The Alchemist

by Ken Goddard

The Alchemist is a respected chemist who has conjured up a substance worth its weight in gold--a synthetic designer drug as potent as cocaine or heroin and twice as dangerous, because its unique chemical formula is perfectly legal. Caught in the crossfire between a desperate Mafia chief and two ruthless drug lords, the undercover police task force must step outside the law to crush the impending crime war, risking being lured so far out from behind protection of their badges that there is no turning back.

Genres: Fiction, Thriller, Mystery, Crime

450 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

Ken Goddard describes himself as "a crime scene investigator, forensic scientist, wildlife crime lab director, husband, father, grandfather, supposed cattle rancher, and more to the point, a fiction author who writes fiction novels about professional terrorists, underground chemists, demented burglars and malicious poachers for any number of reasons."

Reviews

[Julius Grimmenstein · Rating 3 out of 5]

An sich war das Buch sehr spannend.
Jedoch fand ich es hier da etwas zu langatmig. Manchmal hab ich es kaum ausgehalten 10 Seiten zu lesen, manchmal vergingen 50 Seiten wie im Flug.
Alles in allem ein gutes Buch, was auch 100 Seiten kürzer hätte sein können mit ein paar weniger Namen. Bzw hätte man auch nochmal einen Satz zu diversen Namen sagen können, nachdem sie 300 Seiten keine Erwähnung fanden und dann urplötzlich wieder eine nicht unwichtige Rolle spielten.
Auf Schulnoten skala bekommt es eine 2-

[Alicia]

I started reading this book, thinking I had purchased the other Alchemist book by Paulo Coelho. While I still haven't read that one yet, I found this book to be great! It was action packed and definitely a page turner. The characters and plot were well developed and I would recommend this to anyone.

[Sally · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this book on vacation and it was just "OK." I really felt that the author was trying too hard to make the book exciting--to the extent that it was just absurd. I felt like I was sitting in a violent movie--and I avoid those like the plague. I cannot recommend this book.

[Michael Goldfuss · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read this book because I thought it was the novel by Paulo Coelho.
It wasn't.
It reminded me of a Rock Johnson action movie + CSI Miami Episode.
Not really for me; but people looking for a fast paced, action flick will enjoy.

[Stephanie Abbott · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was just OK...dissapointing because I had heard great things about it. Too slow paced and I found myself bored. I only finished it because I hate to leave a book unfinished!

[Anamarija Finžgar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gruesome and facinating. I enjoyed reading this masterpiece, it really puts you in perspective how DEA is fighting organized crime. A bit picturing murders, actions and torture - I dont recommend reading it before sleep if you are prone to nightmares.

All and all, good reading.

[Jon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sorta bad 2.8

[Duncan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is totally action packed. Almost too action packed. But that’s not the problem with this book. The problem is that there are too many jumps that do not feel natural. Stephan King’s Carrie is a good example of a book with a lot of jumps. But in Carrie the jumps feel good and it’s not a jump of scenery. In The Alchemist it constantly jumps from scene to scene to action and more action. It was a good read but do not expect a great read from this book.

[John-Michael Wells · Rating 2 out of 5]

Action-packed mind fluff. A quick read with interesting plot, but burdened by one-dimensional male characters and poorly written female characters. The bad guys are pure evil with no interesting qualities aside from Austin Powers-worthy maniacal urges. The good guys are either muscle heads on the verge of violent outbursts or women needing rescue. Like watching a Rambo movie: satisfying and predictable at a basic level, but not enlightening.

[Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I went into this book knowing nothing about the story. I really enjoyed it.