Publication Date: October 4, 2013
Dr. Madeline Pierce and FBI Agent Joe Roberts are back and engaged. Madeline is in Detroit working through Dr. Ellis’s journals to find the driving force behind the destructive drug Madvin. Joe is back in the West Michigan town looking to wrap things up and spending the rest of his life nesting with the woman he loves. When Madeline is taken captive by sadistic and bat stuff crazy forces, can Joe save her in time? [easyazon-link asin=”B00FPYTQ4W” locale=”us”]Chemical Reaction[/easyazon-link] is the second book in the Chemical Attraction series.
The author, Christina Thompson, gave me a copy of this novel as an advanced reader’s copy (ARC) in exchange for my review. As always with ARCs, content may have changed by the time the novel was published.
I loved [easyazon-link asin=”B0093H6FWI” locale=”us”]Chemical Attraction[/easyazon-link] (you can read my review by clicking here). It was a smart and exciting thriller involving a drug that caused controlled rage. In [easyazon-link asin=”B00FPYTQ4W” locale=”us”]Chemical Reaction[/easyazon-link] that drug gets a name: “Madvin.” Not the most creative name in the world but certainly descriptive. [easyazon-link asin=”B00FPYTQ4W” locale=”us”]Chemical Reaction[/easyazon-link] literally starts hours after the end of the first novel with Madeline and Joe engaged and on their way to report to his office in Detroit. What awaits them in Detroit is the continuation of what has to be my least favorite plot device ever—catty women. Rita is back along with some fellow Joe-obsessive characters that just made my skin crawl.
Joe is a player. He’s painted in this novel as the man all women want because he exudes masculinity, but he is also a sense of a man that a woman can curl up with on a cold night in front of a fire. He is written as a player and literally inspires insanity in women. They are catty and horrible and take their disappointment in not being chosen by the man that ruins all women for other men by being cruel and catty to the one who caught him on her hook. Her reaction is insecurity and tears. A little nuts, considering they’ve been together for all of two weeks at the start of the novel and she knew that he’s gotten around. She refuses to stay in his apartment and won’t take his calls. It must be said as well that people do like this particular device and see it as building tension. But at its core [easyazon-link asin=”B00FPYTQ4W” locale=”us”]Chemical Reaction[/easyazon-link] is a solid follow-up to the first novel.
The story is somewhat seamless if a bit belabored. Much of the cast from the first novel is back. Mrs. Folkart, Matt, Eva, Jessica and David are as affable and likable as ever. Joining these characters are the cast of the office in Detroit who build an instant rapport with the main characters. Maddie is the little sister that they’re assigned to protect. Despite the fact that she is a prime suspect, she is given pretty unlimited access to the government facility which perhaps belies belief and beyond Rita’s accusations, not really much heat for what follows.
The bad guys are truly insane and quite greedy in turn giving all thriller baddies a very good name. The insane baddie wasn’t so great at being a baddie so that his wrong turns were expected, immediately rang of truth. Let’s kill folks and take hostages on camera. He’s fully aware of being filmed and gets something of a rush off of it that leads the reader to the mindset that though this is romance, anything can happen. Thompson gives us some landmarks in Detroit that I have not investigated but feel right. Any metro-Detroiter knows the proximity of Wayne State to the city’s core where the government building is situated. There is a feeling of familiarity that warms this local girl’s heart. [easyazon-link asin=”B00FPYTQ4W” locale=”us”]Chemical Reaction[/easyazon-link] is a little more far-reaching than the first novel and maintains a story line with home folks while expanding the reader’s horizon and making the case a little more far reaching.
If you like Sandra Brown, Alex Kava or J.T. Ellison, you’ll love Christina Thompson’s Chemical Attraction series. If this sounds like a book for you, read an excerpt and buy Chemical Reaction by Christina Thompson on
Amazon U.S. • Amazon U.K. • Amazon Canada
Check out the review of Christina Thompson’s third book in the Chemical Attraction series, The Rigid Rules and The Trucker’s Cat.
For more information about Christina Thompson and her work visit her website. You can connect with Christina Thompson on Goodreads, Facebook, Google+ and Twitter @ChristinaPOV.