Chemical Secret

by Tim Vicary, Jennifer Bassett (Series Editor), Tricia Hedge (Founding Editor)

The job was too good. There had to be a problem - and there was. John Duncan was an honest man, but he needed money. He had children to look after. He was ready to do anything, and his bosses knew it. They gave him the job because he couldn't say no; he couldn't afford to be honest. And the job was like a poison inside him. It changed him and blinded him, so that he couldn't see the real poison - until it was too late.

Genres: Fiction

72 pages, Paperback

First published August 3, 2000

About the author

Tim Vicary is an author and a recently retired university teacher from the university of York, England. His legal thrillers about a tough British barrister, Sarah Newby, have been compared to the works of John Grisham and Scott Turow. The second book in the series, A Fatal Verdict, was awarded a B.R.A.G Medallion for an outstanding independent novel, and the third book, Bold Counsel, was awarded the Awesome Indies Seal of Excellence. He is currently writing a fourth book in the series, entitled Broken Alibi.

His four historical novels have also won praise. Nobody's Slave, a novel about the Elizabethan slave trade, won first prize in the young adult category of the Kindle Book awards 2014. His three other historical novels, Cat & Mouse, The Blood Upon the Rose, and The Monmouth Summer, are all available individually or as a boxed set of three, entitled Women of Courage.

Tim has also written about twenty much shorter books, graded readers for foreign learners of English, published by Oxford University Press. In 2010 and 2011 two of these - Titanic and The Everest Story - were each the winners in their category for the Language Learner Literature Award for the Extensive Reading Foundation.

Tim lives in the English countryside, near York. When he's not writing he likes horse-riding, cycling, and swimming.

Reviews

[Nhi Nguyễn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like the topic of this book, which is about the wake-up call for environmental protection and the moral compass that each of us must have in order to navigate ourselves when we have to choose between our monetary interests and what's good for the environment/other people' lives. However, the story ended rather abruptly, with no further information/explanation to come to a full conclusion. Is John's new-born grandchild deformed due to the chemical waste from his former paint company? And can the river and sea water be clean again after so much toxic waste being dumped into it? There was no answer to these questions. It feels like the story could have a more rounded, satisfying ending to tie everything together and deliver a stronger message.

[Sami - · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't like the end. Left us without knowing what next?

[Reham Elkomy · Rating 1 out of 5]

25/11/2025

[Marwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short story about protecting the environment get rid of human toxins .

[Hannahbueds · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read the book Chemical Secret by Tim Vicary. It's about a man, John, who's rich at first, but then his wife dies and he's really sad and unemployed. But he has two kids, and he got to take care of them. So he sollicitated for a job, and he got in! But there was something wrong, very wrong, that brought his daughter in danger. I don't like the open ending, it makes me consider a lot of options. I was thinking that de baby has 4 legs, or that it has not a heart or something, but maybe she's mentaly disabled or there is nothing wrong. I also think she might have the down syndrome when she's born. I admire how John Duncan earns money for his kids and how he goes on with his life. John is obviously a good man.

[Mousa · Rating 3 out of 5]

وقع الكتاب بين يدي فآليت على نفسي إلا أن أقرأه


الكتاب يتحدث عن عالم بيولوجي لديه أبن وابنه وتوفت زوجته التي كانت تعمل في بيع السفن الشراعية

أصبحت حالته مزريه مع عائلته التي يجب عليه رعايتها خاصة وانه ترك وظيفته السابقة وعمل مع زوجته في مشروعهم الخاص لمده طويلة أبعدته عن تخصصه الذي تخرج منه

يحصل على وظيفة مرموقة في شركة لتصنيع أصباغ للسيارات ليختبر سميتها وعدم تأثيرها على الإنسان خصوصا وان مخرجات الشركة تلقى في النهر


يفحص سميتها ويستنتج انها مؤذية خصوصا وانه فحصها على فئران حاملة وعند ولادتها انجبت فئران بدون عيون او بدون اذان او بدون اذناب


يخبر رئيسه بالأمر ولكن رئيسه لا يلتفت للأمر خصوصا وانه يدعي ان سمية المواد لا تأثير لها ,, فيخير بين ترك وظيفته والرجوع لحالة الفقر أم التصدي لسمية المواد وخسران وظيفته ~

[Hatodi · Rating 2 out of 5]

What do I do when I get involved in such situation like that? If I was John Duncan, did I tell everybody that the waste product is dangerous or I cover the truth to keep my job.

Money doesn't make people happy. If I don't have freedom the I am just slave of money.

[Khitam · Rating 3 out of 5]

An open ending to the story, I hate that.

