characters were. Here's an excerpt. This is set to be a series, I'm really looking forward to the next one.
Discuss...
Enable JavaScript to submit a comment.