The Chain

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The Chain

By: Adrian McKinty

Narrated by: January LaVoy

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About this listen

VICTIM.
SURVIVOR.
ABDUCTOR.
CRIMINAL.
YOU WILL BECOME EACH ONE.

'Starting THE CHAIN is like climbing aboard a runaway train. You'll miss meals, sleep, and your stop on the bus - guaranteed.'
VAL McDERMID

'Incredibly propulsive and original. You won't shake it for a long time.'
STEPHEN KING

'Scary, plausible, gripping ... If you like compelling storytelling, this taut thriller is going to be your summer holiday read.'
IAN RANKIN

'I may not read a better thriller in my lifetime. It just doesn't get any better than THE CHAIN.'
STEVE CAVANAGH

* * * * *

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.

YOU ARE NOW PART OF THE CHAIN

* * * * *

'A masterpiece. You will never be able to forget it.'
DON WINSLOW

'A unique and unforgettable thriller. Breath-taking, breakneck, brilliant.'
MARK BILLINGHAM

'Terrifying. Terrific.'
MICK HERRON

'Striking, memorable, should be savoured.'
TANA FRENCH

'THE CHAIN does for parenting what Gone Girl did for marriage. A must-read thriller.'
JAMES SWALLOW

'Inventive, tense, unputdownable - THE CHAIN is the real deal.'
TIM WEAVER

'Diabolical, unnerving, relentless.'
DENNIS LEHANE

'An electrifying thriller - one of the very best of its kind'
FIONA CUMMINS

'A first-rate edge-of-your-seat thriller. I can't believe what went through my mind while reading it.'
ATTICA LOCKE

'Gripping, nail-biting, convincing.'
MEG GARDINER

'Brutally compelling.'
MASON CROSS

'Staggeringly brilliant. Gripping, propulsive, profoundly affecting.'
LIAM McILLVANNEY

'Relentless from the first page to the last. Clever, uncompromising, and gripping.'
LUCA VESTE

'This is the thriller of the year.'
SJI HOLLIDAY

"YOU ARE NOT THE FIRST.
AND YOU WILL CERTAINLY NOT BE THE LAST." ©2019 Adrian McKinty (P)2019 Orion Publishing Group

Crime Thrillers

Psychological

Suspense

Thriller

Thriller & Suspense

Disappearance

Crime

Fiction

Exciting

Scary

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The best crime fiction I ever read was the Cold Cold Ground trilogy by Adrian McKinty. That was many years ago and I’ve been really missing his writing ever since ... until now! When I heard about ‘the Chain’ I literally danced round the living room singing ‘hey lah McKinty’s back’. A few pages into the book though, I was disappointed to realise it’s set in the USA. It’s a good novel. The idea is good, and brand new, and a properly nasty shock. The characters make sense, there’s menace and heroism. The plot unpacks well, at a measured pace. All my gripes, I think, are based on the novel’s states-side setting - I mean! - enough already! Novels, TV, films ... Please, can anyone recommend a novel set in Timbuktu or Mongolia? So - the main character is a New England ‘Mom’. This means her internal monologue is a fragile oscillation between self-reproach and self-affirmation. She’s obviously watched ten thousand hours of self-help vids. Then there’s guns - too much guns. I feel the people of the United States have missed a trick here. By eschewing guns, one might argue, the bullies, gangsters and law enforcement agents of my own culture have a more rounded set of skills. They’re quick with their fists and sarky quips, have emotional intelligence and stab-proof vests. It’s at least more interesting than a list of makes and model numbers for ever-increasingly potent fire arms. Then there’s humour - there’s exactly one funny line in the whole book. It’s when Pete says “In the kitchen”? Look out for it. It didn’t actually make me laugh, but it is funny. Perhaps you have to set your fiction in the USA, to achieve sales, in which case - how sad. This book deserves four stars, i.e. quite a lot, because it’s actually a great book, it’s just that I’m disappointed. Bring back Ulster.