Heartsick

By: Chelsea Cain

Narrated by: Carolyn McCormick

Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

Don't miss this Heartsick extra: Chelsea Cain'svideo tour of Portland! Then listen to Heartsick's sequel, Sweetheart.

©2007 Verite, Inc. (P)2007 Audio Renaissance, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishers LLC

Critic reviews

“Heartsick has it all: a tortured cop, a fearless and quirky heroine, and what may be the creepiest serial killer ever created. This is an addictive read!” —Tess Gerritsen, author of The Mephisto Club

“Chelsea Cain's novel is completely entrancing and totally original--what a read. Between the humanity of Portland cop Archie Sheridan and the chilling and twisted design of his beautiful nemesis, Gretchen Lowell, Heartsick is utterly unforgettable. Cain is a wonderful--and terrifying--storyteller.” —Dominick Dunne

“Law & Order¹s Carolyn McCormick does a mean female-serial-killer voice, bringing Cain¹s haunting horror story to life.” —People on Heartsick

Too Slow....

Way too slow! I thought it would never end.

Not bad first novel-common plot however

I downloaded this primarily because it's set in my home town, Portland. It's always interesting to listen to locale mispronunciation-however thats not a problem with this book thank goodness. The problem is that the plot is not at all unique and character development leaves a little to be desired.

Carolyn McCormick did very well as narrator and brought emotion into the story, but the story itself lacked anything different from many other serial killer novels. Cain does do a good job on dialogue and descriptive scenes, it's just that this has been written so many times before.

I wouldn't count this as a totally wonderful book, but it's not a looser either. It's basically an average mystery/psychological thriller...I have bought the second book in the series prior to listening to the first so I'm already hooked in to listening to it. Novelists can get better as they progress and I sincerely hope Cain does with her next book.

A basic 3 star average book.

Narrator made me Heartsick

Absolutely love Chelsea and her stories. This narrator nearly killed this book. If it weren’t for the amazing story, I would’ve been done. A period in a sentence means PAUSE. She ran sentences on, her Gretchen voice was horrible, and she had the intonations all wrong.
Why was this approved for this book?!
Also, CODIS, is pronounced with a long “O”, and is not “coitus”, which means “sex”, you idiot!
What idiot in thriller/crime novel genre downs t know how these acronyms are pronounced? You can figure that out watching Dateline. 🙄

wow! A masterpiece

best book ever! I will most definitely keep this in my library to listen to again this is the first book in a long time that I haven't gotten bored with. I even took my lunch every day and listen to it the whole time with my headphones on. the narrator was amazing how she use different voices and you knew who was speaking even before she read who is speaking

Read It!

Gave me the heebie jeebies.....in a good way!! Will definitely be reading the next one!

Suspenseful

This book is a great one for anyone who loves true crime and serial killers! The relationship between the main characters is so well written and the story flows giving you surprises at every turn. It's also great for anyone from the northwest because it's based there and there are tidbits about the area throughout it!

Absolutely wonderful

I have read this book 3 times and just finished listening to it for the first time. Let me tell you what... I had a hard time not listening to this. I would get so lost in the story in the most brilliant way. This book has been one of my top favorites since I first read it. Heart Sick has everything that I love to read about! I can't wait to get the rest of this series on here! I love it!!!!!!

Enjoyed it more than I thought I would

I enjoyed this title more than I thought I would. Carolyn McCormick is an excellent narrator and Chelsea Cain's plot is riveting. The relationship between Archie and Rachel is truly disturbing in that "I just can't turn away" fashion. Definitely I must add series!!!!

Awesome

Loved the story!! Wonderful narration. Looking so forward to the rest of the series.

Truly terrible waste of time. Ugly & Implausible

Any additional comments?

we are asked to believe that the detective in charge of the new serial killer case is chosen because he had been in charge of an earlier serial killer case -- one which took TEN years for him to solve and then only because the klller confessed after picturesquely torturing him and then enslaving him to her in a Stockholm Syndromesque absurd scenario.

One of the worst thrillers (?) I've ever listened to.