Bad Chemistry [Import] [Paperback]

Grant Krist (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Fourth Estate; New Ed edition (1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1857027663
• ISBN-13: 978-1857027662
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Before turning to narrative nonfiction with The White Cascade and his current project, City of Scoundrels (coming in April 2012), Gary Krist wrote three novels--Bad Chemistry, Chaos Theory, and Extravagance--and two short-story collections--The Garden State and Bone by Bone. He has been a regular book reviewer for The New York Times Book Review, Salon, and The Washington Post Book World. His satirical op-eds have appeared in The New York Times and Newsday, and his stories, articles, and travel pieces have been featured in National Geographic Traveler, The Wall Street Journal, GQ, Playboy, The New Republic, Esquire, and on National Public Radio's "Selected Shorts." His stories have also been anthologized in such collections as Men Seeking Women, Writers' Harvest 2, and Best American Mystery Stories. He has been the recipient of The Stephen Crane Award, The Sue Kaufman Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a Lowell Thomas Gold Medal for Travel Journalism, and a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. He lives in Bethesda, Maryland, with his wife and daughter.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Different & interesting., February 1, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Bad Chemistry (Paperback)

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.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Chemistry, April 26, 2000

By 

Peter Weymouth (Putney, Vermont) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bad Chemistry (Paperback)

This is a tremendously entertaining novel.. Gary Krist has an excellent ear for dialogue and his heroine is likeable and appealingly flawed. It's a taut, gripping book that makes you think while you're plowing through the plot at breakneck speed, with more than enough twists and surprises to satisfy even the most jaded thriller reader. Best of all, it manages to go beyond the sex and violence that too often define the genre.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gary Krist's Bad Chemistry, March 16, 2000

By 

Shea Wallus (Kalamazoo, Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bad Chemistry (Paperback)

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.