Evil at Heart (Unabridged) [Audio Download]

Chelsea Cain's third thriller to feature the serial killer, Gretchen Lowell, is the best yet. This time round, the story brings Henry Sobol and Susan Ward a little more into the fold, though it will come as no surprise that Archie Sheridan has another scary ride.

The mainline story seems to unfold in the traditional way, with Archie still facing his demons and the reporter - sorry, journalist - Susan Ward, hoping to get an interview with him. But body parts and corpses turn up and clues do suggest that Lowell is back in business. But is she?

Thankfully, Sheridan sets out to track down the killer and, although it's a little coincidental, Susan, too, is brought into the hunt. From that point, the story is fast-paced; there's scarcely a page without absorbing action and it's a book that just demands you read on - and on.

I don't want to spoil the storyline but there is definitely a host of red herrings before Archie - and Susan - finally have to face the grim outcome of their investigation. And it's not pretty. Chelsea Cain is able to deliver blood and gore in abundance in ways that wil shock most of us and yet we still have to reach the end to see where we go from that point.

Fans, myself included, will be delighted. New readers will certainly not be disappointed with the style and flair she puts into her novels. Oh dear, another year to wait now for her next book.

In EVIL AT HEART, the beautiful and sadistic serial killer, Gretchen Lowell - the Beauty Killer - is back at work, killing people, removing their eyes and spleens and leaving her trademark heart symbol at her scenes. What adds more to the killer's arrogance is her celebrity status - groups of Gretchen fans now flood the internet. When new bodies with Gretchen's M.O. begin turning up all over Portland, detective Henry Sobol with the help of reporter (I mean journalist!) Susan Ward and the only victim of Gretchen's to survive, Archie Sheridan try to find a capture the killer once and for all.

I'd read and thoroughly enjoyed the previous two novels in Chelsea Cain's series (HEARTSICK and SWEETHEART) so couldn't wait to read the next one. Again this one is very, very brutal, gory and descriptive with some of the most grisly and stomach turning crime scenes I have ever read in crime fiction (and I read a lot of them!). The character's are all fantastic - if you take the genius yet insane mind of Hannibal Lector (The Hannibal Saga) mix it with the obsessive nature of Annie Wilkes (Misery), add the sick torture skills of Jigsaw (Saw) and the beauty and seductiveness of Catherine Tramell (Basic Instinct), you'll begin to get some idea of what Chelsea Cain's character Gretchen Lowell is like. Archie is disturbed and dealing with his haunting past at the hands of Gretchen, yet not regretting having the affair and leaving his family, he is addicted to Vicodin and living in a mental institution. Susan is an up-and-coming journalist that will do anything to get an exclusive, including breaking and entering, riding along with Henry and generally not listening to what she is being told to do. Henry is the tough-guy cop who I really like, however not enough is given away about him.

I enjoyed this book and read it in no time at all. It is a great follow-on from the previous two but could easily be read as a standalone. I knock a star off as although there are plenty of murders, Gretchen doesn't appear in this one very much (which is explained), otherwise this would have gotten a full 5 stars from me. A highly recommended read and I can't wait to read Cain's next novel now.

Having already read Heartsick and Sweetheart by Chelsea Cain I couldn't wait to get stuck into this the third instalment.
Although this could be read as a standalone novel I really would recommend you read them in order to get the full history and understand the characters better.

In Evil at Heart the obsessive relationship between the 'Beauty Killer' Gretchen Lowell and Detective Archie Sheridan continues where it left off at the end of Sweetheart. At the end of the previous novel escaped serial killer Gretchen Lowell and Cop Archie Sheridan make a deal - he won't commit suicide and she won't kill anymore. Two months on he's in hospital fighting his addiction to painkillers and she's broken her end of the deal.

Elevated by the media to some sort of celebrity status, Gretchen's face is on billboards, buses, magazine covers, there's been a paperback, fan websites are springing up all over the place and she's still on the loose. The media hype has led to her being accredited with not just national but global murders too. As the body count grows, so does the publics fascination with this killer.

Chelsea Cain is a master of the disturbing and psychological thriller and her detailed depiction of the crimes and crime scenes are pretty gruesome so this maybe wouldn't be the best choice for someone who is squeamish. The characterisation is another area that this author excels in and again it's brilliantly done with reporter Susan Ward and Detective Henry Sobol coming more to the fore than previously.

Unlike the previous two novels I didn't really feel that this one really got going until halfway through, but from then on once again I was fully immersed in the characters and the storyline until it reached its gripping conclusion. Now I just can't wait for the next one.