This Girl's a Real Heartbreaker
When it comes to serial killer novels, of which there have been 2,147,858 (by actual count) in the past quarter-century, it is really, really hard to come up with something wholly original, and let me say right off that "Heartsick" (St. Martin's Minotaur, 324 pages, $23.95), the stunning novel by Chelsea Cain, is no exception.
It is impossible to read a book about a brilliant serial killer without conjuring images of Thomas Harris's Hannibal Lecter, and Ms. Cain quite properly sends a little curtsy to Mr. Harris by having one of her characters jokingly referred to as Clarice Starling. Since the relentlessly evil murderer in this novel is a beautiful woman, a more accurate comparison would be to the amoral central figure in Thomas Perry's best seller, "Nightlife," who had to practice facial expressions in front of a mirror so that she could project a look of happiness or anger or sorrow.
Gretchen Lowell is a stunning blonde who happens to have been responsible for torturing and killing 199 young women during a period of several years. A special task force is formed to find her so, for her 200th victim, she has chosen Detective Archie Sheridan, the head of the unit.
Archie is completely in her power, tied and taped and drugged, utterly helpless, and she has decided to release on him all the terrible knowledge she has accumulated. Instead of the few days she usually needs to slowly kill her prey, she informs Archie that she will take 10 days with him. "Whatever you think this is going to be like," she softly whispers into his ear, her perfect mouth just inches away, "it's going to be worse."
She hammers nails into his chest, breaking one rib after another. She uses a scalpel to cut him again and again, culminating with a little heart carved into his chest. She forces him to drink cleaning fluid, but just a little at a time, followed by a drink of water, so that he doesn't die too quickly.
Gretchen uses every bit of the 10 days to ruin him so completely that he doesn't care whether he lives or dies — in fact, he welcomes the prospect of his imminent doom. I am giving nothing away to disclose that, unexpectedly and irrationally, she then calls 9-1-1 to save his life and turn herself in.
Meanwhile, as in "Red Dragon" and "The Silence of the Lambs," while the main, compulsively fascinating psychopath is in a jail cell, another serial killer is on the loose. Archie, his life in shambles, addicted to pain killers and other drugs, is put in charge of the case.
While hunting for the killer of three attractive teenaged girls, and a fourth recently abducted, Archie permits Susan Ward, a talented (if pink-haired) reporter to write feature stories about himself and his ordeal with Gretchen, whom he visits every Sunday, hoping to learn the identities and whereabouts of her victims. And also because she still holds him in thrall. He knows it's odd, even perverted, to be obsessed with someone capable of the nearly unimaginable depravities she visited upon him, but even the pleadings and threats of his wife and his police partner are inadequate to break the hypnotic hold she maintains. The publisher has made the decision to promote this book more enthusiastically than most novelists even dream about, allocating $250,000 to make sure everyone knows about "Heartsick," and it seems to me that they picked the right book.
Chelsea Cain has a straightforward prose style that gives the reader no opportunity to stop turning pages. A fast-paced narrative focusing on the current case is repeatedly interrupted by flashback scenes of torture so ripe with suspense that they seem almost unbearable — and not for the faint of heart.
In its zeal to get readers hooked, however, the publisher has already announced that at least two more books will follow in the series. No word about whether they will feature the detective, but we know Gretchen will be back. I'm not sure I wanted to know that. Oh, and there's a gimmick. Bound into each book is a compact disc holding additional clues. I was so absorbed that I forgot about it entirely and wager that you will, too. The claim is that the CD will help us understand the motivation behind it all. You mean it's important to know why someone who tortured and killed 199 innocent people did it? It's a white-knuckle read, right from page one. That's enough.
Maybe someday I'll listen to the CD. But I doubt it.
Mr. Penzler is the proprietor of the Mysterious Bookshop in Manhattan and the series editor of the annual "Best American Mystery Stories." He can be reached at otto penzler@mysteriousbookshop.com.