[Sara]

Chemical secret is a book that tells the story of a father of 2. His name is John and he is the father of Christine(16) and Andrew(13). His wife died a couple of years ago while she was sailing. After her dead he lost all his money, that’s why they live in a tiny apartment. Then John find a new job in a chemical factory. He can buy a big house and a boat because he gets a lot of money now. But there is also a bad side on the story, the chemical factory dumps chemicals in the river. The chemicals are killing the baby seals. When his pregnant daughter almost drowns in the river is he scared. He tells the newspapers that the chemicals are the cause of the dead baby seals.
I think it is a good book. It reeds good and the language is easy to understand. It’s a good story that affects you. The only negative thing about the book was the ending, you don’t really know what happens to his daughter’s baby. I think this is really frustrating.
I would recommend the book to other people because it is a really nice story. The book is good to help you learn English.

[Inne · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is telling a story about a father who is urgently looking for a job in order to be able to give his children what they need. For ex: a good place to call home or money for school and school trips.
As it is urgent, the employers abuse the situation. They know that he wants to do everything what they ask. The employers start to abuse the situation more and more during progress of the story. At a certain moment, the father can’t refuse as he is already too deep into trouble and can’t afford to be honest. His children really need a warm and clean place to stay and good food. He can’t afford to lose that again. That’s why he is listening to them in the first place.
I like the book ( the story) as it is reading smoothly. When you start reading again after a while, you are immediately back into the story. A lot of drawings in the book give you an insight of how the situation is and how everything looks like. The story is well written and not very difficult. I can recommend the book, if you like reading in English of course.

[Patricia Navarro · Rating 1 out of 5]

NUNCA LEO IBROS EN INGLÉS, Y NO SÉ SI ES POR ESO PERO ESTE NO ME HA GUSTADO CASI NADA. MI PUNTUACIÓN SERÍA DE 1.5 ESTRELLAS PERO FINALMENTE SE QUEDÓ CON 1.

[Sophia Books · Rating 1 out of 5]

Me lo he leído dos veces para el instituto que tengo un examen. El final no me gusta nada, tenia potencial pero no ha sido de mi agrado. Espero no volverlo a leer nunca.

[Ellen]

I thougt it was a very stupid book because it took me a long time to read it. The story wasn't intresting to me. It's about an old man named Jonh with his creepy story about a building with toxic chemicals. The old man lives alone in his house, with his two children, since his wife died a while ago. He goes and works at the factory because he wants to buy a better house for him and his childeren. In that factory they make new car paint, and he has to go and test if they're dangerous. Later on he realizes the chemicals in the paint are very toxic, and that there are more bad aspects to it than just intoxicating the enviorment. Because of the simple fact that these kinds of stories don't appeal to me, i wouldn't reccomend it to anyone who doesn't like either thrillers or adventurous books. Since it's an easy book, i would reccomend it to people who are just starting at reading English books. Because of the fact that the reading level of the book is so low, you do have to understand that it is quite monotone and that can come over as quite boring.

[Klaudia · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book Chemical Secret by Tim Vicary is the best book which I have read in my life. It’s about a man. His name is John and he is rich at first, but then he becomes to a poor and miserable because his wife dies. He has two kids, and he’ll give his children everything what they need and want so he is looking for a job. He find a job. But there was something wrong that brought his daughter in danger. I love the open ending, It makes me consider a lot of options. I was thinking that the baby dies or maybe that the baby has 5 hands or maybe 15 fingers or something. But maybe there is nothing wrong. I love this story, it’s well written not very difficult. When you start reading again after a long time, you’re immediately back into the story so I can recommend this book.

[Namiko]

I think the writer used simple words or words I already know, so it was not too difficult for me to read. The main character, John, was a chemist and works for a painting factory. He knew they flows the dangerous chemical into the river- he saw rats babies with no legs, no arms, or two heads, but he could do anything about that - he suggested his boss to put a machine for clean the chemical water, but his boss disagreed it and threated him to fire him. Ironically his pregnant daughter was almost drown by the river so he had to admit it. Now I think I enjoy reading itself in English without a dictionary. So plots are no so important, I think. So this book is not so bad.

[Shoshiro Mimami · Rating 4 out of 5]

1.Tim Vicary, oxford, level3
2.95minutes
3.working dauther chemical money father rich poor
4. a: The hero can't say "no", so he did many things that is not kind for environmental in this book.
b:I don't like this book because there isn't any happy description. I also learned about the fear of the chemical pollution.
5. I learned that we should say "no" if we may not want to do something and we should think about humean life to the first.

[Maria Mhemnoch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Este sube un poquito el nivel en cuanto a tiempos verbales y demás.
Es animado y tiene un poco de intriga. Pero agggg!! me lo leí a prisa porque tenía el examen y en el final casi me da algo al leerlo!!! (os dejo la intriga)
Tiene algo de vocabulario poco común pero por ejemplo se sigue mejor que el de Shakespeare porque no tiene tantas palabras específicas.
LE pongo la nota media porque cumple su función de ser rápido de leer y aumentar la habilidad con el idioma.

