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. But this abduction happens in the beachy community of Plum Island, Mass. His father was a boilermaker and ship's engineer and his mother a secretary. From Austin Butler and Cate Blanchett to a potential Best Supporting Actress toss-up, see who EW thinks will win at the 2023 Oscars. At times, the characters and the emotional core of the events are almost obscured by such quick maneuvering through the weighty plot. His plots tempt you to read at top speed, but don't give in: this writing -- sharply observant, intelligent and shot through with black humor -- should be savored., Adrian McKintys The Chain is the rare thriller thats not only fiendishly clever but also powerfully empathetic, with both hair-raising twists and complex, fully-realized characters., The Chain is diabolical, unnerving, and gives a whole new meaning to the word relentless. Adrian McKinty just leapt to the top of my list of must-read suspense novelists. A STRANGER HAS KIDNAPPED YOUR CHILD. The very definition of a page-turner. Readers wont be able to put this thriller down. [8], He also began working as a writer and reviewer for a number of publications including The Guardian,[9] The Sydney Morning Herald,[10] The Washington Post,[11] The Independent,[12] The Australian,[13] The Irish Times[14] and Harpers. (Shed been in remission for a year.) Her mother, Rachel, then receives a call that she is now part of The Chain. [3][4], After graduating from Oxford in 1993, McKinty moved to New York and found work in a number of occupations: security guard, barman, bookstore clerk, rugby coach, door to door salesman and librarian for the Columbia University Library. BOOKLOVER HUB: The Booklover Hub provides another channel for authors and indie publishers to make a connection with a book reviewer. But something far worse is to hit her and Kylie. And as brilliant The Chain is a superb construct; it's a self-perpetuating, self-disciplining system that relies on fact that the vast majority of kidnappings are resolved quickly, bloodlessly and profitably. It's something parents do every morning: Rachel Klein drops her daughter at the bus stop and heads into her day. The Chain has a simple-sounding premise: What if a kidnapping ring used the tactics of a chain letter? THE CHAIN by Adrian McKinty RELEASE DATE: July 9, 2019 For every child kidnapped, another must be taken. [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. McKinty has been an especially astute observer of class in fiction. Which could easily have happened with a premise like this. His Sean Duffy books remain one of my favourite all time series. It is no surprise to me that Don Winslows agent sent McKinty a $10,000 advance on hearing it, and that The Chain has been sold to 36 countries and scored McKinty a seven-figure movie deal with Paramount, all pre-release. The novel is at its best when its focus narrows, with punishing clarity, on the emotional intensity of its central predicament. After Ellies funeral, Laurel begins a relationship with Floyd, a man she meets in a cafe. It's called the Chain, and it's a Ponzi scheme from hell. The Detective Up Late was published in Germany with the new title Cold Water in 2019, and Hang On St Christopher the following year under the title Alter Hund, neue Tricks (Old Dog, New Tricks) [73]. Anyone can read what you share. McKinty's writing is paced to match. It was with high expectations that I embarked on Adrian McKintysThe Chain. Youre teetering right along with them. Emotional chords are woven tightly to the plot. How? This is no ordinary kidnapping: the caller is a mother herself, whose son has been taken, and if Rachel doesn't do as she's told, the boy will die. It's something parents do every morning: Rachel Klein drops her daughter at the bus stop and heads into her day. In a book like The Chain, you have no choice but to pray for the worst. His father was a welder and boilermaker at the Harland and Wolff shipyard before becoming a merchant seaman. takes what at first seems like a fantastical scenario and imbues it with all the terror, stress, trauma, and messiness of reality. Is McKinty up to the task, though, for well over 300 pages? . Expect the buzz to build quickly for this onethink The Woman in the Window for 2019. Are we not men? a high-concept thriller that draws creatively on familiar tropes . That darkness and corruption dwell behind the shiny, happy faade of middle-class life is a common enough theme in American storytelling. 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. The author at times seems to be at war with the demands of his genre: A sort of cruelly, engrossingly simple story of parental desperation bumps up against corny crime staples larger conspiracies, literal shadowy figures, the occasional red herring. ATTICA LOCKE, Diabolically gripping. You'll miss meals, sleep, and your stop on the bus - guaranteed. . SUSPENSE | Kylie has been abducted from the bus stop, and Rachel gets a call from a stranger telling her she is now part of the chain, a chain that she will never be free of, where the consequences of breaking the chain are too dreadful to contemplate. B. this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines. "David Lagercrantz, author of The Girl in the Spider's Web and The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye (Continuing Stieg Larsson's Millennium Series). The stand-alone thriller was inspired by the chain letters of his youth and contemporary reports of hostage exchanges. Brooks