I'm not totally sure why I didn't like Chelsea Cain's
Heartsick, but I didn't. So let me put on my critical cap and see if I can "count the ways."
1)
Heartsick actually deals with two serial killers. Its mainline story is a killer of teenage girls, with the primary detective on the case being a man who is sort of recovering from being held prisoner and tortured by a female serial killer who is now in jail and whom he visits every Sunday. The sections dealing with the female serial killer, flashbacks and present time, are cool in a pleasantly twisted way. Those dealing with the case being investigated are pretty much dull and predictable. Maybe a book, like a motion or subject for debate, should only deal with one major subject. I dunno. I hate literary "rules," but what Ms Cain tried to do in
Heartsick just plain didn't work—IMHO, of course.
2) The group of detectives working the case included, among others, two women—one white, one black. Cain gave the black woman a character, a history and family. The other one had a name. If I ever learned anything more than her name, it didn't stick. And when they showed up together in scenes, which happened frequently, I spent a lot of time struggling to remember which name was the black woman and which name was just the name. So I spent a good deal of reading time both frustrated and annoyed. I had a similar problem with the two primary suspects, both high school teachers, but by story's end I could tell them apart.
3) Two grammatical errors stopped me dead. One was a verb not agreeing a collective noun, but collective nouns seem to be beyond the grasp of many writers these days. "There were a multitude of explanations." (pages 179-180) Was there now? The other was one of those pronoun reference moments. Susan, a reporter, meets a detective.
He thrust a big hand at Susan. "Henry Sobol," he said. Just a big teddy bear.
She shook it, trying to match his grip. (page 77)
It? That would be the bear she's shaking if one analyzes the sentence grammatically.
4) Finally I was sharply pulled out of the story one other she-didn't-really-write-that-did-she moment. "Archie lets his eyes fall on the corpse on the floor." (page 244) Yeah, writers use the phrase frequently, but do they ever literally picture what they're describing? Yuck. "Gaze" works to describe the situation and is far less gruesome.
Heartsick overall? At least two thumbs down.
