BOOK INFO

Title: The Chain

Author: Adrian McKinty

Publisher: Mulholland Books

Publish Date: July 9, 2019

Genre: Mystery Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 4/5

BOOK BLURB

It’s something parents do every morning: Rachel Klein drops her daughter at the bus stop and heads into her day. But a cell phone call from an unknown number changes everything: it’s a woman on the line, informing her that she has Kylie bound and gagged in her back seat, and the only way Rachel will see her again is to follow her instructions exactly: pay a ransom, and find another child to abduct. This is no ordinary kidnapping: the caller is a mother herself, whose son has been taken, and if Rachel doesn’t do as she’s told, the boy will die.

“You are not the first. And you will certainly not be the last.” Rachel is now part of The Chain, an unending and ingenious scheme that turns victims into criminals — and is making someone else very rich in the process. The rules are simple, the moral challenges impossible; find the money fast, find your victim , and then commit a horrible act you’d have thought yourself incapable of just twenty-four hours ago.

But what the masterminds behind The Chain know is that parents will do anything for their children. It turns out that kidnapping is only the beginning.

MY REVIEW

Rachel is on her way to a doctor’s appointment when she receives a phone call. On the phone is someone who has kidnapped her daughter Kylie. To get Kylie back, Rachel must obey the rules of The Chain.

A fantastic, yet horrifying, plot. The Chain is a kidnapping for ransom scheme. It starts with parents receiving a phone call that their child has been kidnapped. In addition to paying a ransom, they must also kidnap another child to keep The Chain going. As long as the parents follow the rules, The Chain stays active and everyone stays alive. Of course, once someone is in The Chain, they are forever watching over their shoulder, afraid someone will kill them or their child.

Told in two parts. The novel starts off exciting, and the entire first part is thrilling to read. The second part wasn’t as strong for me, but it stayed entertaining. Most of the novel is told from Rachel’s point of view, but other viewpoints are also included.

The Chain is a fast-paced and action-packed thriller. Gripping, addictive, and intense.