26. Evil at Heart - Chelsea Cain

#3 Archie Sheridan/Gretchen Lowell

Audio read by Carolyn McCormick

8 unabridged cds

McMillan Audio, 2009

345 pgs.

Goodreads rating: 3.98
My rating:  4/Really, really good
Read on the ride from Maine through probably Ohio, August 2013

Genre: Murder Mystery (adult, of course)

Setting: contemporary Portland, Oregon

My comments:  Chelsea Cain is certainly a master storyteller, and her stories aren't pretty.  I have a huge aversion to cutting the skin and this is Gretchen Lowell's forte; sad for me, because I find this continuing story extremely fascinating. This one is particularly grizzly. Gretchen has made Archie a troubled soul, a pill-popping drug addict,and she never lets up.  What is truth and what is lies?  Are there elements of truth in every lie....are there elements of falsehood in all truth? 

Goodreads summary: Gretchen Lowell is still on the loose. These days, she’s more of a cause célèbre than a feared killer, thanks to sensationalist news coverage that has made her a star. Her face graces magazine covers weekly and there have been sightings of her around the world. Most shocking of all,Portland Herald reporter Susan Ward has uncovered a bizarre kind of fan club, which celebrates the number of days she’s been free.Archie Sheridan hunted her for a decade, and after his last ploy to catch her went spectacularly wrong, remains hospitalized months later. When they last spoke, they entered a détente of sorts---Archie agreed not to kill himself if she agreed not to kill anyone else. But when a new body is found accompanied by Gretchen’s trademark heart, all bets are off and Archie is forced back into action. Has the Beauty Killer returned to her gruesome ways, or has the cult surrounding her created a whole new evil?