Once again, Chelsea Cain has written a compelling thriller with characters you care about. Sweetheart is the sequel to her excellent first thriller, Heartsick. It doesn’t stand alone, so I’d suggest reading Heartsick first.
Investigative journalist Susan Ward – having swopped her Pepto-Bismol Pink hair for Atomic Turquoise – is finally about to print the story of her career. But the day before her expose on Senator Castle is due to appear, he’s killed in a car crash. Is it a coincidence, or foul play?
Meanwhile, Detective Archie Sheridan is trying to rebuild a life with his family. He’s still struggling with both his addiction to prescription medication and his unhealthy obsession with the beautiful serial killer Gretchen Lowell. The discovery of three dead bodies in Forest Park proves a welcome distraction, and the subsequent investigation reconnects him with Susan Ward.
Then Gretchen escapes from prison and comes looking for Archie, putting everyone’s life at risk…
Although the book is violent and at times depressing, Cain has a knack for inserting humour into just the right places, thus adding some much-needed light relief. I loved the scenes with Susan’s hippy mother, Bliss. I hope she shows up in future books. Other secondary characters are also excellent, particularly Archie’s partner, Henry, and his ex-wife, Debbie.
Susan remains true to form. She’s still vulnerable but she has learned from past mistakes, particularly those involving men. In other ways, however, she’s regressed. This is exemplified by her decision to move back in with her mother, dooming herself to sleep in a hammock surrounded by incense sticks and Buddha statues.
Archie is a complex character. I spent the first half of the book frustrated by the way he treats his family and wondered how Cain would redeem him. Although he’s back living in the same house with his family, he’s distanced himself from them, and doesn’t seem to have any real emotional connection with his children anymore. It’s as if he’s going through the motions but has already left them, at least in his mind.
It wasn’t until well into the second half of the story that I realized I’d been missing something crucial about Archie. It’s not about who he became as a result of his torture by Gretchen, but the man he was before that ever happened. And that wasn’t necessarily a nice guy. Once I realized this, I was able to piece together some of the clues which I’d missed in Heartsick.
As for Gretchen: she is as compellingly repulsive as she was in the first book. I’m delighted we’ll see more of her in Chelsea Cain’s third thriller, Evil at Heart!
My only quibble is a minor one: there is a plot thread towards the end involving a cell phone which I found unconvincing. There’s also the identity of the mysterious child left to resolve, but I’m assuming this will carry over into the next book.
Chelsea Cain is definitely an author to watch. If you like character-driven thrillers which don’t stint on action, I would recommend this book unreservedly. Grade: A-
