Kill You Twice

Starred review from June 18, 2012
Despite being locked away in the Oregon State Hospital, serial killer Gretchen Lowell still looms large in Det. Archie Sheridan’s life in bestseller Cain’s utterly engrossing fifth thriller featuring the pair (after 2011’s The Night Season). When Gretchen claims that the Portland police detective’s two latest murder victims—one found flayed in a local park and another burned to a crisp atop the iconic city sign—are the work of killer Ryan Motley, Archie knows better than to take Gretchen at her word, but he’s intrigued when she mentions having a child, a new twist. Meanwhile, Susan Ward, now working as a freelance reporter, is following both the current murder case and the developing situation with Gretchen, going so far as to interview her at the state hospital, where Gretchen divulges tidbits of her early life, previously uncharted territory. That blood oozes off practically every page is never in doubt. But neither is Cain’s skill in creating riveting character drama between two damaged souls.150,000 first printing; author tour. Agent: Joy Harris, Joy Harris Literary Agency.

August 1, 2012
A fourth match--a fifth, if you count The Night Season (2011), in which she's limited to a cameo--between Gretchen Lowell, the Beauty Killer, and Archie Sheridan, the Portland cop who alternates between locking her up and having sex with her. Gretchen claims over 200 murder victims, but how could she have killed Jake Kelly, the philanthropist who volunteered at the Life Works Center for Young Women? Yet the corpse, bashed, skinned, hanged from a tree on Mount Tabor and decorated with a lily, certainly seems like more of her handiwork. So does the body of PR flak Gabby Meester, taken from her car and set afire at the foot of a Portland landmark with another lily. Of course, it's no trouble to prove an alibi when you're drugged to the gills and incarcerated in the Oregon State Mental Hospital. Although he swears that he's not going to see his murderous ex-lover again, Archie's lured back into contact with her when Gretchen's interview with Susan Ward, the newspaper reporter whose life Archie saved, concludes its grueling description of Gretchen's very first murder, the slaughter 16 years ago of James Beaton, with an urgent plea Susan passes on to Archie: "Children are going to die....You have to find the flash drive." Could one of those children be Pearl Clinton, who'd been staying at the Life Works Center before she disappeared? How much of what Gretchen says can be trusted? And just how many serial killers are lurking in the hills of Oregon? Cain's abiding determination to outdo the suspense, plot twists and gore of each previous outing is both perverse and awe-inspiring.

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June 15, 2012

She's back. Gretchen Lowell, the exquisitely beautiful serial killer who has held readers in thrall, returns in the fifth installment (after The Night Season) of this popular series. Though Gretchen is locked up, she's still haunting Archie Sheridan, the detective she tortured and almost killed. Archie is working on his latest grisly murder case when Susan Ward, a journalist and sometimes friend, calls. She's been in touch with Gretchen, who claims a guy named Ryan Motley is the killer Archie seeks. She also dangles another clue, a victim whom the cops know nothing about. VERDICT Series fans will enjoy this latest book as they learn more about Gretchen. While still cagey and dangerous, Gretchen's persona deepens as Cain reveals details about her early life and relationships. Archie, still damaged by her influence, shows glimmers of hope that he may be able to move on to a new life where he has the power. A sure bet for vacation reads.--Robin Nesbitt, Columbus Metropolitan Lib., OH

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from May 1, 2012
In The Night Season (2011), Cain proved that she could write a superb thriller without the presence of her signature character, the Beauty Killer, Gretchen Lowell, who wreaked havoc through the first three novels in the series that costars Portland, Oregon, police detective Archie Sheridan. Well, Gretchen is back, and she's betterand badderthan ever. Archie is healing, slowly, from all the wounds, physical and psychological, that Gretchen has inflicted upon him, and Gretchen is safely ensconced in the Oregon State Mental Hospital (well, safely may be a stretch). Then Archie gets a call from Gretchen's psychiatrist with a message that the killer Archie is hunting is after Gretchen's child. A child? Gretchen? This is news, to be sure, and though Archie is reluctant to believe anything that pours from the Beauty Killer's ruby-red lips, he realizes, as he digs into the case, that he's rummaging about in the early life of Gretchen Lowell. Every time we start to wonder if Cain has gone as far as she can go with the Gretchen-Archie danse macabre, she surprises us with something utterly fresh and compelling. By telling the story of how Gretchen came to be the Beauty Killer, but telling it in the context of a present-day murder with ties to the pastand making plenty of room for the series' stellar cast of supporting characters, reporter Susan Ward and her wacky mother, Bliss, among themCain hits the narrative throttle with all cylinders firing. Like the best thriller writers, though, she knows how to ease off the throttle, too, making room for subtle and satisfying character interplay but at the same building tension as we wait for the narrative to burst into overdrive once again. Masterful on every level. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Cain hits the road for this one, with a national author tour supported by, well, everything the modern world has got to offer; 150,000 first printing.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)