Review--The Chemist

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The ChemistThe Chemist by Stephenie Meyer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I sometimes find myself out of step with other readers. Something everyone else loves leaves me feeling "meh", while I'll enjoy the hell out of a book that's getting less than stellar reviews.

This seems to be one of those times. There were parts of The Chemist that seemed over-the-top and strained my credulity, but no more so than plenty of other thrillers I've read and enjoyed. And I liked the premise, a lot. A scientist with a particular set of skills works for a super seekrit government black ops agency. She is a torturer par excellence, known as The Chemist.

But the chemist knows too much, and is on the run for her life, and when she's offered a chance to stop running she grabs it...and things get worse.

There's a highly improbable (but sweet) love story, an intriguing cast of characters, and a high stakes, fast-paced action scenario. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Many of the negative comments I read at this site were all about Ms. Meyer being the author of the Twilight series. This struck me as short-sighted and mean-spirited, and I'm not sure a male writer who crosses genres would have had the same crap shoveled at him. This book is very different from Twilight, and should be judged on its own merits. I would cheerfully read another suspense/thriller novel by Ms. Meyer, and applaud her willingness to try something different than the books that brought her fame and fortune.


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