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Nabaza.net-The MarketPlace - Sweetheart
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List Price: $24.95
Our Price: $16.47
Your Save: $ 8.48 ( 34% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Minotaur
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Average Customer Rating:   
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9780312368470
ISBN: 031236847X
Label: St. Martin's Minotaur
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Minotaur
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 336
Publication Date: 2008-09-02
Publisher: St. Martin's Minotaur
Release Date: 2008-09-02
Studio: St. Martin's Minotaur
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Editorial Reviews:
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With Heartsick, Chelsea Cain took the crime world by storm, introducing two of the most compelling characters in decades: serial killer Gretchen Lowell and her obsessed pursuer Portland Detective Archie Sheridan. The book spent four weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and garnered rave reviews around the world. But the riveting story of Archie and Gretchen was left unfinished, and now Chelsea Cain picks up the tale again.
When the body of a young woman is discovered in Portland’s Forest Park, Archie is reminded of the last time they found a body there, more than a decade ago: it turned out to be the Beauty Killer’s first victim, and Archie’s first case. This body can't be one of Gretchen's—she’s in prison—but after help from reporter Susan Ward uncovers the dead woman's identity, it turns into another big case. Trouble is, Archie can't focus on the new investigation because the Beauty Killer case has exploded: Gretchen Lowell has escaped from prison.
Archie hadn't seen her in two months; he'd moved back in with his family and sworn off visiting her. Though it should feel like progress, he actually feels worse. The news of her escape spreads like wildfire, but secretly, he's relieved. He knows he's the only one who can catch her, and in fact, he has a plan to get out from under her thumb once and for all.
Chelsea Cain has topped her own bestselling debut thriller with this unputdownable, unpredictable, edge-of-your-seat read.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: great sequel
Comment: This was a terrfic sequel - i bought the original and this book for my daughter to read. Archie continues to be troubled and looking for resolution. When Gretchen calls him darling its chilling .... cant wait for the next book !!!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Eyes wide open...
Comment: Eyes wide open...
Chelsea Cain's latest offering Sweetheart, like Heartsick, reads like the interaction of various conscious and unconscious mental or emotional processes, especially as they influence personality, behavior, and attitudes.
I would not recommend reading this book before going to bed! Modern, Gruesome, Psychodynamic. --Katharena Eiermann, 2008
Customer Rating:
Summary: Reaching the Tipping Point
Comment:
After reading her first novel, "Heartsick", I was pretty eager to read this follow-up. And again, we have a tense, gripping story of psychopathology as detective Archie Sheridan - aided by his friend Henry Sobol and reporter Susan Ward - try to track down the perpetrator of a series of murders in the Portland, Oregon area.
Archie seems to be on the road to recovery from his addictions to Gretchen Lowell, the Beauty Killer he captured some years ago, and prescription painkillers. He's moved back into his home with his wife and kids, and has stopped his weekly visits to Gretchen in prison.
But the current case endangers all the progress he's made, and threatens to destroy all he's achieved.
I enjoyed this book, but I have to say that I'm starting to lose my sympathy for Archie. Yeah, he made real strides forward as this novel begins, but the fact that he relapses so badly - and I'm not giving away anything that doesn't happen pretty early in the story - has brought me to the point where I'm starting to feel this guy needs someone to give him a swift kick in the butt.
It's very possible to have a continuing series centered on flawed characters; when done well, it makes for compelling reading. Dave Robicheaux's an alcoholic; Harry Bosch is riddled with melancholy; Bob Lee Swagger is trying to deal with the effects on his skills of advancing age.
But Archie Sheridan is absolutely WALLOWING in abject self-pity, and frankly, it's getting very hard to take. I personally have very little to no sympathy for that quality in people.
If this series is going to continue, Cain's going to have to find some way to resolve this and move the character forward.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Sweetheart's pretty Heartsick...
Comment: I had a very difficult time getting into this novel. It seemed to be a repeat of Heartsick - same people, same problems. Sure, Gretchen's in jail but she's still got Archie captive - but she doesn't need physical restraints anymore because he's so mentally dependent on her now. He's back on the job but with only half a mind because he's trying to pull his life back together, or make people think he is. When Gretchen escapes from prison, all bets are off. Archie drops his current case and decides he's the only one who can catch Gretchen - but at this point the obsession is mutual.
I'm afraid I can't recommend this as a great read - see some of my other reviews for better suspense novels. Or try the author's first book if you haven't already read it.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Very disappointing sequel
Comment: This novel was such a disappointment. We were introduced to author Chelsea Cain with her first novel HEARTSICK. It was an intriguing psychological thriller that also first introduced us to the main characters serial killer Gretchen Lowell and her only surviving victim - detective Archie Sheridan. I would rate HEARTSICK very highly. The characterizations were pretty believable and she made the ongoing relationship between Gretchen and Archie believable. There was also a major plot of another serial killer. This novel was very suspenseful and at times shocking. A very promising debut for Ms. Cain.
Second novels are usually where we see what an author is truly made of. If they had an impressive debut does the talent carry on or even possibly grow. Some authors are one hit wonders. Having second novels be sequels to the first can also be a difficult task. Yes, the characters are ones readers are used to but there must be a purpose to the conitinuation of the story,. For me everything excellent about the first is totally lost in SWEETHEART. The relationship between Gretchen and Archie is still a strong focal point but the believable insightful characterizations are gone. Archie's actions and lingering attraction/need for Gretchen which made sense in HEARTSICK make no sense here. The reader must suspend much belief with this novel. i found myself scipping through the book after reading more than half so I could finish it.
There is again a plot of other murders and here the plot line lacks any suspense or intruigue. And most important the relationship between Gretchen and Archie that carried the first book is no longer a great psychological character study. There was honestly no reason to bring these characters back for the lackluster plot and poorly conceived developments. There was comparison to Hannibal and Clarise from SILENCE OF THE LAMBS with HEARTSICK. I don't know if they were that well developed but they certainly were interesting.
I read SWEETHEART and must admit I found no suspense at all. The readers were totally let down with a very subpar secondary literary attempt. It is so sad for there was much expectation here. Archie and Gretchen have lost all substance and hopefully this is the last we see of them and Ms. Cain will proceed to new territory with her next novel and hopefully she will again be capable of the literary level that she seemed to possess with HEARTSICK.
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