The Rise of The Chemist: The Granville Series Book 2

The Granville Series #2

by Nathan Parker

Granville is in a mess once more.

The streets are infested with Charge, a deadly synthetic drug concocted by an enigma known as The Chemist.

Tommy finds himself in the midst of scandal yet again, as terrifying danger closes in on him; drugs, deaths and deception.

After hitting a rocky patch with Kirsten and things at home as tricky as ever, Tommy feels as though he is invisible.

But when Detective Brightwell calls upon his help in cracking the case, Tommy is immediately immersed into the Granville underworld, with the key surely lying with infamous crime family, the O’Clearys.

With the threat of Smiler looming, trustworthy people are hard to find. So who can he count on this time to help him muddle through this impossible situation?

The Rise of the Chemist is the second book in the Granville Series, sequel to The Disappearance of Timothy Dawson. It is a young adult fiction book, following Tommy’s difficult battle for justice, in a town where crime rules.

A series of teenage deaths triggered by a deadly synthetic drug, thrusts Tommy into the midst of an undercover operation. The targets? The Chemist, creator of the lethal, designer substance known as Charge, and the O’Clearys, a local crime family with their fingers in all kinds of illicit pies.

With one eye looking over his shoulder for the threat of Smiler (book one), Tommy must decide between what is right and what is easy.

With complications arising with Kirsten, and the relentless drive of Detective Brightwell, he finds himself questioning everybody and everything.

Once injected into the O’Cleary family, Tommy comes face to face with a harsh, brutal reality, which he scrambles to escape from.

But is it too late? Will Tommy find a way out? Will Granville ever be safe from Charge?

Find out in The Rise of the Chemist.

214 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 1, 2020

Reviews

[Zoé-Lee O'Farrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have finally managed to get book 2 in my grubby hands and all I want to know now is when will I get book 3 in my grubby hands! I fell in love with Tommy in The Disappearance of Timothy Dawson, he was thrown into such a big black dark deep end of s@!t street and it doesn’t look like Nathan has been any kinder in this book!

It’s not been that long after TDoTD, but Tommy is at college but he and Kristen aren’t talking anymore, wait what! How could they not!!!! Man!

We meet him at a party, a house party he doesn’t want to be at when a boy called Seb just happens to sit next to him, within the next few minutes, events happen that will change Tommy’s life for the foreseeable future and with it is the introduction of a new drug, Charge. This drug is so much stronger and way more lethal than what Smiler (the bad guy from book 1!) could come up with and that is what is terrifying. This stuff kills people and in record time.

We have a new gang family we meet called the O’Clareys and they are a brutish lot, Finn and Shay the brothers are the ones we see the most in the book and to say Finn is not a nice person is an understatement.

Brightwell is back, but this time this case of Charge is a personal case for him and unfortunately, lines have been drawn and crossed. The Chemist, the created of Charge will have such a devastating effect on the people involved and I really did not see it coming, I really feel like I should have!!

I loved catching up with Tommy and seeing his brother Derek and a small part of me was glad his mother was back. I would say you can read this without book 1, but you really shouldn’t. Smiler, is mentioned a lot throughout and you are caught up with summaries of book 1, but you need to read it, you need to meet Tommy and the “gang” but you need to see the bigger picture.

The events to start with are slow as we meet the new players, learning at Tommy’s speed how everything ticks and still not fully understanding. The initiation that Tommy had at the football game, Jesus heart = in my throat! I couldn’t bear to watch how it was going to go down but I got there. Tommy has come a long way but he is also so young and he needs protecting. So maybe Nathan, you know, maybe go easy with him on the next book, please!

Nathan has such a way with words, he will take you to the dark and gritty world of Granville. You are left believing that this town is dark, grey and smoggy. That the only way to survive is with a high and a drink, just to be in oblivion. Tommy is really a light in this smog, he just wants to live his life the best he can, he doesn’t want to be caught up in the life, he wants to go to college and get away and be with the girl he loves.

I have to say with the ending that we have, it has really got me excited for the next one. It’s going to be explosive I can just feel it. It’s going to be a war and I can imagine this will have even more heartbreaking this time. I am excited but I am apprehensive I have a feeling who some casualties might be, the ones that will have the impact and that’s why I am waiting with bated breath and will be reading it with trepidation.

