The Chemist by Stephenie Meyer

Spy novels aren't usually my thing, but when a friend offered to loan me The Chemist by Stephenie Meyer, I was happy to give it a try. After all, I had heard that it was inspired a bit by Jason Bourne and I am a fan of his, though it would be more accurate to say I am a fan of Matt Damon. The Chemist features a young woman, a scientist whose real name isn't disclosed for some time; for most of the story she is called Alex. Alex was a brilliant young medical student when she was recruited by "the department" (no name, not even a capital D) to work on chemical compounds to be used in interrogations. After a number of very successful years, Alex decided to leave the department, but suddenly she is being called in again.

There are good guys. There are bad guys. There are guys whose affiliation of which we aren't certain. What we do know is that Alex is a bad ass. She is smart and strong and her survival instincts are sharp. This is no damsel-in-distress novel. This is a girl-saving-the-world novel and it's quite exciting. While Meyer is not likely to ever win a Pulitzer, her books are entertaining and this one had me reading late into the night. For those of you scoffing at the author's name, forget that YA series that made billions of dollars (who would want that, anyway??). Did you read The Host? It was really good and this one was, too, though in a completely different vein. I challenge you to read this. I think you'll really like it.

I'll leave you with this quote from Alex:

"I am the bogeyman in a very dark and scary world. I frighten people who aren't afraid of anything else, not even death. I can take everything they pride themselves on away from them; I can make them betray everything they hold sacred. I am the monster they see in their nightmares."