places the epicenter of the Bigfoot war in a high-tech hideaway populated by the kind of people you might find in a Jurassic Park franchise: the schmo who doesnt know how to do much of anything but tries anyway, the well-intentioned bleeding heart, the know-it-all intellectual who turns out to know the wrong things, the immigrant with a tough backstory and an instinct for survival. This is up there with Marathon Man and The Silence of the Lambs. I recommend his award-winning In The Morning Ill Be Gone, Gun Street Girl and Rain Dogs unreservedly. Great read. AUSSIE AUTHOR CHALLENGE: We hosted this reading challenge from 2010-2022, amassing several hundreds of participant book reviews of titles by Australian writers. We catch glimpses of them. Dark and unsettling, this novels end arrives abruptly even as readers are still moving at a breakneck speed. McKintys admiration for Winslow is apparent in the psychopathic behavior he injects into some of The Chains power players, in the long reach of Mexican drug cartels, in the presence of a highly sympathetic major character whos gotten hooked on hard drugs, and in the basic decency of the books central family. Rachel's 13-year-old daughter Kylie was waiting at the bus stop while she headed to a doctor's appointment. I can't believe what went through my mind while reading it--the things I might be willing to do to save my child. [21] Steve Dougherty writing in The Wall Street Journal praised McKinty's use of irony and humour as a counterpoint to the violent world inhabited by McKinty's Sean Duffy character. The woman, whose own child has been kidnapped, and Rachel are now links in a chain of abductions. Average for the last 12 months. TO FREE THEM YOU MUST ABDUCT SOMEONE ELSES CHILD. SURVIVOR. "Linwood Barclay, #1 internationally bestselling author of Never Look AwayThe Chain is a rocket ship, tremendous in pace and filled with suspense. 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.) Adrian McKinty is a Northern Irish writer of crime and mystery novels and young adult fiction, best known for his 2020 award-winning thriller, The Chain,[1] and the Sean Duffy novels set in Northern Ireland during The Troubles. Pairing an irresistible concept with a winner protagonist, The Chain promises to be your new addiction once you succumb to the first enticing page. Beautifully written. 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. 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. "Stephen King"You have never read anything quite like The Chain and you will never be able to forget it. What I do care about is terrible and unnecessarily pretentious writing, men who insist on writing women despite seemingly never having met a women in their lives, and enormous plot holes you could drive a burning trunk through. . In the movie Taken, Liam Neeson's retired CIA officer chases one man to his death, tortures another and kills a half dozen more. Falling Glass - Adrian Mckinty - Unabridged CD Audiobook. By definition this is a thriller that doesnt slow down long enough to develop the characters. McKinty has the last laugh at the makeshift work that drove him around the bend, when a character talks about how efficient The Chain was designed to be. I can't believe what went through my mind while reading itthe things I might be willing to do to save my child. Your child will be released when your victim's parents kidnap another child. Laurel Macks life stopped in many ways the day her 15-year-old daughter, Ellie, left the house to study at the library and never returned. If Rachel doesnt follow the program, Kylie will die. You won't shake it for a long time. The morning starts like any other. [3] The book was followed by two sequels in what would become to be known as the Michael Forsythe Trilogy. 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 She must pay a ransom and kidnap another familys child, and then that family must do the same for her daughter to be released. Can Rachel be the one person to finally break The Chain? You are now part of the chain. Taking up our resources, our time to care for you. Brooks presents a case for making room for Bigfoot in the world while peppering his narrative with timely social criticism about bad behavior on the human side of the conflict: The explosion of Rainier might have been better forecast had the president not slashed the budget of the U.S. Geological Survey, leading to immediate suspension of the National Volcano Early Warning System, and theres always someone around looking to monetize the natural disaster and the sasquatch-y onslaught that follows. Genre:Thriller, Action, Mystery, Crime-Detective. IF ANY OF THESE THINGS DONT HAPPEN: Adrian McKinty, author of such tremendous books like the Michael Forsythe trilogy (start with #1, Dead I Well May Be), has crafted a . At once a commentary on social media, greed, revenge, love, and true evil, and written with an almost lyrical quality, this book will have readers searching for more McKinty titles to devour. Human beings are creatures whose lives are governed by deep instincts. That, or lose their own children forever. I am blown away. "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.' Weight: 288 g. Dimensions: 196 x 128 x 30 mm. [19] The Chain was published in 37 countries. Her brain tells her to run, but she doesn't make the correct split-second decision, and she is taken at gunpoint. BOOK RATING:The Story 4 / 5 ; The Writing 3 / 5 Overall 3.5, OR listen to the audiobook FREE with Audibles Trial (check eligibility).