The Chain
The Award-Winning Suspense Thriller of the Year
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4.2 • 125 Ratings
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- £0.99
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Publisher Description
THE ONLY WAY TO GET YOUR CHILD BACK IS TO KIDNAP ANOTHER CHILD
'A blazing, full-tilt thriller that entirely justifies the hype' GUARDIAN
'A heart-stopping roller coaster' DAILY MAIL
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YOUR PHONE RINGS.
A STRANGER HAS KIDNAPPED YOUR CHILD.
TO FREE THEM YOU MUST ABDUCT SOMEONE ELSE'S CHILD.
YOUR CHILD WILL BE RELEASED WHEN YOUR VICTIM'S PARENTS KIDNAP ANOTHER CHILD.
IF ANY OF THESE THINGS DON'T HAPPEN:
YOUR CHILD WILL BE KILLED.
VICTIM. SURVIVOR. ABDUCTOR. CRIMINAL.
YOU WILL BECOME EACH ONE.
YOU ARE NOW PART OF THE CHAIN
* * * * *
DON'T MISS THE LATEST NAIL-BITING THRILLER FROM ADRIAN MCKINTY: THE ISLAND IS AVAILABLE TO PRE-ORDER NOW.
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THE MULTI-AWARD-WINNING THRILLER
Winner: Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year
Winner: Ned Kelly Award for Best International Crime Fiction
Winner: International Thriller Writers Awards - Best Hardcover
Winner: Macavity Awards - Best International Crime Fiction
Winner: Barry Award - Thriller of the Year
*****
'A heart-stopping roller coaster'
DAILY MAIL
'The book everyone is talking about'
MIRROR
'Scary, plausible, gripping.'
IAN RANKIN
'You'll miss meals, sleep, and your stop on the bus - guaranteed.'
VAL McDERMID
'I writhed with the pain of withdrawal when I finished it. Deserves to be the popular hit of the year.'
DAILY TELEGRAPH
'Incredibly propulsive and original. You won't shake it for a long time.'
STEPHEN KING
'A masterpiece. You will never be able to forget it.'
DON WINSLOW
'A unique and unforgettable thriller. Breath-taking, breakneck, brilliant.'
MARK BILLINGHAM
'Striking, memorable, should be savoured.'
TANA FRENCH
'Explosively brilliant. Genuinely unputdownable. Terribly plausible'
OBSERVER
'I may not read a better thriller in my lifetime.'
STEVE CAVANAGH
'An electrifying thriller - one of the very best of its kind'
FIONA CUMMINS
'What a fantastic idea and perfectly written. I'm quite jealous.'
ANTHONY HOROWITZ
'Terrifying. Terrific.'
MICK HERRON
'THE CHAIN does for parenting what Gone Girl did for marriage. A must-read thriller.'
JAMES SWALLOW
'Diabolical, unnerving, relentless.'
DENNIS LEHANE
'Utterly brilliant'
ELLY GRIFFITHS
A 'THRILLER OF THE YEAR' SELECTION FOR:
GUARDIAN
DAILY TELEGRAPH
AMAZON
EXPRESS
OBSERVER
TIME MAGAZINE
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
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. Divorced teacher Rachel Klein, a cancer survivor, lives on Massachusetts's Plum Island with her 13-year-old daughter, Kylie. She's driving to Boston one day to see her doctor when she gets a call from an unidentified woman who sounds upset. The woman tells Rachel that she has kidnapped Kylie, and the only way to get Kylie back is for Rachel to kidnap another child. The woman, whose own child has been kidnapped, and Rachel are now links in a chain of abductions. If Rachel doesn't follow the program, Kylie will die. In desperation, Rachel and her retired military brother-in-law, Pete O'Neill, eventually kidnap a random child to win her daughter's release. 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. Readers won't be able to put this thriller down.
Customer Reviews
The chain
Excellent
Great concept under-utilised
I enjoyed the book overall but felt that it didn't quite make the most of its central concept. I was hoping for an ending that was more complex and surprising than the one I got.