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I just finished reading The Chain by @adrianmckinty and all I can say is WOW!

A genius and killer premise that unfolds with breakneck speed.

This was a much talked about story and for me it totally lived up to the hype. This is a dark, twisty take showing the depths people will go to in order to keep their children safe. A definite must read.

The Chain drew me in with its premise, your child gets kidnapped and to free them you must take another child and their parents must do the same, like a high stakes version of chain letters.

I really want to like this book it started off really action packed, full of promise but then slightly petered out for me.

Then there were the characters, I don’t mind unlikable characters but I think they were meant to be a little more likeable than I found them. In the end I didn’t really connect with them or really care what happened to them.

In the end I gave up on it, which I feel a little bad about.

I nearly didn't read this book because of some of the negative reviews on Amazon. I'm so glad I did because it was great. It kept me reading through one night too. As a stand alone thriller it puts the key characters in extreme situations. The main family are entirely believable and well thought through. While the concept of 'The Chain' sounds somewhat far fetched in 2019 I really don't think it is! It really gave me pause for thought about my social media usage too. No spoilers here except to say it's a brilliant thriller. Recommend.

Brilliantly paced, with an intriguing, original premise, this is a gripping new thriller that already has everyone talking. Packed with nail-biting tension from start to finish, it’s a hugely entertaining read that you won’t be able to put down – so get ready to be glued to the very edge of your seat.

The Chain by Adam McKinty is one of the most talked about books on social media this year, bloggers, authors, publishers are raving about it, and then there’s me! The plots definitely an original one, based on Chain letters, the author takes this one step further, your child gets kidnapped, so in turn you have to kidnap a child, if you break the chain your child will be murdered. I throughly enjoyed the first part of The Chain it’s fast paced, riveting and living and breathing events as they unfold through the characters eyes. The chapters are short, and precise adding tension to the overall plot.


The second part of the book is more about the beginning of The Chain , and it's creators I didn’t enjoy this part as much, the pace slowed, the tension ramped down a couple of notches, and the plot became far more predictable. Don’t get me wrong this book has much to offer the thriller lover and I can see why readers are raving about The Chain. Personally I think because I made the mistake of reading some of the reviews for The Chain before reading the book so I may have set my expectations to high for this book, which left me disappointed. So in a nutshell a great first half, but the second half left me not caring one iota about any of the characters or the outcome, harsh but true

This had the makings of an amazing book. I was hooked right from the start as you were immediately thrown into the drama and I think I held my breath for the first quarter of the book. With the start of Part 2 it began to lose its way a bit for me and, in the end, it all felt a bit convenient and rushed into a conclusion. A great concept which most of us will have had some experience with in our youth, good characterisation, just a little under delivered for me.

I read an interview given by the author Adrian McKinty telling the story behind The Chain and was immediately intrigued. Chain letters were something that happened a lot when I was a kid too and I'm sure Agatha Chritie also used them as inspiration for a couple of her novels. Theri insidiosness, their anonymity plays on our frailties as human beings and can be very distressing. Of course social media has made the chain letter a thinng of the present in the form of those meassgaes asking us to share a message with our friends to show our comittment to or support of a particular cause. McKinty however takes the basic concept of the chain letter one humungous step further and much as I 'd like to believe that particular atrocity is confined to the pages of McKinty's novel, I can't let go of the thought that maybe ... just maybe .....

The Chain is one of the most thought provoking novels I've read this year. Apart from the inevitable, 'Oh my god, what would I do in this situation?' I was intrigued by the structure of the novel and kept thinking to myself 'McKinty's written himself into a corner here, there's no way he can get himself out of this one.'

So, the basic question, how far would you go to save your own child, takes on a whole new meaning in The Chain. You are reliant on the chain working, but have no guarantee it will. McKinty takes us right to the edge of desperation, taunts us to take sides, to think outside the box and to confront the sort of questions we , hopefully, would never have to touch in reality.

