Product Description

‘I want you,’ Gretchen said. ‘I’ve always wanted you.’

Investigative journalist Susan Ward is about to print the story of her career – proving long-rumoured allegations about a respected senator’s affair with a young girl. But the day before her story is published, the senator is killed in a car crash.

Detective Archie Sheridan is trying to rebuild a life with his family. But he remains haunted by beautiful, ruthless serial killer Gretchen Lowell – the woman who tortured him then saved his life. Now that she is safely behind bars, Archie is determined to stay away from her. And when a mysterious child leads him to two bodies in Forest Park, Archie must focus his attention on the case.

But then the unthinkable happens: Gretchen escapes. The only thing this gorgeous psychopath cares about is Archie – and with her on the loose, everyone he loves has become a target . . .

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #18324 in Books
• Published on: 2009-02-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Chelsea Cain’s debut Heartsick created quite a stir, with its heady mix of familiar serial killer motifs and some striking innovations (notably the fact that her utterly ruthless murderer was a woman: the beautiful Gretchen Lowell). Cain is very much a member of the cadre of female crime writers who match their male counterparts in extreme, unsparing violence: in other words (as her new book, Sweetheart comprehensively proves), this is a young American writer in the bloody tradition of Tess Gerritsen and Karin Slaughter – and there’s nothing wrong with that.

In fact, Sweetheart is not so much a sequel to Heartsick as a direct continuation of the events of that novel. Some weeks after the events of the first book, Cain’s battered cop protagonist Archie is at the site of the new murder scene at Forest Park. Simultaneously, Susan Ward is reporting on a political case involving statutory rape and making herself very unpopular with her paper -- notably because the senator involved is an intimate of the newspaper’s owners. But then a colleague of Susan’s is killed in what appears to be a car accident, and the lethal Gretchen Lowell, the seductive serial killer of Heartsick, is raped by a guard at the prison where she is incarcerated. He subsequently kills himself, and while Gretchen is being transferred to another prison, she persuades an attendant to commit murder in order to help her escape. And Archie, to his dismay, soon becomes the recipient of the heart of the female prison guard killed in escape.

As all of the above suggests, the plotting here is even more delirious than in the first book -- and this synopsis only hints at the truly bizarre events that Chelsea Cain orchestrates. Even though a moment's consideration might make the narrative seem absurd (and there is some dodgy science incorporated into the plotting), the outrageous panache with which Cain dispatches her material sweeps all reservations aside. For those who care about such things, this is slightly less grisly than its predecessor, but it’s just as entertaining a ride. --Barry Forshaw

Daily Mirror
'Cain is good at weaving in multiple plots and leads while building real suspense.'

Now magazine
'Another classy serial killer thriller...An edgy, compelling nail-biter that more than matches Cain's first book Heartsick. Bloodcurdlingly good!'

Customer Reviews

Chelsea Cain - Sweetheart
The first few chapters draw you in - the discovery of a body in the woods, the reporter, Susan Ward, about to tell all on Senator Castle and then his sudden accidental death and Detective Archie Sheridan re-building his life after the serial killer, Gretchen Lowell.
After that the plot falters with the story line focusing on the Gretchen-Archie relationship form the first book, Heart Sick. This relationship between killer-victim is disturbing but it is not deep enough to be an edge of the seat psychological thriller.
The main characters are not sufficiently developed, it's more of the same and the murders added in this novel are solved as an aside. There is a mysterious child who appears twice but this doesn't go any where.
I also found the style of writing simplistic to the point that it disturbs the flow both in dialogue and prose.
This is so disappointing after the first novel which was a promising debut.

Second time around
I was looking forward to book 2 featuring Archie Sheridan. I didn't expect one of the few female serial killers in modern thrillers to feature quite so heavily. That Gretchen Lovell is a nasty yet confusing character does add to the thrill of the chase. That this book is almost - but not quite - an add-on from Heartsick means that you don't really need to have read the first book before involving yourself in this. In fact, if you hadn't read number 1, this thriller would be a better read!!

I was disappointed, really, although I enjoyed the experience. Chelsea Cain is a good contemporary author with a penchant for gruesome killings in her books. Archie is a detective whose character can be developed but whether I want to read a third novel featuring these two at it yet again is a moot point. Let's have closure on Gretchen Lovell and a way forward for Archie to show us that he is more than just a scarred body - physically and mentally.

Chelsea Cain - Sweetheart
I eagerly anticipated Chelsea's next book, as her first was a 5 star for me. Disappointed is an understatement though.

Archie is still obsessed with Gretchen Lowell, and he finds himself investigating 3 murders, and 2 possible accidents. These murders become so trivial in the end, I have no idea why Chelsea even put them in. Most of the plot is pointless, and leads no-where. It's more or less book one, with a couple of murders added in.

If Chelsea had concentrated on expanding Archie's skills as a detective, and putting him on new murder cases, instead of dwelling on the previous book, Sweetheart could of been more of a compelling read.

Events that happen within the book, are some-what far fetched, and are certainly an 'eye-roller' but there are parts that are still good, and Susan and Bliss are still around to add to that.

I hope Chelsea's next book, if Archie is in it, will let Gretchen fade out more, and let Archie try and recover his life back.