Sweetheart (Hardcover) -- signed or inscribed

*Starred Review* It was apparent at the end of Cain's masterful Heartsick (2007) that we hadn't heard the last from either Gretchen Lowell, the most mesmerizing serial killer since a fellow named Hannibal, or Archie Sheridan, the Portland cop whom Gretchen tortured and then freed, locking the two of them into a creepy symbiotic relationship somewhere between Romeo and Juliet and Holmes and Moriarty.

Cain picks up the story with Sheridan trying to overcome his addictions to pain pills and Gretchen, respectively, and not doing very well with either. A new case -- bodies found in a Portland park, near where Gretchen's first victim was discovered -- provides distraction as well as bringing punky, turquoise-haired reporter Susan Ward back into his life, but neither is enough to get Gretchen out of his mind.

Then she escapes from prison, determined to draw Archie away from his family, away from his job, and into her arms for a deadly pas de deux...There is considerably more psychological complexity, as the knot binding Archie to Gretchen tightens further. The interplay between the two is endlessly fascinating and, amazingly, thoroughly believable.

In addition, Cain gives more space to her supporting cast -- especially reporter Ward, who seems ready for a starring role herself. It's hard to say how long Cain can play out this lovers duel between Archie and Gretchen before they tumble into their own Reichenbach Falls, but its a sure thing we won't be leaving our seats before the final curtain. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)