Chelsea Cain has created one of the most chilling yet charming serial killers -- a worthy successor to Hannibal Lector -- with Gretchen Lowell, the so-called Beauty Killer - a stunningly beautiful seductive blond who really, really, really enjoys her vocation. But wait! There's more! Mix in Archie Sheridan, the police detective she kidnaps and tortures for 10 days .... but doesn't kill ... who falls in love/becomes enthralled by her. The two embark on a tap-dance of fascination, revulsion, cat-and-mouse games co-dependent relationship that tears apart Archie's life and family. It's a stunningly original premise for a mystery series, beginning with Heartsick in 2007, and continuing into its fifth installment Kill You Twice. This is NOT a series for the squeamish, as Gretchen's myriad methods of murder are lovingly described in gut churning grisly detail. Cain's books are compulsively readable - as you wonder what Gretchen won't do next ....
Cain has put the thrill back into the thriller genre.
|