Stephenie Meyer’s The Chemist Mixes Thrills and Romance

The Chemist is blockbuster author Stephenie Meyer’s long-awaited second novel for adults, after 2008’s twisted sci-fi thriller The Host. A political thriller with her customary romantic stamp, The Chemist will capture the imaginations of fans from Meyer’s Twilight days, and beyond. The novel’s themes are especially contemporary and exciting in light of the popularity of shows like House of Cards and Homeland (the early seasons, sorry not sorry), which also combine political intrigue and sexual tension, with sexy (and gripping) results.
The Chemist tells the story of a woman with many names, and many mysteries, referred to mostly as “she” throughout the novel. She used to work for a covert government agency. She used to trust that the work she was doing was noble, and in the name of science and justice. But ever since she lost her trusted mentor and narrowly escaped with her life, she has spent her time on the run from the very people she used to work for. Now she lives a life of multiple identities, blending in to the point of invisibility, and using her scientific knowledge against her enemies. Chemical booby traps that require her to sleep with a gas mask, elaborate concoctions of cyanide made from hoarded peach pits, and the constant shuffling of costumes make her life complicated (if also edge-of-your-seat exciting), but her goal is simple: stay alive.

That is, until a former colleague from the department contacts her and offers a cease fire in exchange for her help. She’s the only one who can track down and interrogate a suspected bio-terrorist, and prevent the deaths of millions of people in the first bio-terror attack on U.S. soil. But to do so means to align with people she doesn’t trust. And when the woman meets her mark—Daniel Beach, a teacher with a dark past and a suspected terrorist—everything she thinks she knows about her case is about to change, too.
This book is filled with surprising revelations, so I won’t give too much away. I will say that Meyer’s strength is still creating action-packed conflict along with psychological and sexual tension, and utilizing a broad cast of interesting characters. The beginning of the novel moves quite quickly, and riddled with twists and revelations about the chemist, her former life, and her mark. The level of research Meyer did to make the novel as accurate as possible is also evident—as are, at least in my view, a few pointed “winks” at fans of Twilight, and even 50 Shades of Grey (which famously originated as Twilight fanfiction.) The Chemist is certainly making a statement about where Meyer is heading in her career: she’s not apologizing for anything she’s done in the past, and is in fact willing to go even darker and sexier than she ever has before. (And, fortunately, she even leaves the door open for potential sequels.)
A thriller with just the right amount of romance, The Chemist reads like candy—and if anyone tells you they don’t like candy, they’re lying.
The Chemist is on bookshelves now.