Bad Chemistry

Rating:
Summary: Gary Krist's Bad Chemistry
Review: Gary Krist's 'Bad Chemistry' has an outstanding message within the literature of this book. The message is that no matter how well someone knows someone else, that they will undoubtedly be surprised. Joel Baker definitely suprised his wife Kate Baker within this book. He surprised his wife by disappearing, and leaving all of his secrets behind. Kate realizes that the Joel Baker that she knows is not the real Joel Baker; that he had a secret drug involvement, and many other secrets. Kate is determined to find the man that she married, and will do anything to accomplish this.When a friend of Joels, Jin Liang-Lu, another man involved in the drug ring, is murdered with his hands and head cut off, the surprises are full blown. All in all, Joels return is not for his wife, but for information that he left on his computer at their house. While this entire scenario is going on, Kate us becoming closer friends with the boy who found Jin's body, Evan Potter. Everyone who reads this book can identify with at least one character or one point of view, and get the same message. That even those who are close, can be very surprising.

Rating:
Summary: Different & interesting.
Review: Krist's style was clean and straightforward, and the plot, hinging on smart drugs, was interesting to me. I found this via mystery, but Berkley calls it general fiction and I think that's more accurate. At first, there was a paradigm shift in how I read this since it wasn't closer to the mystery genre (sometimes I like more formulaic easy reads) but this was worth it.

Three elements that struck me. First, this book felt as if it were starting mid-series, and not in a bad way. I was interested in Kate's past as a cop, and by the end of the book I was hoping for a chance to read about her again. Second, the supporting character of Evan, a misfit teenage boy, was an odd and uneasy choice -- but the character development was subtle and fascinating. Third, the whole smart drugs driven plot was intrinsically interesting; the point of view on it, through Kate, was conventional, but the author's view may have been slightly more balanced. There was a whole backstory from the husband's point of view that we didn't see; I would not have minded reading this interwoven with Kate's even though the mystery surrounding him was the vehicle for the plot.

I picked up on some similarities to Particia Cornwell, but it may just have been the setting and a few chance resonances. I can't really think of any one author this reminds me of (which is good); Carol O'Connell, maybe, but with the more focused humanity of a Thomas Cook.

I went out and looked for more of Krist's work but it's hard to find and apparently this is his first supsense-type outing. I hope to read many more.

Rating:
Summary: A REALLY INTENSE PAGE TURNER DESPITE A FEW FLAWS
Review: This is an excellent first novel, apparently quite different from the earlier published short stories of the author. At times it is dark and troubling; an air of foreboding and the potential for evil enveloped this reviewer as I read the book. The author uses words well, and the story proceeds at a rapid pace to the conclusion. As sometimes happens, I had seen it while browsing and decided to purchase it since I am always on the lookout for new authors. But once I put it on the bookshelf I had no urgency in reading it and obviously got distracted by new novels. But I am certainly glad I finally picked it up and notice that the author has subsequently written some more novels that have gotten good reviews. Perhaps some of the readers of those interested in his earlier works will find this helpful.

This book begins with a creepy misfit, fourteen year old Evan Potter (in the throes of adolescent uncertainty about his identity) keeping his discovery of a headless corpse in the woods near his home a secret. It then immediately shifts to a introduction of Kate and Joel Baker, who are throwing a dog birthday party for their German Sheperd Hermann. When tragedy mysteriously strikes during the party and Joel then fails to return from a supposedly quick trip to the grocery store, we soon surmise that these two seemingly separate events may be related. As Kate stuggles to deal with her husband's disappearance, she is aggravated by the initial skepticism of the police thay foul play was involved. Thus, by the time the corpse is reported to the police and identified as an associate of her husband, and evidence of illegal drug activity is unearthed, she has alienated the authorities to the extent that she is considered a suspect. Meanwhile, we gradually learn Kate and her husband were quite an odd couple who married only three years ago after a whirlwind courtship shortly after her move to DC to begin a new career. He was a counterculture student turned businessman who ran an importing firm, and as his mother told Kate "had no repect for fences", physical or legal. Kate's background could not have been more different - Kate Theodorus, formerly a Chicago cop from a family of cops and with brothers still on the force.

Kate soon discovers that her husband apparently led a double life, and the truth and nature of their whole relationship is called into question. And as the danger mounts and intrigue deepens, in a wonderful description she finds herself becoming "proto-Kate, a discontinued model. But now... she wondered how much things had really changed. Here she was again, loading up, giving herself the power to do harm." As she wonders if she will now have to kill, something she never did while a cop, we get some powerful insights into human emotions and relationships.

Kate and Evan eventually use their skills to unravel the mystery and track Joel and his former college friend and gradually discover their location and the secrets of their relationship. And Kate has to confront the ambivalence between her feelings as a former cop about illicit drugs and her husband's belief in the right of each individual to control the substances which they choose to put in their own bodies. The twists and turns are rapid, and the psychological profiles of Kate and Evan very well drawn.

I really wrestled with my rating, and almost made it five stars. I was captivated by the book, and stayed up late to finish reading it. And I really liked Kate and hope she reappears in another book. However, the following flaws bothered me. First, some of the actions by Kate, Evan, the police, and the other characters were a little too unbelievable (even when made in the immediacy of the moment under duress). Also, on a few occasions Kate's discovery of certain items of evidence seemed a little too convenient (especially the videotape). I accepted these aspects and kept reading, but they just didn't ring true. Second, Joel's character perhaps would have benefitted by being fleshed out a little; except very briefly at the start and finish, we only glimpsed him thru Kate's eyes. Third, I found the ending vaguely unsatisfying - a little unbelievable and somewhat of an anticlimax. But if you like thrillers that are more than the usual action and delve into the lives and thoughts of some weird and interesting characters, I recommend this book as an excellent read.