The Chain is diabolical, unnerving, and gives a whole new meaning to the word 'relentless.'. And McKinty finds a lot to work with in the suspenseful possibility of its undoing. Try. You won't shake it for a long time. Rachel Klein drops her daughter, Kylie, at the bus stop and heads into her day. [23] However, in reviewing McKinty's Fifty Grand in The Guardian,[24] John O'Connor called him a "master craftsman of violence and redemption, up there with the likes of Dennis Lehane. Were glad you found a book that interests you! You get a call from a stranger saying that they have kidnapped your child, they say you have to kidnap someone elses child for your child to stay alive, WOULD YOU DO IT!! This is the eleventh book I have read (well, almost read) by Adrian McKinty. The Chain is a straight-up, stone-faced thriller, a present-tense race.thunderous ride into the darkest, most fearful reaches of a parent's mind)-- Paddy Hirsch, NPR. SUSPENSE, by A powerhouse of a novel for the Irish-turned-American author, McKintys pulse-pounding thrill ride is definitely all its cracked up to be. The Chain by Adrian McKinty 0 votes, 0.0% The . KIDNAPPER. VIEW MORE at usatoday.com. A masterpiece of tension. [3] The book was followed by two sequels in what would become to be known as the Michael Forsythe Trilogy. The caller is a mother herself, whose son has also been abducted, and if Rachel doesnt do exactly as shes told, both children will die. In 2019 after giving up writing Adrian had a global hit with his standalone novel The Chain. Its called the Chain, and its a Ponzi scheme from hell: if you dont keep the chain going by becoming a kidnapper, and if the next parents dont kidnap a child in turn, your child dies. This inherent breakneck quality lends The Chain structural confidence. . Adrian McKinty's The Chain was one of last year's hottest thrillers. "Val McDermid, internationally bestselling author of Broken Ground"Scary, plausible, gripping. But these are just tiny bumps, loose pebbles on the rails of an otherwise thunderous ride into the darkest, most fearful reaches of a parent's mind. One of the finest novels ever produced in the genre. The Chain Adrian McKinty 3.80 89,970 ratings12,229 reviews Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Best Mystery & Thriller (2019) It's something parents do every morning: Rachel Klein drops her daughter at the bus stop and heads into her day. SUSPENSE, by "Dennis Lehane, New York Times bestselling author of Mystic River and Since We Fell"A masterpiece. If they dont, the child will die. Further details on how this Booklover Book Reviews site manages data can be found in our Privacy Policy. She has survived the devastating trauma and treatment of breast cancer, and horror of horrors, it now appears to have returned. In the third section, Jewell alternates narrators and moments in time: The narrator switches to alternating first-person points of view (told by Poppys mother and Floyd) interspersed with third-person narration of Ellies experiences and Laurels discoveries in the present. You are now part of the chain. Number of pages: 416. $13.99 + $3.65 shipping. [20] He often uses the classic noir tropes of revenge and betrayal to explore his characters' existential quest for meaning in a bleak but lyrically intense universe. Please enter an email address so you can get access to our awesome newsletter. When The Chain chooses her, it's as though she has opened the door of her car in a supermarket parking lot and found herself stepping into hell. But when little Kylie finds a wrench in the room where shes chained, the outcome is just surprising enough to heighten interest, not kill it. We learn Kylies kidnapping is just the latest in a horrifyingly effective ransom scheme, wherein parents are tasked with taking a child hostage in order for their own child to be released. But by God are these sequences nail-biting. SUSPENSE | In a book like The Chain, you have no choice but to pray for the worst. It's Taken for mothers. Emotional chords are woven tightly to the plot. His Sean Duffy books remain one of my favourite all time series. 2023 Oscars predictions: See who will win at the 95th Academy Awards. [15], McKinty quit writing in 2017 after being evicted from his rented house, citing a lack of income from his novels, and instead took work as an Uber driver and a bartender. "Stephen King"You have never read anything quite like The Chain and you will never be able to forget it. Fortunately, her daughter Kylie is made of stern stuff, and as Rachel moves from task to task at the behest of The Chain, she finds out what stuff she herself is made of, too. This adds immeasurably to the excitement, making it not merely a well-told page-turning thriller, but a truly sophisticated bit of novel-writing. Adrian McKinty's 'The Chain' is the thrilling page-turner of the summer July 8, 2019. Winners announced at the Audie Awards Gala in New York City on May 28th hosted by award winning author Jack Gantos", "2015 Shortlist | Australian Crime Writers Association", "Mystery Writers of America is proud to announce the Nominees for the 2016 Edgar Allan Poe Awards", "bloody delighted to be shortlisted for best mystery audiobook! The Chain cannot be broken or the childrenher child, her Kyliewill be executed. This is up there with Marathon Man and The Silence of the Lambs. SURVIVOR. (2.5) Good idea, meh execution. Working within a vividly chilly New England locale, McKinty conjures a fatalistic sense of mystery and confusion. Her brain tells her to run, but she doesnt make the correct split-second decision, and she is taken at gunpoint. Publisher: Orion Publishing Co. ISBN: 9781409189602. "Alafair Burke, New York Times bestselling author of The Better Sister and The Wife"The Chain is diabolical, unnerving, and gives a whole new meaning to the word 'relentless.' Adrian McKinty's novel "The Chain" makes readers wonder how much evil they might be pushed toward. She must pay a ransom and kidnap another familys child, and then that family must do the same for her daughter to be released. 