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I wanted to love this book...then I wanted to just like it...finally I had to settle for simply finishing it. And that was a chore. It's not the narrator's fault - Ellen Archer did an impressive job with what she was given. The Chemist was billed as the female Jason Bourne meets WonderWoman. But Alex has none of the traits that make Bourne such an attractive character nor the sex appeal that made wonder woman the "hottest woman in the world" for years. There's so many ways this book falls short I had to wonder if anyone actually read it before it was published.

Alex works for a government agency so top secret it "doesn't even have a name." Really? Even Area 51 has a name. She's an interrogator that engages in all manner of torture to acquire information. Torturing Daniel evidently caused him serious brain damage - as he spends the remainder of the book professing his undying love for her, while attacking his twin brother (Kevin) for trying to rescue him from her. Sounds ludicrous doesn't it? Yeah, Alex has a vast array of cool gadgets like poison filled earrings but the amount of information dumped on the reader is so boring. Just description, after description with nothing to break it up becomes almost unbearable after awhile.

The characters are paper thin and I found it impossible to form a connection with them. I love conspiracy, shoot-em-up, betrayal twists. I will gladly suspend a bit of reality to be enveloped in a good story. I kept hoping the book would turn a corner and save itself. But it never did. There were no nail-biting, edge of your seat moments and the romance angle is laughable. Alex says she has to remind herself not to laugh or giggle during a torture session ... Wow, if I had read that sentence I wouldn't have listened to this book.

Skip this one altogether.







The Chemist Epilogue






The Chemist Playlist





Inforgraphic for The Chemist




Happy Listening,

RJ