[Cathy Geha · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Rise of the Chemist by Nathan Parker
The Granville Series #2

Tommy has gone on to college in book two of the series and is questioning whether it is a good fit and is also missing his best friend, Kirsten. At a party he is witness to the overdose of a young man who eventually dies. Tommy’s mother is still an addict, but his brother has seemed to clean up his act a bit. When a detective asks him to go undercover to help put some drug dealers out of business it opens the door to a part of Granville that he really wants no part of. Whether or not he will come out of this book in one piece is a bit undecided at various times in this story.

What I liked:
* Tommy: strong, wise, and resilient. He loves his family despite their less than stellar character behavior.
* Kirsten: a good friend to Tommy
* Kirsten’s mother: a better mother to Tommy than his own
* Darcy: spoiled but not rotten
* Detective Brightwell: a man obsessed with righting wrongs though he does step over the line from time to time
* The plot, pace, and writing
* The stunning twist near the end of the book
* That at least some of the bad guys were caught

What I did not like:
* The O’Clearys - nasty pieces of work
* The idea that someone could be so cold and knowingly make and sell lethal drugs
* The Chemist: warped and evil

Did I enjoy this book? Yes
Would I read more by this author? Yes

Thank you to the author and BOTBS for the ARC to read and review ~ This is my honest review.

5 Stars

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed my first introduction to Granville and meeting Tommy in the first book in the series so was very much looking forward to revisiting and it didn’t disappoint.

Sadly things for Tommy don’t seem to have got much better. In fact if anything they are about to get a whole lot worse. His only saving grace comes from Kirsten who is the one he always finds himself turning to.

We get to know Detective Brightwell better in this story and more about his background. He is one of those characters you can’t help but like even though he puts Tommy in serious danger in his quest to get the bad guys. At times I wanted to slap him but other times, give him a great big hug.

With the protagonist being a young adult, this is a story that can definitely be enjoyed by young adults and upwards. Tommy’s home life is quite melancholy with an alcoholic mother and a recovering drug addict for a brother. He is a good lad though and you really route for things to get better for Tommy. The author delves more into his home life with some surprises that I hadn’t been expecting.

The Rise of the Chemist takes us into the dark world of drugs and crime. It is also very much about the fight against these crimes and the chase to bring down the people behind it. There were a few twists and turns of which one, I didn’t see until it literally hit me in the eyes and was pretty jaw dropping stuff. A good crime read that will have you hooked through out.

My thanks to the author for a readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own and not biased in anyway.

[Chelle W (teaandplottwists) · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Tommy attends a party and the guy he’s talking to offers up some drugs, goes into a fit and later dies, Tommy is left wondering what he can do. But then he bumps in to Detective Brightwell who asks him to get on board with helping to bring down the local crime family (the O’Clearys), who he’s sure is responsible. After the ordeal that he went through in the last book, Tommy is more than reluctant to get himself involved in anything messy again. But when he’s invited to the birthday party of her brother by Darcy O’Cleary by chance, he decides to go and see what he can dig up. And what follows is more than Tommy could imagine….. When his family are also affected by the deadly Charge drug, Tommy realises he has to help. But how does he do that without being a grass? Will his friends and family make it out alive? And will they be able to find and bring down The Chemist who is responsible for making the new drug?

Not only does he have the Charge issue to deal with, but he finds himself looking over his shoulder and is convinced that Smiler (book 1) is around and watching him……..But is he right?

This is a fantastic young adult fiction novel. Easy to read with a brilliant plot, I thoroughly enjoyed this. It didn’t matter that I hadn’t read book 1, there’s enough information in here to help you get by ~ although it really made me want to read it to see what happened!

In terms of characters, I love Tommy! Remembering that he is only 17, he has had a rough upbringing but is an adorable, responsible kid with his head screwed on. Although he finds himself in some sticky situations, he manages to worm himself out with some quick thinking! I felt really sorry for him because he’s under a lot of pressure from Brightwell which is so unfair! I also enjoyed watching his relationship with Kirsten being repaired and moving forwards. The O’Cleary’s are an interesting bunch – and again felt sorry for Tommy that he was getting sucked in when he really didn’t want to! I really liked his brother Derek who is cleaning himself up in this, although he still has issues. And there are some other characters in here who are brilliant, but shocking – and I’m not mentioning any names as I don’t want to give anything away!

