Publishers Weekly - Audio
04/03/2017
Actor Archer does a great job voicing this romantic thriller from Meyer. She uses three narrative tones: neutral for the book’s third person narration; tough for when protagonist Alex, a former operative for a secret U.S. government agency that killed her mentor, is fighting to stay alive; and soft for when Alex is dreaming about or partaking in an unlikely romance. She also gives each of the secondary male characters his own clear and recognizable voice. Archer’s pacing changes in accordance with the degrees of tension of the plot—and each scene is full of devastating new threats and clever new ways of thwarting them. Meyer fans will enjoy Archer’s reading. A Little, Brown hardcover. (Nov.)
Publishers Weekly
11/14/2016
In this uneven adult romantic thriller from YA bestseller Meyer (the Twilight series), a woman “currently calling herself Chris Taylor,” a former operative for a secret U.S. government agency that killed her mentor, must take extraordinary steps to stay alive. The compelling opening chapters document the extreme precautions Chris employs to avoid leaving traces of her presence, as well as the sophisticated self-defense mechanisms she has devised. When Chris receives an email from Carston, a former agency colleague, she replies that she’ll meet him one week later where they first met, which turns to be an outdoor cafe in Washington, D.C. At their rendezvous, Carston persuades Chris to use her skills as a no-holds-barred inquisitor to prevent a crippling bioterrorism attack on the country. The first step is for Chris to locate Daniel Beach, who has been working with a Mexican drug lord to distribute a super-charged influenza virus. Once Chris finds Daniel, the plot plays out along predictable lines that don’t do justice to the intriguing setup. Underdrawn characterizations don’t help. Agent: Jodi Reamer, Writers House. (Nov.)
From the Publisher
Praise for The Chemist:
"This espionage action story will no doubt tighten Meyer's grip on her devoted readers. Its main character is much like Jason Bourne, to whom the novel is dedicated affectionately.... Meyer knows how to control dramatic tension as skillfully as any of the Bourne movies. The pages turn themselves."—Keith Donohue, Washington Post
"Engrossing.... A terrific ride.... The Chemist is consistently fast-paced fun, especially the way that Alex's scientific genius gives her an array of potions-she's small, but you don't want to get within swiping distance of the rings on her fingers-that verge on the magical."—Charles Finch, USA Today
"Fans will likely tear through The Chemist, just as they did with the Twilight novels and with The Host.... Our heroine is very good at staying alive.... The book hit on an appealing theme. Chris is an expert in her field, one that happens to be male dominated. Her peers are out to get her. She has to watch her back constantly.... With so many popular novels out there featuring unreliable female narrators stuck in various suburbs, it was nice to read about a woman who gets out and has a lot to do."—Meredith Goldstein, Boston Globe
"[Meyer has] an unusual ability to turn genres inside out. The characters in the novel are motivated by love of family rather than by duty to country or abstractions like saving the world. Love gives the adventure meaning, rather than just being a subplot off to the side. Spy fans can be assured that in most respects, The Chemist functions in much the same way as a Bourne or Bond story, complete with mounting body count, cool explosions, stakeouts and betrayals. But changing the proportion of gender in the genre gives the concoction a renewed, and welcome, rush."
—Noah Berlatsky, Los Angeles Times
"A tale of skulduggery, bodice rippery, and shoot-'em-up action unfolds, complete with help from a luscious mistress of disguise who could have stepped right out of a James Bond novel. Rated B for badass."—Kirkus Reviews
"The Twilight mogul moves from blood-sucker romance to heart-stopping drama with a thriller about a kick-ass scientist and ex-government agent on the run."—Angela Ledgerwood, Cosmopolitan
"Here, an exciting heroine (see: female Jason Bourne) knows too much, is a threat, and has one last chance to clear her name."—Steph Opitz, Marie Claire
"It's nice to see a heroine whose greatest asset is her brain, one who can fell brawny hitmen with tiny syringes and weaponized jewelry. Meyer is still a skilled pace-setter, and The Chemist's 518-pages fly by."—Isabella Biedenharn, Entertainment Weekly
"Twilight fans will find another romantic couple to root for, plus the most supernaturally intelligent guard since Rin Tin Tin."
—People
"[A] gripping page-turner."
—Ali Ehrlich, Good Morning America
Entertainment Weekly
It’s nice to see a heroine whose greatest asset is her brain, one who can fell brawny hit men with tiny syringes and weaponized jewelry. Meyer is still a skilled pace-setter, and The Chemist‘s 518-pages fly by.”