The Chain is one of those novels that takes you to the brink of your own humanity and makes you confront unpalatable thoughts. By the time i was half way through it I had run a gamut of emotions from anger to dread, to fear to deapsiar and more ... I guess that's pretty much what McKinty wanted us to feel - thanks, Adrian , for leaving me feeling like a wrung out rag.

Then there was the whole question of how would it end. How could any of the unwilling chain participants break the cycle? And as I got into the final quarter of the book a faint dread began to tease me. What if I was disappointed with the ending? What if it was a damp squib? However, rest assured, the ending is as twisty, sinister and satisfying as the rest of the novel.

As an author myself, I am impressed by the structure of The Chain. McKinty is a master of plotting, of twisting and of tricking.

So, did I enjoy it? - Damn right I did! The range of characters was impressive and each voice was distintive. The story was smoothly woven with each chapter making you want to read the next before switching the light out ... talking of lights ... I had to sleep with the hallway light on for a week after reading it , for everyone knows nothing bad happens if you leave the hallway light on!
The emotional journey was more than tranistory ... it still makes me ask myslef that what if question - just how far would I go, how far could I go. Loved it!

What a great idea! Gripping, tense and creepy. Could definitely see it is as a film or tv series. First I have read of this author and it will not be the last.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. I was intrigued by the premise of The Chain where you find out your child has been kidnapped and the only to get them back is by maintaining the chain by kidnapping someone else’s child. This novel is set in America and follows Rachel trying to get her daughter back. I highly enjoyed the first half of the book. It was fascinating seeing how people are forced to do horrific things and the hold this organisation has on them. It’s pacy and fast with snappy short sentences. I’m afraid the second half just didn’t maintain my interest and loss momentum for me personally. Overall this a good, fun popcorn read. 3/5

A brilliant read that reminded me of Aldridge in its style. Had not read any by this author before but am now keen to read more. A really unique story that was really compelling.

I have never read any of Adrian McKinty's books so I came to this without any preconceptions. I thought the blurb looked interesting.

Rachel Klein is divorced, a survivor of breast cancer & a mother. She drops her teenage daughter at school but shortly after receives a phone call telling her that Kylie has been kidnapped. But this is no 'ordinary' kidnap. Apart from the ransom she has to kidnap another child. Only when they have paid up & kidnapped another child will Kylie be released. Once the next person in the chain has fulfilled their obligations can she release their hostage. The Chain must not be broken.

Rachel would probably have described herself as a moral person but these events are to make her re-evaluate all her preconceptions of who she is. With the help of her brother in law she battles to get her daughter back but will any of them ever be the same afterwards?

Who are those behind The Chain? Can the Chain ever be broken? These questions kept me glued to the page. A thought provoking book & a great read- thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book.

There's currently a huge buzz surrounding this novel, so when I received a review copy from the publisher I was thrilled and delighted. It seems everyone's either talking about it, currently reading it or adding it to their 'Want to Read' lists. I was drawn in by the blurb; it's exactly my kind of book.

An unknown caller telephones Rachel O'Neill and informs her that her daughter Kylie has been kidnapped. The only way to secure her release is to pay a ransom and abduct another family's child. Failure to do so or calling in the cops will result in Kylie's death. The Chain must not be broken.

Author Adrian McKinty's characterisation is exceptionally good. We have Rachel, a feisty divorced mother-of-one. Having survived breast cancer once, she's now facing up to the likelihood of its return. When Kylie is abducted, she turns to ex brother-in-law Pete for help. Unknown to Rachel, Pete, an unemployed ex-marine, is battling his own addictions. Casting aside individual issues, they're determined to put an end to The Chain once and for all.

The idea behind this book is fantastic and it really appeals. Fast-paced and totally engrossing, I thoroughly enjoyed it. It had me gripped from start to finish and I very highly recommend.

