55. Heartsick by Chelsea Cain

Cain’s newest book has been one of the most anticipated new thrillers of the year. Two years ago, police officer Archie Sheridan was head of the Beauty Killer Task Force in Portland, Oregon when he was captured by the killer. Unlike her other victims, cunning serial killer Gretchen Lowell let Archie live after days of torturing him in her hideout and then calling 911 to turn herself in. Now addicted to painkillers, and having left his family, Archie is also addicted to Gretchen and feeds this addiction by visiting her in prison every Sunday. When a new serial killer targets young school girls in the Portland area, Archie decides to go back to work, although he insists that young female reporter Susan Ward must profile him in the local paper during his investigation. While Archie manipulates Susan and what she reports on the new killings to the public, what he doesn’t realize is that Gretchen is ultimately manipulating both Archie and Susan to horrible results.

This has a great twist to the more traditional psychological mysteries that typically have male serial killers. Make no presumptions – Gretchen is a very twisted serial killer and the flashbacks about her holding Archie are not for the squeamish. People will no doubt make comparisons to The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris, but a great setting featuring the cold drizzle of Portland and the struggle with Archie’s addictions help propel this book on its own. Readers of noir and classic pulp mysteries will find much to like about this clever thriller, and I certainly hope to see Archie and Susan again.