Granville is a rough town and it’s interesting to read about how the council cover stuff up, like teenagers dying from a new drug. There are aspects of the book that really resonated with me, having grown up on a council estate myself (although it was nowhere near as bad as this!). The story covers the rougher end of life – people living on the cusp of poverty, a town full of drugs and crime because there isn’t much else on offer for these people. But the story also shows that most people have a choice – you can either choose the path everyone else is following, or try for something else. And this is exactly what Tommy is doing – trying to make something of himself so he doesn’t end up like his Mum or Brother. But he also has to make some tough decisions about what he should and shouldn’t do……

With Tommy being 17 and at college, I feel that lots of young adults will identify with Tommy, Kirsten and the other characters. And even if not, hopefully they will be able to empathise with Tommy’s situation. The plot is brilliant and kept me intrigued – wanting to find out who The Chemist is, seeing how Tommy gets on with the O’Cleary’s and if he’ll come out unscathed, watching his relationship with Kirsten develop and more…….There was also a major twist in this. Definitely one of those ‘WHAT’ moments and I thoroughly enjoyed it!!

If you enjoy a good crime story, police investigation or are just looking for something easy and enjoyable to read that will keep you intrigued, then you should definitely check this out. I’ll most definitely be looking out for the next book in the series, and will be adding book 1 to my (very long!) TBR list! Definitely recommended by me!

[Karen Cole · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

The Rise of the Chemist is the second book in Nathan Parker's Granville Series and takes place a few months after the events in the previous novel, The Disappearance of Timothy Dawson. Although it's not strictly necessary to read that one first, I would advise doing so if possible to due to the unavoidable spoilers in this sequel.
Tommy Dawson could be excused for expecting life to settle down after his recent devastating experiences but although he is now at college, he doesn't to have found much to be happy about at the start of the book. He feels at outsider at the college, his mum is still using drugs and perhaps worst of all, he has drifted apart from his best friend, Kirsten.
The excellent sense of place ensured that I could easily picture exactly what the fictional town of Granville is is like; a deprived Northern town where young people leave school with little hope, leading to a rise in youth crime and drug use. Tommy's mum and older brother, Derek are both heroin addicts but a new legal high, Charge has become the drug of choice of the local teenagers and is cutting a deadly swathe through the town's young population. After Tommy witnesses another life being cut short, he is approached by Detective Brightwell who believes he may be ideally placed to infiltrate a local crime family, the O'Clearys, who he believes are responsible for distributing Charge. Brightwell also hopes that the O'Clearys will lead them to the person manufacturing the synthetic drug who is only known by the name, The Chemist. I sympathised throughout with Tommy's understandable fears that The Chemist is linked to his nemesis, Smiler and that if he becomes a grass, he'll put his family and Kirsten in danger.
It might be a little bit of a stretch to accept that a police officer would enrol a seventeen-year-old boy into a dangerous undercover operation but it's worth it as it leads to an intriguing and gritty urban thriller. With its predominantly young cast of characters and the exploration of subjects perhaps particularly pertinent to that age group, The Rise of the Chemist is a topical, relevant YA drama.
I must admit however, to feeling that the contemporary plot is dated by the pop culture references - there is a mention of 'This is Your Life' and the songs featured are at least twenty years old. While I can believe that Tommy may have different tastes to many of his peers, I think the inclusion of a few more modern tunes would make the story even more relevant to younger readers. I also found the prose to be somewhat overwrought at times and the book would have benefited from further editing just to improve the overall flow of the story.
That said, Nathan Parker definitely understands the importance of writing characters that readers care about. Tommy is such an engaging, relatable protagonist and I was rooting for him the whole time. He faces some agonising dilemmas and truly shocking revelations and I loved the relationship he has with Kirsten who is as determined and principled as he is. Not everybody in the novel is as likeable, of course but those who are deeply troubled are described with empathetic and honest insight while the villains of the story are suitably menacing.
The Rise of the Chemist is an exciting, emotional thriller with plenty of twists and turns and I'm sure that this is an author who will just keep getting better. The dramatic conclusion to this instalment has certainly ensured I'm keen to read more!