[Alyssa · Rating 2 out of 5]

tells the story of John Duncan, who desperately needs a job to support his children. I would love this book more, had it has a proper ending. tbh open endings gave me a lot of options to think about like the baby, his daughter, the factory owner. however it's a good wakeup call to protect the environment. but had it not happened to his daughter, would he still be continuing his job as usual? we never know

[Zoé]

I have read the book Chemical Secret byTim Vicary. It’s a thriller and adventurous story. Tim is an experienced teacher and writer. This book is about a men called John who is an biologist. John didn’t work for a long time after his wife died. Then he get a good job in a paint factory that’s was good news because he really needed the money for him and his children. After he works there six months, he discovered that there is a lot of poison from the factory going to the river. Thats not good for de sails in the river. But if he says this to the newspapers he is going to loose his job. When his pregnant daughter almost drowned and get a lot of water in her mouth he needs to say that its poisoned water.

When I started reading the book, I really liked the story. But when i came to the end of the book I was bored of the story and I didn’t like the ending at all. Its an open ending and I am really curious about it. What I liked about the book was when John tells everything what happend in his life on the beginning of the book, it was really sad but then you know his background.

I would not recommend the book to someone who don’t like open-ended stories. But for people who like thriller and adventure stories I would. Its a good book that reads smoothly and there are a lot of chapters and that’s useful because then it is clearer. I hope it is clear about what the book is about and if you are going to read it, enjoy.

[Rikko215 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story reminded me of Minamata disease, which is a Japanese neurological disease caused by severe mercury poisoning. Chemical poisoning and environmental issues are common topics in today's business scenes, so I could not stop reading.

John Duncan, a middle-aged man, found his job after 5 years of unemployment. He took his job at a printing factory company near a river as a biologist. Since then he instantly became rich, moving to a new house, and letting his children buy what they want. However, he soon realized the company is discarding the waste product into the river, which is made out of painting. Although he immediately reported the issue to the company's CEO, he didn't take action towards this problem, prioritizing profit over the environment. There he was, confronted. Did he report or did he not? Eventually, Duncan had no choice but to keep this issue secret...

[Nacho · Rating 3 out of 5]

El nivel de inglés es bastante básico durante todo el libro, también la historia es sencilla y va al grano sin muchos rodeos, cuando va por la mitad parece un topicazo por la relación que mantiene Simon con el señor Duncan, y como sus hijos se apartan de él cuando llega a conseguir todo lo que deseaba comprar con dinero.
Aunque sea una opinión impopular, Duncan se merecía ese trato (más aún su jefe). Pero ese final es claramente lo único que le da un toque al libro de emoción, una emoción de rabia por no saber el final (obvio) de la historia.
Pero si lo único que encuentro interesante de un libro es su final, no la historia que me cuentan, sino como acaba, pués sinceramente no merece la pena. Demasiada nota le doy.

[alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actually, I do not really agree with the behavior of Christine. Have she ever thought that all things that her father John do is just only because of his family. Maybe things he does is not right, he is still her dad. “He smiled at her but there is no smile back”
Or she shuts the doors in front of him.
Which really touches my heart is that after all, John cares about his daughter, his grandchild a lot. He hides book about babies under his bed and at night he reads it sometimes.
However, I am not a fan of opening ending, so this is not as satisfied as I had excepted when I first saw the cover.

[Deuck · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so interesting story for me.
Recently contamination by river pollution is not heard in my country, but about 50 years ago it was happened a lot.
A food chain causes miserable outcome in case of this story. So we need to consider maintaining this wonderful the Earth for our descendant.

[Dr.Abdulwahab Alnaif · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Chemical Secret" is a wonderful novel that I truly benefited from reading.
As I’ve decided to master the English language 100% in 2025, I'm proud to say that I’ve now started to understand novels .. even podcasts without subtitles or reading the words.

I highly recommend reading it for the powerful human messages it carries,
and because it’s incredibly simple and easy to follow.

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

this story is start good and interesting, And than become Less exciting and less quality, and its characters aren't really that interesting, and the end was not telling anything, the open end not suit any story, and definitely not suit this story.

[Mahmoud Bayome · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story is about John Duncan, a biologist who had to work in a paint factory to earn a living. The story is sad, and John's life is miserable. Everything he dreamed of vanished in the end, and even the fate of his daughter’s baby is uncertain.

[Khaled Shehnee · Rating 2 out of 5]

It grappled with some serious topics, but the ending was really underwhelming and the tone felt dead and flat. Nothing about it captured me or made me feel any strong emotions, and I personally wouldn't recommend this book.

[agusta · Rating 1 out of 5]

ehhh...
no se que pasó.
no entiendo

[lindsay ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.4⭐

[خليل · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a big fan but I enjoyed reading it
I love this quote
“The job was to good. There had to be a problem “