Review: The Chain by Adrian McKinty

The Chain by Adrian McKinty
Published by Little, Brown on July 9, 2019
Genres: Crime, Fiction, Psychological, Suspense, Thrillers
Pages: 368
Format: eARC
Source: the publisher (egalley)

Rachel O'Neill has not only survived a recent divorce, but breast cancer as well. Now, she has a job as a philosophy instructor, she feels as though her life may be back on track.  When her oncologist requests that she come into her office as soon as possible, Rachel is already an emotional mess.  It only intensifies, for as she's driving to her appointment, she receives a call from an unknown number.  Her daughter has been abducted and she must follow very specific steps in order to guarantee her safe return.

Unbeknownst to Rachel, she is now part of the chain, a crime ring that has gone on, undetected, for years. Once you are part of the chain, you are always part of the chain. It goes far beyond paying a "simple" ransom but forces parents to do the unthinkable to guarantee the safe return of their child.

So….I usually avoid the books everyone is talking about, not wanting to have my opinion tainted by others.  In this case, however, I couldn’t resist. It called to me from my Kindle. I devoured it in one sitting. The premise along sucked me in, but I wasn’t prepared for how invested I got in all the characters. Readers will run the gamut of feelings about Rachel, for I most certainly did.  Sympathy, anger, frustration, desperation; the reader goes through them all alongside Rachel.

A secondary timeline follows the main, hinting at the identity of those behind The Chain. McKinty reveals details slowly and deliberately, not revealing the identity until the tail end of the book. Even I was completely taken aback by the connections that were made.

I’m intentionally not revealing much more about the premise, for it is one that must be slowly revealed by the reader alone. Trust me, though…this is one that truly lives up to all the praise.  Highly recommended.