Smart and fast-paced thriller with an original and gripping premise. A few stumbles on the portrayal of the female lead but overall, kept me hooked & would recommend to anyone who wants a real page-turner.

This review will be posted on 22/8/19.

Honestly, I was expecting The Chain to be better. The Twitter campaign for this book had me absolutely invested, but once I started the book I quickly realised that it wasn’t going to be a hit for me.

My main issue with The Chain comes down to personal taste. I love psychological domestic thrillers, but I don’t like the more action-y thrillers as I tend to be quite detached from the characters. The Chain is one of those action-y thrillers, with the characters wielding guns and running about the place. And then there was the military tie, which kind of sealed the deal for me. None of those things are things that I enjoy in a thriller, and they tend to be my downfall every time.

The concept of the book was very intriguing, with the whole thing about, well, the chain, and parents having to kidnap another child in order to get theirs back. If it had been a quieter domestic thriller then this would have turned out quite well, but that’s not what this was.

The concept is, admittedly, a bit convoluted, but I read fantasy and I can deal with that from time to time, so it really didn’t worry me too much.

The second half was a lot less interesting than the first, with any tension we had completely drying up when the big twist came out of nowhere far too quickly. The author tried to add flashbacks to the second half as well, and these felt out of place and they could have been explained better.

The Chain was definitely a miss for me.

I first heard about The Chain back in November when author Steve Cavanagh posted about it in an online book club (TBC) as one to look out for in 2019 and saying it was probably in his top 3 thrillers of all time. I instantly went in search of information and as soon as it came up for pre-order it was done.
As soon I started this book I new it was going to end up being a late night, I maybe should rephrase that and say early morning and I was right, I couldn’t put it down and was totally gripped.
When young Kylie is kidnapped her mother Rachel finds herself in one of the most terrifying positions any parent could imagine ever being in and as a parent myself The Chain seriously gave me the shivers and a few nightmares as well.
Rachel is sent instructions to a series of tasks she must complete if she wants Kylie to be returned, this isn’t just a simple kidnapping and as Rachel gets deeper into ‘The Chain’ the more terrifying the story gets.
Rachel was a great character and I couldn’t help putting myself in her position, wondering how I would react and the scariest thing is, I know I would do absolutely anything to make sure any of my children were returned safely. I could feel Rachel’s fear emanating off the pages but her courage and pure determination really made me turn the pages in the hope that things would be ok.
This is a fast-paced story that really got under my skin, the tension rises as each page turns and with many twists and turns and links to ‘The Chain’ it’s incredibly difficult to predict what will come next. It’s a nail biter of a story, it had me on edge and it’s plausible which totally gave me the heebie-jeebies.
The Chain is a story that totally grips you, it almost grabs you by the throat, takes your breath away and then throws you to ground leaving you stunned and totally in shock (in a good way) I was quite sad when it finished, it had me so engrossed I didn’t want it to end and I can see why there has been so much hype over it. It’s an absolute cracker and one I’ll definitely recommending.

Break the Chain and you will die, break the Chain and your love ones will die.
Rachel's daughter has been kidnapped and the only way for her to get her back is to pay the ransom and kidnap another child.
So the Chain begins.
Would you kidnap another child to save your own?

"Two things you must remember - Number one: you are not the first and you will certainly not be the last. Number two: remember, it's not about the money - it's about The Chain."

Rachel's 13-year-old daughter Kylie is kidnapped from the bus stop on her way to school. Not long after, her mother Rachel receives a call from an unknown number informing her that her daughter has been taken and demanding $25,000. Not only that... In order to get Kylie back, she must continue The Chain by kidnapping another child. Time is ticking.

The main reason I liked this book so much was the realism. We all received those anonymous chain emails when we were younger. What if they were actually real and not just a prank? I liked how the targets were just innocent people who were forced into criminals in order to get their children back. It was a change from the usual perpetrators and I instantly connected with them - putting yourself in their shoes, you would do anything to get your child back, even if that meant killing another.