3.5 w sumie cakiem dobry krymina z wtkiem sensacyjnym. Uh-oh, it looks like your Internet Explorer is out of date. 4.8. Inspired by the exchange kidnappings that take place in Mexico and the old-school chain letters of his childhood, crime novelist McKinty (Police at the Station and They Dont Look Friendly, 2017, etc.) SUSPENSE | AUSSIE AUTHOR CHALLENGE: We hosted this reading challenge from 2010-2022, amassing several hundreds of participant book reviews of titles by Australian writers. In the end, what makes The Chain so frighteningand why it works so well as a thrilleris that all of Rachel's actions remain completely relatable, even as she whipsaws between terror and determination, morphing from victim to perpetrator. It's a ride I won't soon forget. Ten years after her teenage daughter went missing, a mother begins a new relationship only to discover she can't truly move on until she answers lingering questions about the past. Rachel is a part-time philosophy lecturer; divorced, recovering from cancer and struggling to make ends meet. I have been very busy and unable to read a lot lately, but I have been wanting to read this one for a while, so I decided to give it a try. That darkness and corruption dwell behind the shiny, happy faade of middle-class life is a common enough theme in American storytelling. The depth of characterisation I have come to expect from McKinty was absent. An original premise, relentless pacing, and strong female characters lift this nail-biter from Edgar winner McKinty (the Sean Duffy series), which takes a no-holds-barred look at how far a parent will go to protect her child. Just brilliant. One of the finest novels ever produced in the genre. A pitch-perfect psychological thriller. All of these devices serve to build palpable tension, but the structure also contributes to how deeply disturbing the story becomes. Detailed seller ratings. Adrian went to Oxford University on a full scholarship to study philosophy before emigrating to the United States to become a high school English teacher. It's called the Chain, and it's a Ponzi scheme from hell. The novel begins at a bus stop, with the random abduction of a 13-year-old girl named Kylie, and develops in blisteringly short chapters that move virtually in real time. SUSPENSE | He lives in Melbourne, Australia with his wife and two children. [22] Some reviewers have criticised the explicit use of violence in his novels. The Chain belongs in the elite company of world-class thrillers like Gone Girl and The Silence of the Lambs. It turns out that kidnapping is only the beginning. influencers in the know since 1933. by Adrian McKinty was born and grew up in Belfast, Northern Ireland during the Troubles of the 1970s and 1980s. Some scoffing is in order when the disguised, disembodied voice of The Chain recommends antiquated gimmicks like burner phones, the dark web and Bitcoin as the basics of this operation. The kind that threatened you with plagues and curses if you didnt strictly follow their instructions? The Chain scared the hell out of me but I could not put it down! The woman, whose own child has been kidnapped, and Rachel are now links in a chain of abductions. Na pewno jest nieodkadaln, wietn rozrywk na jesienne deszczowe wieczory, ale czy zapadnie w pami - raczej nie . In the meantime, I urge readers to check out this highly talented authors far superiorback catalogue. At that point, an angry Rachel and Pete, ignoring warnings to continue to remain silent and do nothing, go on the offensive to track down the people responsible for the kidnapping chain, culminating in a violent confrontation in a marshy area south of Plum Island. She knows she shouldnt have gotten into the vehicle. Entertainment Weekly is a registered trademark of Meredith Corporation All Rights Reserved. His debut crime novel Dead I Well May Be was shortlisted for the 2004 Dagger Award and was optioned by Universal Pictures. New Thriller 'The Chain' Has An Origin Almost As Exciting As Its Plot. After Ellies funeral, Laurel begins a relationship with Floyd, a man she meets in a cafe. Accurate description. . PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER, by "Bestselling author Dervla McTiernan"My God! The happy couple were very smiley as they cosied . It had better go off. Retrieve credentials. It's something parents do every morning: Rachel Klein drops her daughter at the bus stop and heads into her day. Thats how girls vanish. Thats how Patterson books sound, too. At the peak of the action, discordant notes pop out: A revolver with a safety catch; a Massachusetts colloquialism that doesn't ring quite true. Rachel's 13-year-old