'Heartsick' by Chelsea Cain, 9/29/09

This is the first book review I have written since high school, so it's completely amateur.  I am a newbie at this and hope to get better the more I do it.

The main character in the story is Detective Archie Sheridan. Not only did he spend 10 years trying to capture The Beauty Killer, he became her last victim. You read that right, HER last victim… and the only one she let live. For reasons unknown, Gretchen Lowell turns herself in to save his life.


A couple years later, high school girls are being murdered in Portland, Oregon. Detective Sheridan is now addicted to pain killers and weekly visits with Gretchen. He is taken off medical leave to lead a new task force to find the killer of the high school girls. The catch is that Susan Ward, a reporter, gets to be with him, follow the investigation and write a series of articles all about Sheridan.

Throughout the book the characters are forced to look into their pasts to save more girls from being murdered in the future.

This book was original in the fact that the lead serial killer is female. Gretchen has the ability to bend people to her will without them even realizing it, including Detective Sheridan. The bond between Gretchen and Sheridan is creepy, yet you want to understand what happened as she was torturing him while she held him captive for 10 days that caused him to almost need her after the fact.

Susan Ward seems to be a random person at the beginning of the book, but by the end you want to kick yourself for not seeing her role in the first place. She is feisty and outgoing, doesn’t take ‘no’ for an answer. She does what she needs to in order to get her story.

Many stories you see or shows you watch are all about the technical jargon relating to time and cause of death and the motive of the killer. The major purpose of the story, for me at least, was that the characters connections to each other were more important than the number of people that Gretchen had killed and more important than a time line of death. ‘Heartsick’ was nonstop from the beginning. I couldn’t put it down so I read it in one day.

What I didn’t really like, or at least am not used too, is the lack of total background to one or more of the characters. You don’t really get a sense that you know any of them by the end. However, I think that’s part of the point, you aren’t supposed to truly know any of them.

This is the first in a series of novels. Although I can see where the story could go from the end of this book, I don’t think it needs more for people to enjoy it. It stands well on its own. But, because I like series, I imagine that I will eventually read all of them in time.

One Other Note...

I didn't start keeping track of books that I have read until about a year ago.  So I have read many other things that aren't on the list.   

As you can see from my list of books that I have already read, I really enjoy murder mysteries and I also enjoy series.

All the books that I have read by Patricia Cornwell are in her 'Scarpetta' series.  There are 16 books in that series to date; I will be reading all of them eventually.

All the books by Garth Nix are in a series as well called 'The Keys to the Kingdom.'  For a young reader series, it was really well done and I can't wait for the final one to be out.

The two Suzanne Collins books are part of her 'Hunger Game' series.  These are in the young adult section of your local bookstore.  However, some of the things that the characters go through are mighty emotional, so keep that in mind when recommending books to your children.

You may note that there are no Stephen King novels on my list. I can't seem to get into his books. I have tried a couple of times and given them my 100-page test, but they never pass. Sorry.

I haven't read a lot of 'classics,' but I hope too.  I have a list of books that I want to read; many of them are on my shelves waiting their turn.  So some of the reviews will be about books that many people have already read, but bear with me.

Introduction

Hello!  I wanted my first entry to be an introduction as to who I am and what this blog is about. 

My name is Tara and I currently live in Aurora, Colorado, which is southeast of Denver.  I am a native of this great state and no, I don't ski or snowboard.  It's too expensive.  I went to Front Range Community College where I got an Associates of Art degree.  I then went to Colorado State University in Fort Collins, CO, where I got a Bachelors of Art in History.  Go Rams!

I have always loved to read.  But while in college I didn't get much of a chance to read for pleasure, it was all about reading for classes.  After I graduated I started working for a fairly large company and after 2.5 years of that I couldn't take it anymore.  I was really unhappy with the corporate life.  In October 2008 I quit my job and was unemployed for about 6 months.  There is only so much daytime television that people can watch while unemployed so during that time I started reading again for fun.  I also found that I got really quick at it.  Since the beginning of 2009, I have read about 50 novels.

I have read several different authors this past year.  I am fortunate enough to have great friends who also love to read and have suggested authors and books to me that I would not have normally thought of.  Which is one reason for this blog, I want to hear from everyone about books that they have enjoyed so I can read things I wouldn't normally pick up myself. 

After reading a great book I tend to call or email my friends to talk about them.  But I tend to read quicker than many people I know and I read things that they don't, so I thought I would start a blog to post book reviews.

As I do this you will notice several things about me:
1.  I love thriller/suspense/drama sort of novels.
2.  I read a lot of the same authors.  Once I found one that I love, I try to read everything that person wrote. 
3.  If I enjoy a series I will read all of them pretty much in sequence. 
4.  I read novels of all age levels. 
5.  I doubt you will ever see a review for romance novels. 
6.  I will give a book 100 pages to catch my attention before I put it down.  If for some reason I do not finish a book, I will still post about it. 
7.  These reviews are purely my opinion. 
8.  I read quickly when I am into a book.  I have read a 300-page novel in four hours, that is my quickest time so far.
9.  I will try to post at least once a week.
10.  I am going to review books I read from this point forward.  I have a list of books that I have read this year, if you have questions or comments, just let me know.

I would love for people to share their opinions and suggest authors and books to me.  Please do not be cruel; there is no reason for that.  If you have questions for me, contact me at cobookreader@gmail.com

Thanks!