16. One Kick - Chelsea Cain

# 1 in a new series about Kit Lannigan

Audio read by Heather Lind

8 unabridged discs

2014 Simon & Schuster

309 pgs.

Adult murder mystery

Finished 2/20/2015

Goodreads rating:  3.77

My rating:    3.5 I liked it

TPPL

Setting: mostly Oregon/Washington and a bit of SanDiego - contemporary

1st sentence/s:

My comments:  Whew!  So what do I think about this book?  Setting, plot, characters, let's see.  Plot, though horribly grizzly, was well conceived and written in an interesting way; jumping back and forth on itself as memories from Kit's kidnapped years keep appearing. There are really three mysteries being examined - current abductions, Kit's abduction, and the mysterious identity and intentions of John Bishop. The setting flips between the American northwest and the San Diego area. The only character I couldn't totally get into was that of the protagonist!  She was so cockily sure of herself, but many of her actions were immature and poorly thought-out.  I felt no sexual pull at all between Kit and Bishop, so when it began straying in that direction, I was disconcerted.  I want to know more information about her "brother", James, and look forward to another book that might answer many of the questions that Kit ... and I ... have about Bishop.

Goodreads book summary:  Kick Lannigan, 21, is a survivor. Abducted at age six in broad daylight, the police, the public, perhaps even her family assumed the worst had occurred. And then Kathleen Lannigan was found, alive, six years later. In the early months following her freedom, as Kick struggled with PTSD, her parents put her through a litany of therapies, but nothing helped until the detective who rescued her suggested Kick learn to fight. Before she was thirteen, Kick learned marksmanship, martial arts, boxing, archery, and knife throwing. She excelled at every one, vowing she would never be victimized again. But when two children in the Portland area go missing in the same month, Kick goes into a tailspin. Then an enigmatic man Bishop approaches her with a proposition: he is convinced Kick's experiences and expertise can be used to help rescue the abductees. Little does Kick know the case will lead directly into her terrifying past…

15. Let Me Go - Chelsea Cain

Archie Sheridan (& Gretchen Lowell) #6

Audio read by Christina Delaine

10 unabridged cds

2013 Macmillan Audio

358 pgs.

Adult Murder Mystery

Finished 3/9/2014

Goodreads Rating: 3.96

My Rating: 3/Liked it

TPPL

Contemporary Portland, Oregon

Goodreads has a page about this series here.

My comments:  3 is "liked it."  I did.  This installment included some flashbacks from Archie and Gretchen's initial liaisons - which helped me more fully understand Archie's fascination with her. However, I cannot understand his feelings for Susan.  At all.  Maybe it's the way the reader of this audio makes her sound - but to me she's immature, outspoken, selfish and....in many ways....stupid. These stories always fascinate me, and I'm hoping for more, but I'm glad I'm finished with the ones that are currently out so that I can take a little Archie Sheridan break.

Goodreads Review:   Detective Archie Sheridan is about to receive a birthday present from the last person he ever wants to see again: Gretchen Lowell
          The investigation into Jack Reynolds's drug enterprise is heating up and has Archie heading off to attend a masked Halloween party on Jack Reynolds's island, where Susan is a reluctant guest. But the next morning one of the guests is found murdered, and Archie quickly realizes that nothing is what it seems. Only one thing is clear: Gretchen is back, and she's been closer than anyone thinks. On Halloween Eve, with time running out, Archie will have to risk everything, and choose wisely whom to trust, if he and his loved ones are going to live through the night.

13. Kill You Twice - Chelsea Cain

Archie Sheridan/Gretchen Lowell #5

Audio read by Christina Delaine (really well, I might say....)

9 unabridged cds

2012 Macmillan Audio Books

326 pgs.

Adult Murder Mystery

Finished 2/27/2014

Goodreads Rating: 4.12

My Rating: 5 

TPPL

Setting: Contemporary Portland, Oregon

My comments:  I can't believe how much I like (I can't really say "enjoy") these ultra-grizzly stories.  But Chelsea Cain certainly does know how to spin a tale.  Good people...bad people....conflicted people....and people that are just plain nuts....are all represented here. This is a fascinating look into the human mind.

Goodreads Review:  Nothing makes Portland detective Archie Sheridan happier than knowing that Gretchen Lowell, the serial killer whose stunning beauty is belied by the gruesome murders she's committed, is locked away in a psych ward. Archie can finally heal from the near-fatal physical and emotional wounds she's inflicted on him and start moving on with his life.

