Review: The Chain by Adrian McKinty

Title: The Chain

Author: Adrian McKinty

Published: July 2019, Mulholland Books

Format: ARC Paperback, 368 pages

Source: Publisher

Summary: 

You just dropped off your child at the bus stop. A panicked stranger calls your phone. Your child has been kidnapped, and the stranger explains that their child has also been kidnapped, by a completely different stranger. The only way to get your child back is to kidnap another child within 24 hours. Your child will be released only when the next victim’s parents kidnap yet another child, and most importantly, the stranger explains, if you don’t kidnap a child, or if the next parents don’t kidnap a child, your child will be murdered. You are now part of The Chain.

My thoughts:

This is the first book I’ve read by Adrian McKinty but it certainly will not be the last. I was completely intrigued by the premise of this book and once I started reading it, I was totally hooked. Remember chain letters in elementary school? Remember having to keep them going or risk having to face unknown consequences? This book takes that concept and goes to a whole new extreme!

This book is intense. It starts off with a bang and is filled with anxiety-filled, tense moments pretty much all the way through. This book taps into a parent’s primal fear, asking the question of how far you would go to protect your child. While I am not a parent myself, I was still on edge, wondering what would happen and just how far things would go with each kidnapping that happened.

This book kept me flipping the pages and I devoured it in two sittings! It’s addicting and completely binge-worthy. I will say that I did guess at some parts, but that in no way detracted from my enjoyment of this book. I needed to know the why and understand how it all came together.

If you want a twisty, dark thriller that you can easily binge-read, you need to add this to your summer reading list. It’s sure to entertain, and maybe even leave you a little breathless!