daughter Kylie was waiting at the bus stop while she headed to a doctor's appointment. Suggested Age: 22 Years and Up. Book bloggers, perhaps your next great read or author interview is waiting for you on this list? https://www.instagram.com/the.bookishworld.of.yrralh/. What an elaborate conceptand nightmare! Adrian McKinty has never written a book I have not loved, and this intense, dark psychological thriller is just brilliant with its killer and diabolical premise of the chain. When the first bullet hit my chest, I thought of my daughter Dr. Marc Seidman has been shot twice, his wife has been murdered, and his six-month-old daughter has been kidnapped. I started this website in 2009 and quickly realised I enjoy writing and blogging about books almost as much as reading them. McKinty returned to writing after the book landed him a six-figure English-language book deal, and was optioned for a film adaptation by Paramount Pictures. Firstly, the story concept is an absolute cracker. Her mind races. However, this storys execution fell short of my expectations. Is McKinty up to the task, though, for well over 300 pages? This book reviews site hosts advertising banners and links served by various third-party advertising networks who use cookies to record the performance of that advertising including impressions/ clicks/ actions taken by users of this website, including IP address/ geographic location/ referral page etc. Until last week, one of McKintys best-known phrases was less approachable than that, and came from a Tom Waits song: Police at the Station and They Dont Look Friendly. That was the title of one of his many fine, non-best-selling books part of his Belfast-set Detective Sean Duffy series, which had won him esteem, an Edgar Award and a following too small to save him from driving an Uber to make ends meet. Mr. McKinty, what have you done? Thirteen-year-old Kylie is waiting for the school bus on Plum Island, Massachusetts, when a man and a woman pull up wearing ski masks. 5.0. The rules are simple: find the money, find your victim, and then commit a horrible act youd have thought yourself incapable of just 24 hours ago. 2.0 stars I hate to spend a lot of time reviewing this book because I was thoroughly unimpressed. Enabling JavaScript in your browser will allow you to experience all the features of our site. I have also since read McKintys second blockbuster action-thriller The Island. Adrian is a reviewer and critic for The Sydney Morning Herald, The Irish Times and The Guardian. I read several of the negative reviews of THE CHAIN posted here by other fans of McKinty's previous work and have to thoroughly disagree with . . . Adrian McKinty The Chain Mass Market Paperback - December 28, 2021 by Adrian McKinty (Author) 8,705 ratings Editors' pick Best Mystery, Thriller & Suspense See all formats and editions Kindle $9.99 Read with Our Free App Audiobook $0.00 Free with your Audible trial Hardcover $34.00 10 Used from $23.50 15 New from $27.45 Paperback RELEASE DATE: April 24, 2018. That darkness and corruption dwell behind the shiny, happy faade of middle-class life is a common enough theme in American storytelling. In his 2019 novel The Chain, Adrian McKinty digs into the depths of just how far a parent will go to protect their child. The Chain by Adrian McKinty is worthy of the hype its getting. Seriously after reading this book I feel like Ive missed out and will need to catch up on his other boos ASAP!! Las mejores ofertas para The Chain Lib/E de McKinty, Adrian estn en eBay Compara precios y caractersticas de productos nuevos y usados Muchos artculos con envo gratis! When a beautiful young British woman vanishes on the island of Corsica, a prime ministers career is, #1 New York Times bestselling author Daniel Silva delivers another stunning thriller in his latest action-packed tale of high stakes international intrigue featuring the inimitable Gabriel, Greg Iles continues the electrifying story begun in his smash New York Times bestseller Natchez Burning in this highly anticipated second installment of an epic trilogy of blood and race, family and, From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Penn Cage series comes a gripping World War II thriller that vaporizes almost every clich about the limits of the, NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER WINNER OF THE 2014 EDGAR AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL WINNER OF THE 2014 DILYS AWARD A SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL BEST BOOK OF 2013 From New York Times bestselling author William Kent. Readers wont be able to put this thriller down. . [2] He is a winner of the Edgar Award, the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award, the Macavity Award, the Ned Kelly Award, the Barry Award, the Audie Award, the Anthony Award and the International Thriller Writers Award. It's something parents do every morning: Rachel Klein drops her daughter at the bus stop and heads into her day. A perfect example of a summer beach read. YOU WILL BECOME EACH ONE. I recommend his award-winning In The Morning Ill Be Gone, Gun Street Girl and Rain Dogs unreservedly. I raced to the end of the book and then went back to see how Adrian McKinty pulled it all off. And because McKinty hangs on to his wit and literacy even under duress. says the actress. . You Save 11%. His