          To this end, Archie throws himself into the latest case to come across his desk: A cyclist has discovered a corpse in Mount Tabor Park on the eastern side of Portland. The man was gagged, skinned, and found hanging by his wrists from a tree. It's the work of a killer bold and clever enough to torture his victim for hours on a sunny summer morning in a big public park and yet leave no trace.
          And then Archie gets a message he can't ignore. Gretchen claims to have inside knowledge about this grisly murder. Archie finally agrees to visit Gretchen, because he can't risk losing his only lead in the case. At least, that's what he tells himself . . . but the ties between Archie and Gretchen have always been stronger, deeper, and more complex than he's willing to admit, even to himself. What game is she playing this time? And even more frightening, what long-hidden secrets from Gretchen's past have been dredged up that someone would kill to protect?
          At once terrifying and magnetic, Beauty Killer's Gretchen Lowell returns with a vengeance in Kill You Twice, Chelsea Cain's latest razor-sharp psychological thriller.

8. The Night Season - Chelsea Cain

#4 Archie Sheridan

audio read by Christina Delaine

7 unabridged cds

2011, Macmillan Audio

322 pgs.

Adult murder mystery

Finished 2/2/2014

Goodreads Rating:  3.84

My Rating: 4/It was very, very good

Acquired: PBS

Setting: Portland, Oregon

My comments:  It was with relief that I realized there was no horrible body mutilation and painful death as in the previous installments that included Gretchen Lowell.  The Night Season is more about flooding - in downtown Portland, Oregon, no less - drowning, and another serial killer.  This is as much Susan's story as it is Archie's, a quick, not-quite-so-heavy read as the previous in the series.

Goodreads Review: He captured the Beauty Killer, one of the most deranged serial killers in the country. Now, Portland police detective Archie Sheridan faces a different kind of killer - a brutal rain season that has flooded the Willamette River, claiming several lives. As water levels rise, so does the fear. Because some of the victims didn't drown;they were murdered.  The first body contains a rare poison. Three others prove to be murders as well. And with each gruesome discovery the medical examiner uncovers, Archie begins to realize he has not escaped his nightmares, even with his deadliest enemy behind bars. The flood has washed up old skeletons from the past. And a ruthless new serial killer rules the night¦

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?

3. Sweetheart - Chelsea Cain

#2 Archie Sheridan/Gretchen Lowell ("the Beauty Killer")

audio read by Carolyn McCormick

8 discs, 9.5 hours

2008, Macmillan Audio

328 pages

Murder Mystery (pretty grisly) written for adults

finished Sat. 1-12-13

Goodreads rating:  3.97

My rating:  4 Liked it, despite a tiny bit of wondering if one part of the scenario would really happen...

Acquired through PBS

Setting:  contemporary Portland, Oregon

1^st sentence/s  "Forest Park was pretty in the summer.  Portland's ash sky was barely visible behind a canopy of aspens, hemlock, cedars,and maples that filtered the light to a shimmering pale green."

Goodreads Review:

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.

My comments

Oh, Archie, how can you let yourself become so obsessed by Gretchen, so addicted to pain killers, and stay such a likable guy?  This second story in the series added the dimension of newspaper reporter Susan Ward and her research into the past of senator who had years previously had a fling with a 14-year old.  Susan is a 28 year old turquoise-haired, cigarette-puffing, almost-Stephanie-Plum-like character who becomes the unlikely sidekick to Archie and his partner, Henry.  Her mother, a white-haired, dreadlocked old hippie, is a hoot, and her antics are a slightly humorous addition to the story.  And at the end, Gretchen is on the loose again....

16. HeartSick - Chelsea Cain

#1 Archie Sheridan/Gretchen Lowell
Audio read by Carolyn McCormick
Audio Renaissance, 2007
7 unabridged cds
10.5 hrs.
336 pages
Rating: 5

This was quite an unusual story. Archie Sheridan is a savvy Portland, Oregon police detective who spent ten years heading up the task force looking for the Beauty Killer. But then, she caught him. Gretchen Lowell is gorgeous. She is also psychopathic. She mutilates her victims while they are awake and feeling. She is loving to them.....and kills them slowly. She does the same to Archie Sheridan. She feeds him all sorts of drugs, including hallucinogens. She breaks ribs with nails and a hammer. She removes his spleen. She carves up his chest with an Exacto knife. And then she poisons him by having him drink drain cleaner. All this without anesthesia.

Gretchen has always killed her victims, numbering 200. However, she spares Archie and allows herself to be caught and jailed. Now, two years later, Archie, totally addicted to various pain killers in large quantities, goes back to work heading another task force, to find a new serial killer that's killing 15 year-old schoolgirls.

The story weaves in and around Archie's current investigations, his memories of the time he was abused by Gretchen, his Sunday visits with Gretchen in prison, and the thoughts and life of Susan Ward, the mid-twenties journalist who has been assigned to profile Archie for the Portland Herald. Pink-haired, frisky, smart, and flawed by her father's death when she was 14, she is a character that pulls us in and makes us like her whether we want to or not.

And what a story this is. It was absolutely mesmerising. I can't wait to find out what's in store for the next installment. It looks like Chelsea Cain has just published her fourth about Archie Sheridan and Gretchen Lowell. I hope they all include Susan, too.

Next books in the series: Sweetheart, Evil at Heart, and Night Season, which was just published four days ago.