The Sunday Mail
Andrew Moyo Beyond The Cover
Stephanie Meyer’s mighty pen is well-known thanks to the “Twilight” movie franchise.
The best-selling writer burst onto the scene in 2005 with the first “Twilight”, subsequently selling over 100 million copies worldwide.
Perhaps tired of the paranormal, she penned a sci-fi book, “The Host”, which was also adopted as a film.
And then again tired of that winning formula, Meyer has experimented again, venturing now into the world of espionage with the novel “The Chemist”.
As expected of the genre, “The Chemist” is replete with twists, action and a bit of romance.
The dedication reads, “This book is dedicated to Jason Bourne and Aaron Cross.” On reading that I had a feeling that this would be another homage to Bourne, which is quite frankly becoming tedious. And my gut instinct was not far off.
Julianna aka Alex is a chemical genius who used to work for a secret US government organisation (no surprises there) as an expert in administering concoctions that make people talk during interrogations — the muthical truth serum, as it were.
When her employers decide to permanently get rid of her, she faces a battle to survive. Jason Bourne anyone?
Resolved to meet the threat head-on, she prepares for the toughest fight of her life but finds herself falling for a man who can only complicate her likelihood of survival.
As she sees her choices being rapidly whittled down, she must apply her unique talents in ways she never dreamed of. It all sounds ike regular espionage fare, right? Not exactly.
It takes a few pages to fall in love with Juliana. And there are also the twins, Daniel and Kevin Beach; one a school teacher and the other a spy, but both playing a significant role in the storyline.
While Meyer’s fans might be disappointed that she decided to ditch the paranormal and sci-fi, she is bound to win over a new audience with “The Chemist”.
I see another movie coming out of this one.
