Playing Catch Up! The Chemist by Stephenie Meyer

Playing Catch Up has really been helping me through my ever growing TBR list. I'd like to welcome all other blogs to participate too! If you do, be sure to post your links in the comments section. I'd love to see your Playing Catch Up Reviews, and I'm sure others would too!! *wink*

Want to know more about Playing Catch Up? I'll tell you all about it here!

The Chemist by Stephenie Meyer
Genre: Adult Fiction (Thriller/Suspense/Romance)
Date Published: November 8, 2016
Publisher: Back Bay Books

In this gripping page-turner, an ex-agent on the run from her former employers must take one more case to clear her name and save her life. 

She used to work for the U.S. government, but very few people ever knew that. An expert in her field, she was one of the darkest secrets of an agency so clandestine it doesn't even have a name. And when they decided she was a liability, they came for her without warning.

Now she rarely stays in the same place or uses the same name for long. They've killed the only other person she trusted, but something she knows still poses a threat. They want her dead, and soon.

When her former handler offers her a way out, she realizes it's her only chance to erase the giant target on her back. But it means taking one last job for her ex-employers. To her horror, the information she acquires only makes her situation more dangerous.

Resolving 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.

In this tautly plotted novel, Meyer creates a fierce and fascinating new heroine with a very specialized skill set. And she shows once again why she's one of the world's bestselling authors.

The Chemist is something a little different for Stephenie Meyer. You know how I feel about Twilight. *wink* I wasn't completely sold on The Host. The Chemist is somewhere in between for me. 

Alex, the main character, is a strong female lead who knows her strengths and weaknesses and she uses them to the ultimate advantage. I enjoyed her as a character for the most part. She lost a little of the believability factor with the insta-love though. For me, the romance never felt natural. Sure the initial attraction was there, but after the events that followed.... I thought that might have changed things or at least slowed them up a bit. At least for Daniel. Poor Daniel. He has no common sense. He seemed more like a child to me in many ways. His brother on the other hand? I liked him very much and loved his dogs. Despite their faults, I enjoyed these characters as a whole. They had their moments of course, but they were usually entertaining. 

Aside from the insta-love, the story progressed rather slowly. The premise was interesting though. The second half is much better and more fast paced than the first half. You need most of the details that are presented to you in the first half to know what's going on, but much of it seemed to drag. 

All in all, this was a pretty good story. Was it my favorite? Nope, but it was still a fun read.

Have you read The Host?

Best known for her Twilight series, Stephenie Meyer’s four-book collection has sold over 100 million copies globally in over 50 countries, with translations in 37 different languages. Meyer was the highest-selling author of 2008 and 2009 in the United States, having sold over 29 million books in 2008, and 26.5 million books in 2009. In 2008, Meyer also released The Host, which debuted at #1 on The New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists. Additionally, USA Today declared Meyer “Author of the Year,” citing that she had done something that no one else had in the 15 years of the USA Today bestselling book list– she swept the top four slots in 2008. Meyer also accomplished this feat in 2009, when The Twilight Saga once again dominated the top of the bestseller list. All together, her books have spent over 303 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List.

Stephenie Meyer graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in English Literature. She lives in Arizona with her husband and sons.

To learn more about Stephenie Meyer and her books, visit her website.You can also find her on Goodreads, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.