The twist caught me totally off-guard which is always a bonus. Nothing felt too contrived or exaggerated as I tend to find in many thrillers. My main criticism was the relationship between characters. I found the interactions between Rachel and her ex-husband/his new girlfriends unnatural and false. I didn't really see the reasoning behind this and I just felt a bit uncomfortable reading it. Everyone was just super friendly and hands-on and I just wasn't feeling it.

Overall it had all the elements of a thriller and was well executed with a strong storyline.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

An intense and dark thriller that will keep you on your toes, even if it doesn't keep you up all night.

The premise was incredibly gripping but for me the story, surprisingly, fell flat. Still, a fast-paced read should you want to be a part of the chain..

With a central concept that is born from every parent’s worst nightmare, The Chain is a brutally effective thriller that gets underneath the skin of the reader as it blurs the line between victim and abuser. By taking the idea of chain letters and sprinkling a bit of “dark web” magic, Adrian McKinty creates a situation that seems wildly fantastic yet unsettlingly plausible at the time. When single mum Rachel O’Neill discovers her thirteen year-old daughter Kylie has been abducted, she finds herself entangled in The Chain – a vicious sequence of criminality that requires those within it to kidnap children to ensure the safety of their own child. The simplistic notion of having to kidnap a child to rescue your own child – a perverse “pay it forward” – is chilling to the bone, and with the advent of untraceable cellphones and dark web internet connections, ever more realistic.

From the outset, McKinty’s novel dives headfirst into its conceit and the result is a frenzied kidnapping by a pair of amateurs that is overflowing with tension. The fact that the people committing these crimes are inexperienced and sloppy simply increases the suspense as the reader is torn between wanting them to succeed, yet being disgusted by their willingness to perpetuate The Chain. The initial few chapters are intense and breathe fresh life into the kidnap genre, much like the much-parodied but extremely iconic kidnapping in the original Taken. The prose is snappy and easy to devour, resulting in a fast-paced and relentless experience as Rachel is inducted into The Chain and given her own challenges to complete.

The novel is split into two parts, and there is a noticeable change in tone between the two halves. The initial half deals primarily with Rachel and Kylie’s experience with The Chain, whilst the second deals with the aftermath and expands the viewpoint to include other characters. McKinty does a fantastic job at conveying the heartache of a mother in an impossible situation, and it naturally invites readers to question whether they would do the unthinkable to save their own child. With such an emotive core, it is easy for readers to become invested in the story and its characters and McKinty deals with the realities of such a trauma to make it even more resonant for readers.

One aspect I particularly enjoyed was the complexity of the characters and their motivations, and how Rachel is positioned as both the heroine of her own story and the villain for the parents of the child she is forced to kidnap. It’s a delicious duality and Rachel struggles with her own feelings about the lengths she would go to in order to get Kylie back. McKinty digs deep into the character, and really puts her through her paces throughout the novel – both physically and mentally. She is a wonderful protagonist and even though she is forced into the role of a kidnapper, it is difficult to root against her.

The Chain is one of those books that begs to be made into a film, and while one of the major twists was a bit predictable, McKinty manages to maintain the tension and suspense through multiple key moments. One scene that had me holding my breath whilst reading was when Rachel was attempting to prevent a kidnapped child from dying of an anaphylactic reaction whilst hiding from a policeman patrolling the abandoned property she has turned into a makeshift cell. It was fantastically tense, and there are so many “spinning plates” that Rachel has to juggle to ensure her daughter’s safe return that it seems that anything can go wrong at any time.

With a chilling premise that will haunt parents for months after reading, The Chain is a thriller unlike any I have read before. Gripping from the outset and unsettlingly feasible, it is a terrifying glimpse at the dangers of digital anonymity and the influence of emotional blackmail. McKinty’s writing lives up to the promise of this fantastic concept, and I propose we start a new “chain” as readers - Read it, Love it and Pass it on.