I remember reading Nathan’s debut when he contacted me on Insta back 2 years ago now and my god I devoured it and I even got a Q and A out of him, see the here for the review and the Q and A. When Nathan contacted me about wanting to do a blog tour, I knew who to mention and that I would be signing up straight especially as I have been waiting years for this book!
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The Rise of The Chemist by Nathan ParkerSeries: The Granville Series #2
Published by Self Published on May 2020
Format: eARC
Source: Author
Pages: 214
Amazon UK
Goodreads
Also by this author: The Disappearance of Timothy Dawson
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?
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.
Until next time xxx
Thank you so much to Sarah at BOTBS Publicity for the tour invite and the author for a copy of this book in return for my honest and unbiased review.
Nothing because I am waiting (in)patiently for Book 3!
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
Sarah Hardy says
Thanks so much for closing off the blog tour today Zoé x
Zoé says
Thanks for having me, so glad Nathan contacting you xx
Zoé says
*contacted