The Chain was a fast-paces, character driven thriller that I read in one sitting. Though I found the first half more compelling than the second, I raced through it to see how it ended.

3.5 Stars.* (rounded down)

A Highly Entertaining Premise that fell a Tad Short on Execution.

After Rachel drops her teenage daughter Kylie off at the bus stop, she gets a call. Kylie has been kidnapped. The caller states that their child has been kidnapped as well. The only way to get Kylie back is to pay a ransom and kidnap someone else, then the caller’s kid will be released and the chain moves forward. Once the family of the child that Rachel kidnaps take someone, Kylie will be released and so on. It’s a vicious circle called “The Chain.”

The premise was F-A-S-C-I-N-A-T-I-N-G (at least to me).. I mean I liked receiving those chain letters as a kid. Not that I ever sent them out. That was way too much work (let’s be serious here)!

Still, I was intrigued by the idea of this and it started off Hella strong. Like Wowza. The characters of Rachel and her daughter Kylie totally pulled me in - the mother who would do anything to get her daughter back and Kylie, who was desperate to get out of the situation she was in? Heck, yes! I am in! But then the story took a bit of a turn in the second half and the story dragged on and sadly, became a bit too technical for me. The ending became obvious fairly quickly, which was also a disappointment. That said, I give the author full credit for the premise and the first half of the story which grabbed my attention immediately.

A huge thank you to NetGalley, Mulholland and Adrian McKinty for an ARC of this novel in exchange or an honest review.

Published on NetGalley and Goodreads on 5.19.19.
Will be published on Amazon on 7.9.19

Adrian McGinty has authored the beach read of the year with The Chain! Totally engrossing and will suck you in!

This is an extremely tough review to write because I was dying to read this book. The premise of having a child kidnapped then having to kidnap someone else's child was so outrageous and chilling that I couldn't wait to dive in. Rachel is a mom battling cancer when her 13 year old daughter Kylie is kidnapped. She essentially becomes one of the main protagonists of the story once she's pulled into the chain and must kidnap someone else's child to get Kylie back. Question is does she do this or does she go against the psychos pulling the strings behind the chain? I think the author attempted to make Rachel seem like a tough women with her fighting cancer and her trying to save her daughter on her own (well except when they conveniently made accommodations for her to have someone help) but she really came across as unlikeable and that was a major issue for me because besides maybe her daughter Kylie, I didn't like anyone enough to want to root for them. Then there's the fact that the first half of the book seemed much stronger than the second half. There were large sections of the section half that went on and on with IT technological jargon and concepts and really the author completely lost me with all that and I started skimming. I found the rest dragged and I was underwhelmed by the ending. AS for the villians, if you've read thrillers before you've come across characters similar and way more complex than the ones in this book.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to preview THE CHAIN by Adrian McKinty.
This book asks the question - what would you do if....
What would you do if one morning you cell phone rang and a stranger told you that your child was kidnapped, that in order to get your child back, you had to kidnap someone's child, pay a ransom, and do things you could not fathom? That is what happens to Rachel, a single mother suffering from cancer. The caller tells her to get 25 thousand dollar and get ready to take someone else's child.
The caller tells Rachel if she calls the police - her child will be killed; if she deviates from the instreuctions, her child will be killed - and if she breaks this "chain" - everyone she knows will be killed.
Rachel knows this is not a joke and so she goes to work - she can't rely on her ex-husband, Marty, so she reaches out to her brother in law, Pete. Rachel and Pete race against time to get a young child back to her family.
But things get out of control - and Rachel knows that THE CHAIN will never let her forget - she is bound to it forever. Rachel's live spins out of control - that is until she starts to take control. But nothing is as it seems and life will never be the same.
Excellent book - 5 stars - fast paced and scary as hell! RECOMMEND.

What a ride! Read this book in a day because I HAD to know what happened. A thrilling nightmare from beginning to end in all the best ways.

I admit my first thought reading the description of this novel was disappointment. Oh, no. A great Irish writer has decided to write a bog-standard American thriller according to formula. But because it was Adrian McKinty, I decided, gingerly, to give it a go.

The setup seems preposterous and belief strains a bit as it's suspended. A woman is contacted by a desperate couple whose child has been kidnapped. They have kidnapped her daughter. She must kidnap another child in order to free both children because it's part of the Chain, and the Chain must not be broken or everyone involved will be hunted down and killed. Oh, and she has to send money, too.

Yeah, I'd go to the cops. But nobody does because they are so terrified for their child's safety. Listen, just roll with it, okay? In the long run it's worth it. The characters are great, the action is great, the concept is ... well, just don't think too hard about it.

Everyone who loves a thriller - think Harlan Coben or Michael Robotham - should read this book. And everyone who has enjoyed Adrian McKinty's books should buy it and turn to the acknowledgements. Then rig up your belief-suspension bridge and enjoy it.

What a terrific weekend read, and a perfect beach book. It’s high-octaine indeed, and I enjoyed every minute. I did feel that the second half stretched credibility but it all worked to keep the pages flying to see how it would work out. I thoroughly enjoyed it.