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I was invited to take part in the blog tour for 'The Rise Of The Chemist', I hadn't actually realised that it was the second book in the 'Granville Series'. Now I have discovered how flipping great a storyteller Nathan is, I am a little cross at myself for leaving it this long to discover the 'Granville Series'. I absolutely loved reading 'The Rise Of The Chemist' but more about that in a bit.
I really did feel for Tommy at the start of the book. Tommy hasn't exactly got the easiest of family lives. His mother uses alcohol as a coping mechanism and has dabbled in drugs and his brother was a drug addict but he has got clean and he is busy making a life for himself. Tommy is a bit of a loner and he finds it very hard to make friends. Tommy certainly lacks self confidence too, which doesn't help matters. Tommy is a student at college and he hoped that college would enable him to basically get a life- make friends, go out socialising etc but the reality to date has been the opposite. One night Tommy goes to a house party and he seems almost grateful that Seb, who he knows from college although they have had little contact, is willing to spend time with him or to even talk to him. Things start to go wrong at the party and from that moment onwards, Tommy may well have to step outside his comfort zone if he is to help clean Granville up once and for all. What happens? Well for the answers to those questions and so much more you are just going to have to read the book for yourselves to find out as I am not going to tell you.
Oh my flipping word, 'The Rise Of The Chemist' was, to be blunt, an unputdownable page turner of a book. I think part of me identified with Tommy in that we share certain characteristics and I was hoping that things would work out for him in the end. I was gripped by 'The Rise Of The Chemist' from the moment I first picked up the book until the very moment I read the last word on the last page. In fact even now, after having finished the book, I am still thinking about the book. I couldn't bear to miss a single second of the story and so my Kindle accompanied me everywhere. Thankfully it was a rainy day so I didn't have to put the book down. The pages couldn't turn quickly enough. My desperation to find out what happened seemed to get the better of me and I raced to the end of the book.
'The Rise Of The Chemist' is extremely well written. Nathan certainly knew how to grab my attention with an intriguing synopsis and then draw me into the story. For me, the book was perfectly paced. The story hit the ground running and maintained the fairly fast pace throughout. I felt as though I was part of the story too and that's all thanks to Nathan's very vivid and realistic writing style. 'The Rise Of The Chemist' was a gripping read, which had me on the edge of my seat throughout.
In short, I thoroughly enjoyed reading 'The Rise Of The Chemist' and I would definitely recommend this book to other readers. I will certainly be reading more of Nathan's work in the future- starting with the first book in the Granville series, which is called 'The Disappearance Of Timothy Dawson'. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh Tommy! Poor poor Tommy! What have you got yourself into?!? The death of an acquaintance, the pressure from the boys in blue, the desire to be accepted by your peers but at what cost? And then the spat that’s ruined your one good friendship in life… but the one question both Tommy and I were asking was… Who Is The Chemist??!

It sounds like Granville is a place that attracts trouble. And the more I read about this, the less I inclined I got to ever consider a move there despite me feeling very familiar with the location. Maybe it’s the author’s background of Lancashire that made me reminisce of my time over the other side of the Pennines.

I felt I was missing a little something having not read The Disappearance of Timothy Dawson the first in the Granville series. There were hints of what happened but for me and my inquisitive mind, I just didn’t get enough for The Rise Of The Chemist to be a true standalone in the series. But don’t get me wrong, the story it’s self was intriguing and captivating.

I really enjoyed The Rise Of The Chemist. Its fast paced twisty turny tale with a bit of late teenage angst grabbed my imagination of an urban town with a far few problems it doesn’t want to admit to.

[Mrs J · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good Page- Turner.

I loved this book as much as the first in the series. Both books are so well written with down to earth characters . I think they would appeal to older teenagers as well as adults. The pace and the unexpected revelations kept me wanting to read more. When is the next one due out ?

[The P.Turners]

Please see blog for [K]'s review:

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