I’ve just finished reading The Chemist by Stephenie Meyer. Oh my god, it’s such a great book, I really couldn’t put it down. I started reading it on the train ride home and just couldn’t stop reading it. I spent the rest of the evening reading because it was so exciting!
So this story is about Alex, who is very intelligent and great at chemistry. She worked at a secret lab for some supersecret part of the government. But three years ago, they turned against her and killed her boss. So she’s been on the run and has survived three contract killers ever since.
All of a sudden, one of her old bosses contacts her. In exchange for her doing one more job, they’ll leave her alone for good and she can go back to living a normal life. But the thing is, her job was chemically interrogating prisoners and terrorists. So they tell her about Daniel, who is smuggling a bio-agent that could kill millions of people in the US. They ask her to grab him and torture him to find out the plan and where they are keeping the biological weapon.
But, as it turns out, they were wrong. Daniel has been framed and she started torturing the wrong guy. And then things really spin out of control. Complot within complot lead to difficult and tricky situations, which Alex needs to figure out with the help of two unlikely accomplices. There are many twists and turns and the suspense is present all throughout the book.
Alex is a different type of heroin. She is small and compact, but she is fierce and independent as hell. She is highly intelligent and self-reliant and she’s taught herself how to survive. Surviving has become almost routine for her, but not all of her accomplices have led such a life, which gets them into trouble. Luckily, they manage to work together and figure everything out. I don’t want to say too much more, because I don’t want to spoil the plot or ruin the twists for you.
And for those who were wondering: this book is nothing like Twilight! And it’s nothing like The Host either. If I had to compare, it would be more like the latter, though. It’s more grown-up than the first, and darker and more philosophical like the latter. Though it is an altogether different genre, this is a first-class thriller. I was on the edge of my seat from start to finish. It’s also one of the things I liked about this book, the reader immediately gets into the story. Meyer doesn’t waste time setting the scene and spelling everything out. We immediately jump into Alex’s story and learn what has been going on along the way, which is how you’re sucked in right from the get-go.
I’d recommend it for anyone who likes a good thriller with a female lead, but also to readers who’re into conspiracy theories and secret government organisations, because there’s some of that in there as well. A must-read!
Happy reading,
Loes M.
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