a Book Review

Tonight I am posting 2 book reviews that I put up on a book site I belong to. This series I have started by Chelsea Cain is very good, but the lead Archie Sheridan has me bugging. He is such a pitiful character, addicted to pain meds thanks to what baddie Gretchen Lowell did to him, and just a mental mess, it still is upsetting me.

Heartsick
Chelsea Cain

Detective Archie Sheridan has been after the Beauty Killer for 10 years. In a sick twist he is lured and then held captive by the very beautiful but psychopathic Gretchen Lowell and tortured for 10 days. Brought out of his retirement by another serial killer who is murdering sophmore girls, Archie is a tormented soul. Addicted to pain meds, he lives in a haze most of the time. Sadly, he can no longer live at home with his wife and children even though he loves them so, and he is most at peace after his Sunday visits with Gretchen.
Each visit he hopes to learn the location of another of the over 200 victims she has dumped. When she tells him, she then follows with the horrific details of what she did to them. It is for this reason that he can't find it in him to stop seeing her. He wants the family's to have closure and their loved one back.

A reporter, Susan Ward, is assigned to follow Archie and do a profile on him, while he conducts the investigation, dubbed the After School Killer. It is an intense read, with some very sad asspects, between what's become of Archie's life and the girls who have been murdered.
Well worth the time, and I will definitely be continuing the series with Sweetheart next.

Sweetheart
By Chelsea Cain
Psyco Thriller
Let me preface this by saying, I never ever should have kept reading till it was so late. Once I saw I only had about a hundred pgs left, I just stayed up. The results were such a state of agitation that I couldn’t fall asleep. This book had me so wound up, that even now I’m still pissed.

Archie is a blooming idiot!! And yes I am projecting my peeves onto him. Another crop of bodies are turning up in the park, and Archie is going to find out who did this. He has moved back home, even though he is faking through his teeth and is far from happy. Still popping the pills, and no longer seeing Gretchen for their weekly visits, the only light is that he is seeing the psychologist whose home Gretchen Lowell rented and then lured Archie too in book one. Which, quite frankly is a little freaky too.

The spillover from the first book is Molly Palmer, a stripper who was once the Senator’s babysitter for his children. The rumor is that the Senator had an affair with her but nothing was ever proven. Susan is the reporter who is trying to get to the bottom of the story and have the Senator outted once and for all.In the midst of this, Gretchen has been “raped” in prison and she’ll only talk to Archie. This is found out during his daughter’s birthday party, and his wife pleads with him not to go, one more day won’t matter. Of course he can’t not go, it’s the love of his life! When he gets there, her arms are bruised, she has four broken ribs and a broken collar bone. He is furious and sickeningly enough, jealous that someone else was with her. He entwines his fingers in hers, and the whole thing makes me want to vomit. When he steps out to get more info, his ever present partner Henry who never lets him go see her alone, tells her, “amazing how he didn’t touch your face.” Usually Gretchen ignores Henry but this time she zings him with her remark along the lines of let’s see who wins Archie in the end.

Needless to say the whole thing was a ploy by Gretchen knowing exactly what this visit would prompt and she manages to escape. I’ll let you see how she does it. Truly his wife Debbie should have just done her in, somehow she could have gotten Gretchen to agree to see her since Gretchen is also a megalomaniac and wouldn't have been able to resist that, and just kill her once and for all. I don’t know, a baseball bat to the head like Donny from Inglorious Bastards, that would work well. I’ll be a monkey’s uncle if some psychopathic bitch is going to get my husband.

Yes, I will read the book 3 to see what poor stupid pitiful Archie does next. Sadly I can’t resist, for Gretchen has weaved her web around me and I’m ensnared as well.

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I finished one of my submissions for the MM book, but I can't share it here, since it can only be never before seen pieces. I am truly happy with it though, so you'll have to take my word for it ;) Oh and if you haven't seen Inglorious Bastards, rent it, it was great. Went to see Cop Out tonight with Hubs, the one with Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan, hysterical!! It was awesome to see some of Brooklyn in it, like Spumoni Gardens, which I blogged about during my summer posts on going home!

I'll try to get some form of scrapping on her during the week in the meantime, enjoy the rest of your weekends!