- Hardcover: 351 pages
- Publisher: Random House Inc (T) (Jan 1998)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0679449310
- ISBN-13: 978-0679449317
- Product Dimensions: 21.1 x 14 x 2.3 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 4,267,826 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
Bad Chemistry poses an unsettling question: How much do we really know about the people we love--or about ourselves?
Kate Theodorus used to be a cop in Chicago. Eager to escape the ugliness and violence of police work, she moved to Washington, D.C., to create a new life for herself as a social worker. There she married Joel Baker, a successful entrepreneur whose edgy nonconformism--so different form the conservatism of her overprotective family of Greek cops--seemed to mesh perfectly with her new conception of herself. Three years later, on a snowy November night, Joel leaves the house to pick up some groceries. He never returns. Kate embarks on a search for her husband--and for the truth about the parts of his life that he has hidden from her. When the police unearth evidence connecting Joel to illegal drug trafficking and a murdered biochemist, Kate finds herself thrust back into the familiar world of clues, surveillance, and guns that she thought she had left behind. But this time, she's operating outside the law she was sworn to enforce.
In Bad Chemistry, literary prizewinner Gary Krist has created a taut story of suspense, a charged tale of a woman's struggle to resolve conflicts within her marriage and within herself. As the story races to its intense conclusion, Kate must face the disturbing fact that her journey has taken her to places no one would ever want to go.
Kate Theodorus used to be a cop in Chicago. Eager to escape the ugliness and violence of police work, she moved to Washington, D.C., to create a new life for herself as a social worker. There she married Joel Baker, a successful entrepreneur whose edgy nonconformism--so different form the conservatism of her overprotective family of Greek cops--seemed to mesh perfectly with her new conception of herself. Three years later, on a snowy November night, Joel leaves the house to pick up some groceries. He never returns. Kate embarks on a search for her husband--and for the truth about the parts of his life that he has hidden from her. When the police unearth evidence connecting Joel to illegal drug trafficking and a murdered biochemist, Kate finds herself thrust back into the familiar world of clues, surveillance, and guns that she thought she had left behind. But this time, she's operating outside the law she was sworn to enforce.
In Bad Chemistry, literary prizewinner Gary Krist has created a taut story of suspense, a charged tale of a woman's struggle to resolve conflicts within her marriage and within herself. As the story races to its intense conclusion, Kate must face the disturbing fact that her journey has taken her to places no one would ever want to go.
About the Author
Gary Krist is 40 years old and the author of the two short-story collections, The Garden State (winner of the American Sue Kaufmann best fiction prize) and Done by Bone, named New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Bad Chemistry is his first novel. He has contributed to the New York Times, The Washington Post, the New Republic and GQ.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
33 reviews
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Different & interesting.
1 Feb 2000
Format: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
Great Chemistry
27 April 2000
Format: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
Gary Krist's Bad Chemistry
16 Mar 2000
Format: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.
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