Marie Claire
Here, an exciting heroine (see: female Jason Bourne) knows too much, is a threat, and has one last chance to clear her name.”
AudioFile
Archer’s urgent tone keeps listeners on high alert, and torture scenes have near physical impact. In Archer’s narration, Alex’s clipped tone and practical personality mix realistically with her nascent feelings of hope and wonder. And even with Archer’s outstanding portrayal of Alex, secondary characters Kevin and Val still steal all their scenes, thanks to Archer’s memorable voices…Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.”
USA Today
Engrossing…A terrific ride…Consistently fast-paced fun.”
|Los Angeles Times
"[Meyer has] an unusual ability to turn genres inside out…[and] love gives the adventure meaning, rather than just being a subplot off to the side.”
Cosmopolitan
A thriller about a kick-ass scientist and ex-government agent on the run.”
Boston Globe - Meredith Goldstein
"Fans will likely tear through The Chemist, just as they did with the Twilight novels and with The Host.... Our heroine is very good at staying alive.... The book hit on an appealing theme. Chris is an expert in her field, one that happens to be male dominated. Her peers are out to get her. She has to watch her back constantly.... With so many popular novels out there featuring unreliable female narrators stuck in various suburbs, it was nice to read about a woman who gets out and has a lot to do."
Washington Post - Keith Donohue
"This espionage action story will no doubt tighten Meyer's grip on her devoted readers. Its main character is much like Jason Bourne, to whom the novel is dedicated affectionately.... Meyer knows how to control dramatic tension as skillfully as any of the Bourne movies. The pages turn themselves."
USA Today - Charles Finch
"Engrossing.... A terrific ride.... The Chemist is consistently fast-paced fun, especially the way that Alex's scientific genius gives her an array of potions-she's small, but you don't want to get within swiping distance of the rings on her fingers-that verge on the magical."
NOVEMBER 2016 - AudioFile
If you’ve ever avoided pressing the play button for fear a favorite character won’t survive the chapter, this audiobook isn’t going to be comfortable listening. Early on, narrator Ellen Archer signals that Meyer’s characters are on borrowed time. Alex—not her real name—is being hunted by the government that once lauded her for her ability to interrogate terrorists with chemical torture. A final assignment promises to clear Alex’s name but takes an unexpected turn. Archer’s urgent tone keeps listeners on high alert, and torture scenes have a near physical impact. In Archer’s narration, Alex’s clipped tone and practical personality mix realistically with her nascent feelings of hope and wonder. And even with Archer’s outstanding portrayal of Alex, secondary characters Kevin and Val still steal all their scenes, thanks to Archer’s memorable voices. Pack your go bag and enter Meyer’s breathless romantic suspense. C.A. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2016-11-04
A professional torturer on the run from her employers falls in with sexy twin brothers.You probably know Meyer as the then-27-year-old Mormon housewife who woke up from a dream about vampires and gave the world Twilight, though in addition to that series she has already published one adult thriller (The Host, 2008). In her latest, she marries the genres of spy versus spy and throbbing romance novel with good results. Meet Juliana, or Alex, or Casey, or Chris—whatever her alias of the moment is, she's an operative with a medical school background who specializes in chemically controlled torture and interrogation. Somewhere along the line, she learned too much about the secrets of her employers, and she now lives in a state of high-tech paranoia, sleeping in a bathtub wearing a gas mask in a secret location booby-trapped at every possible ingress. When her old boss calls her in for one last mission, she's not sure she isn't being double-crossed—but nonetheless proceeds with the kidnapping of Washington, D.C., schoolteacher Daniel Beach, who's purportedly part of a vile plot to release a virus that will wreak global doom. In fact, he is a man whose deep inner goodness is rivaled only by his scorching outer hotness—but our socially awkward virgin heroine won't realize this until after she's taken him to her secret lair, stripped him naked, strapped him to a table, and injected him with compounds that produce pure agony for 10 minutes at a time. The biochemical magic between them is even more powerful than the nasty drugs, and by the time his identical twin brother, a swashbuckling black-ops type, shows up to kill her and rescue him, love has bloomed in the torture chamber. As they begin to see through the layers of cross and double cross, the two agents decide to join forces and go into hiding together, with the brother of course, on a ranch in Texas with a pack of trained superdogs. A tale of skulduggery, bodice rippery, and shoot-'em-up action unfolds, complete with help from a luscious mistress of disguise who could have stepped right out of a James Bond novel. Rated B for badass.
