Detective Archie Sheridan tracked the sadistic Beauty Killer, Gretchen Lowell, for years before nearly becoming her last victim. Kidnapped and physically and mentally tortured for 10 days, Archie was rescued in the nick of time -- although some days he wonders if surviving was really the best outcome. He's estranged from his wife and children, hooked on various medications and still bears the visible and invisible scars from the ordeal. He also visits Gretchen in prison every Sunday, telling himself it's because she has promised to reveal the locations of more bodies if he will see her. Archie doesn't want to look any deeper than that.

Meanwhile, a new serial killer, dubbed the "After School Strangler," is murdering teenaged girls. Archie's old task force is reconvened and once again citizens are depending on him to keep them safe.

Susan Ward, a feature writer for the Oregon Herald, is asked to write a series of articles profiling Archie. Susan's punk-pink hair and tough-as-nails attitude masks an insecure girl deep inside. She'll need every ounce of attitude to deal with the grisly details of the investigation and to try to get past Archie's carefully constructed walls. In addition, one of the victims went to Susan's old high school, which awakens some demons from the past that Susan thought were long buried.

And through it all, Gretchen Lowell hovers in the background, a beautiful black widow in the middle of a tangled web.

This is a dark book. The flashbacks of Archie's captivity are not for the squeamish. Yet Archie, Susan and Gretchen are such fascinating characters that once you start reading, you won't want to stop. With shelves full of serial-killer books, HEARTSICK stands out, not only because it features a female serial killer who would make Hannibal Lecter proud, but because of Chelsea Cain's ability to evoke a mood or describe a scene with a few well-chosen words. If you like authors such as Tess Gerritsen and Lisa Gardner, you'll love this debut book from a talented new author. (And there will be two more Beauty Killer novels coming in 2008 and 2009.)