Here's a tip: If you ask someone for directions to the U.S. Supreme Court building and say you have an appointment with the Chief Justice, it's probably not a smart idea to be carrying a loaded shotgun, a tactical bow and arrow, and a samurai sword. (Noted here at The Corner, Wonkette, and The Politico, but still waiting to see something on How Appealing, SCOTUSBlog, or even Above the Law.)

I was going to muse about how long it would take someone to mention that Tuesday is the thirty-fifth anniversary of Roe v. Wade, but I guess I just did. Clearly, this guy could have been motivated by just about anything. He was detained by the U.S. Capitol Police, so he may have been heading for that building. But I doubt I'll be the only one to notice the coincidence of timing (if that's all it is).

And of course, as I alluded to in the title of this post, this is all happening in the shadow (literally) of the DC gun ban case, scheduled to be argued later this term. Not that it would matter for the guy on a mission at the Court today. Even the government takes the position that an individual rights interpretation of the Second Amendment would permit the criminalization of the possession of guns by felons (the charge this guy is facing). I'm not sure where they come down on bows and arrows, though.

Heartsick by Chelsea Cain. (Amazon, B&N, Powell's) After Entertainment Weekly called this one a "profoundly creepy thriller," I picked up the audio version (read by Midland, Texas's own Carolyn McCormick). It was good enough that there were several times when I sat in my car and waited for a scene to end before I could turn it off. So that's my review: "Heartsick is good enough to make you pollute!"

Now, if I were a clever book reviewer, I would figure out a way to transition from that image to note that the killer terrorizing Portland, Oregon, in Cain's mystery uses bleach to clean up after his crimes. This guy -- dubbed the After School Strangler -- kidnaps, rapes, and kills high school girls. So the police convene a task force. Luckily, they already had one together for their previous serial killer, the Beauty Killer, the lovely and evil Gretchen Lowell. Lowell tortured and killed scores before targeting the head of the task force, Archie Sheridan. Lowell kidnaps and tortures Archie, but ends up letting him live and turning herself in. (We learn about her reasons and the after-effects on Archie as the book progresses.) Two years later, Archie is barely functional and addicted to pain medication, but they need him again to catch the After School Strangler.

Our entree into all this is when newbie reporter Susan Ward (who has some issues of her own) is invited to follow the task force for a series in the paper. Susan realizes that the real story is the continuing, bizarre relationship between Archie and Gretchen Lowell. You'll think this is a gender-flipping Silence of the Lambs ripoff, but Gretchen has no interest in helping Archie catch the new killer.

I'd say that overall, I liked Heartsick. The twist wasn't jaw-droppingly surprising, but the story was suspenseful, and for the most part, well-told. (Cain does a good job building tension by jumping back and forth between the chase for the After School Killer and Archie's torture at Gretchen's hands, but she needs a synonym for "palpable"). It's really all about the characters, though, and here Heartsick is a winner. The three main characters are fully-formed and fully human. It's rare to see protagonists so flawed, and with flaws that really are flaws, and not the kind of "flaws" you tell an interviewer you have ("I'm a perfectionist!"). All in all, it's pretty good -- I would compare it favorably to the Michael Connelly I've read -- and I would recommend it if you're into serial killer/police thrillers.

(Previous 50 Book Challenge reviews)