Stephenie Meyer, The Chemist

I read and enjoyed Stephenie Meyer's Twilight novels some ten years ago. (Huh. I'd forgotten the firestorm that erupted over the publication of the fourth book in that series! Check out my review.) So I guess I'm not surprised that I liked The Chemist, but I am surprised at how different it was from her other books, not only in subject matter (no shiny vamps, nothing even fantastical), but in writing style.

"Alex" is a former interrogator, whose nickname (The Chemist) comes from her preferred interrogation tools. But now she's on the run because her former employers want her dead. Her goal now is simply to stay alive, and she goes to great lengths—described in fascinating (to me) detail by Meyer—to keep her pursuers off her track and to ensure her safety should they find her. That's the status quo, but of course something happens to disrupt her routine. I really enjoyed this book and the trio of main characters, enough so that I kind of wish it were the beginning of a series. I don't think it will be, though.