father was a boilermaker and ship's engineer and his mother a secretary. He has Rachel teach existentialism and even tosses a copy of Sarah Bakewells superb 2016 book At the Existentialist Caf into the mix. And I bet I won't be the only one. Nominee for Best Mystery & Thriller (2019). This is pure high adrenaline storytelling and thats okay. She has a brother-in-law, a former Marine officer who at first glance looks as though he might possess the "particular set of skills" that will be required to come through this situation until his flaws come to light. The Chain reaches and surpasses an almost painful level of page-turning intensity that so many thrillers strive for and never quite achieve. And the seemingly inescapable web of guilt and lies, is highly plausible and thus compelling. Where McKinty succeeds, in a book that feels heavily worked over to ensure no tangents detract from main events, is in making sure the premise isnt the main event. Read it that way and it's a thriller on more levels than one. He writes with confidence, heart, and style to spare. Now the girl, Kylie, thinks about how worried her mother will be. But McKinty waits until the last third of the book to reveal who created The Chain, and how they run it, day-to-day. And where it moves at the speed of a T3 connection: Its victims want to get their children back as quickly as possible, so they race through their tasks, funneling huge amounts of money to The Chain's creators. "[25], His novel The Dead Yard was selected by Publishers Weekly as one of the 12 Best Novels of 2006. Here's the premise: a child is kidnapped, and the parents are only able to get him or her back if they kidnap somebody else's child, pay a generous ransom in bitcoin, and convince the parents of the child they kidnapped to do the same in turn. It just doesn't get any better than this. Were three pages in. [19] The Chain was published in 37 countries. McKinty returned to writing after the book landed him a six-figure English-language book deal, and was optioned for a film adaptation by Paramount Pictures. If I dont make it, dont let them cast some asshole to play me in the movie version of this Adrian McKinty, The Chainif(typeof ez_ad_units != 'undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[250,250],'bookloverbookreviews_com-leader-1','ezslot_4',683,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-bookloverbookreviews_com-leader-1-0'); The Chain is an unashamedly commercial novel that I think will be better suited to the big screen, and I really hope it makes it there Not because I think this particular novel is more deserving than others, but so that McKinty then has the means and international platform to return to producing the top-quality fiction long-time fans know and love. . "John Katzenbach, #1 internationally bestselling author of The Analyst"Just when you think every single plot has been done along comes something new. Disclosure: If you click a link in this post and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. She cant do this, she must do this, she is now a completely different person who has done this. He studied law at the University of Warwick and politics and philosophy at the University of Oxford. "Don Winslow, New York Times bestselling author of The Cartel and The Force"Rachel Knight's daughter has been abducted, and the only way Rachel can save her is to add another kidnapped child to the terrifying chain. [5] In 2000, he relocated to Denver, Colorado to become a high school English teacher.[3]. Pairing an irresistible concept with a winner protagonist, The Chain promises to be your new addiction once you succumb to the first enticing page. Letters From The Light author Shel Calopa: Dystopia Now? His father was a boilermaker and ship's engineer and his mother a secretary. And he brings that experience and talent fully to bear upon the reader with. You can now read McKintys origin story everywhere, so lets move on to the question of whether his new embrace of James Pattersons sentence structure works for him. The Chain: The Award-Winning Suspense Thriller of the Year Hardcover - 9 July 2019 by McKinty (Author), Adrian (Author) 8,287 ratings Editors' pick Hand selected reads See all formats and editions Kindle Edition 2.99 Read with Our Free App Audiobook 0.00 Free with your Audible trial Hardcover Thirteen-year-old Kylie is waiting for the school bus on Plum Island, Massachusetts, when a man and a woman pull up wearing ski masks. A mother is told to kidnap another parent's child if she wants to see her own kidnapped child ever again. A zombie apocalypse is one thing. The Chain belongs in the elite company of world-class thrillers like Gone Girl and The Silence of the Lambs. Adrian McKinty's The Chain is the rare thriller that's not only fiendishly clever but also powerfully empathetic, . Both of these sections primarily focus on Laurel. In Adrian McKinty's thriller The Chain, that's precisely what the victims are required to do. As the novel progresses, Laurel becomes increasingly determined to learn what happened to Ellie, especially after discovering an odd connection between Poppys mother and her daughter even as her relationship with Floyd is becoming more serious. . In 1999, while his wife studied for a Fulbright in Israel, McKinty played loose head prop forward for the Jerusalem Lions Rugby Club.