The Chain - by Adrian McKinty (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

When a mother is targeted by a dangerous group of masterminds, she must commit a crime to save her kidnapped daughter -- or risk losing her forever -- in this "propulsive and original" thriller (Stephen King) that has won the Barry and Macavity Awards, and was named the ITWA Best Novel of the Year. It's something parents do every morning: Rachel Klein drops her daughter at the bus stop and heads into her day. But a cell phone call from an unknown number changes everything: it's a woman on the line, informing her that she has Kylie bound and gagged in her back seat, and the only way Rachel will see her again is to follow her instructions exactly: pay a ransom, and find another child to abduct. 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. "You are not the first. And you will certainly not be the last." Rachel is now part of The Chain, an unending and ingenious scheme that turns victims into criminals -- and is making someone else very rich in the process. The rules are simple, the moral challenges impossible; find the money fast, find your victim, and then commit a horrible act you'd have thought yourself incapable of just twenty-four hours ago. But what the masterminds behind The Chain know is that parents will do anything for their children. It turns out that kidnapping is only the beginning. "McKinty is one of the most striking and most memorable crime voices to emerge on the scene in years. 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."-- Tana French "A masterpiece. You have never read anything quite like The Chain and you will never be able to forget it." -- Don Winslow "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. He's the real deal."-- Dennis Lehane "Pairing an irresistible concept with a winner protagonist, The Chain promises to be your new addiction once you succumb to the first enticing page."-- Alafair Burke "A grade-A-first-rate-edge-of-your-seat thriller. I can't believe what went through my mind while reading it." -- Attica Locke

Review Quotes

An instant New York Times bestseller!
Named the Best Novel of the Year by the International Thriller Writers Association!
Winner of the Barry Award and the Macavity Award

One of the best books of 2019...

• TIME
• Chicago Tribune
• New York Post
• Booklist
• Kirkus
• The Strand Magazine

An instant New York Times bestseller!
Named the Best Novel of the Year by the International Thriller Writers Association!

One of the best books of 2019...

• TIME
• Chicago Tribune
• New York Post
• Booklist
• Kirkus
• The Strand Magazine

The Chain is a grade-A-first-rate-edge-of-your-seat thriller. I can't believe what went through my mind while reading it--the things I might be willing to do to save my child.--Attica Locke, author of the Edgar Award-winning Bluebird, Bluebird

The Chain does for parenting what Gone Girl did for marriage; a breakneck narrative and a chilling concept make this a must-read thriller.--James Swallow, author of Exile

The Chain has all the hallmarks of a monster hit, including a terrifying premise that had me wondering: Is this actually happening somewhere right now? And I bet I won't be the only one. Terrific.--Mark Billingham, author of The Killing Habit

The Chain is a straight-up, stone-faced thriller, a present-tense race...thunderous ride into the darkest, most fearful reaches of a parent's mind)--Paddy Hirsch, NPR

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. He writes with confidence, heart, and style to spare. He's the real deal.--Dennis Lehane, New York Times bestselling author of Mystic River and Since We Fell

The Chain is that rare thriller which ends up being highly personal. ..a satisfying and deeply rewarding read.--Tod Goldberg, USA Today

The Chain turns out to be awfully hard to put down.--Connie Ogle, Newsday

A chilling, diabolical page-turner you'll want to savor.--People Magazine, Book of the Week

A deeply unsettling story about the limits of morality, raising questions about the nature of good and evil and the depths of parental love.--Joumana Khatib, New York Times

A masterpiece. One of the finest novels ever produced in the genre. This is up there with Marathon Man and The Silence of the Lambs. I may not read a better thriller in my lifetime.--Steve Cavanagh, author of Thirteen

A mesmerizing excursion into a chilling crime that challenges the protagonist and reader in unimaginable ways.--Mark Rubinstein, CrimeReads

Adrian McKinty is one of the most striking and most memorable crime voices to emerge on the scene in years. 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.--Tana French, New York Times bestselling author of The Witch Elm and The Trespasser

Adrian McKinty is one of those rare writers who creates characters and dreams up stories that are consistently real and sizzling.--Jeffrey Mannix, The Durango Telegraph

Adrian McKinty's The Chain is the rare thriller that's not only fiendishly clever but also powerfully empathetic, with both hair-raising twists and complex, fully-realized characters.--Lou Berney, author of November Road

Adrian McKinty's new novel will leave any parent gasping for breath. --Quinn Keaney, PopSugar

An original premise, relentless pacing, and strong female characters lift this nail-biter from Edgar winner McKinty, which takes a no-holds-barred look at how far a parent will go to protect her child. . . . Readers won't be able to put this thriller down.--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

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. An unmissable thriller.--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Beneath the gripping plot lies an inquiry into the power of social media and crowdsourcing.--The New Yorker

Diabolically gripping. Adrian McKinty has written a novel that's nail-biting, smart, and convincing, with a plot-jolting twist that readers of Gone Girl will love. Hang on tight, because once you start this book, you can't stop-like the characters in the story, you'll be caught in The Chain.--Meg Gardiner, author of Into the Black Nowhere

Edgar Award-winning author McKinty has crafted the perfect summertime page-turner.--USA Today

I read this book in one long dark night of the soul. It's Taken for mothers. Except better, because it's so utterly believable. Rachel Klein is every mother. I asked myself again and again...would I do that? Would I? The answer was always, distressingly, yes. The Chain reaches and surpasses an almost painful level of page-turning intensity that so many thrillers strive for and never quite achieve. I defy anyone to start this book and put it down without finishing it. Just brilliant.--Bestselling author Dervla McTiernan

In McKinty's devilishly capable hands, the penalties and payoffs for not participating in the eponymous chain are very much life-and-death. . . . McKinty, a terrific creator of characters when it comes to people under pressure--consider Sean Duffy, his maverick Northern Irish detective who polices Belfast during the Troubles--has struck new thriller gold with Rachel, an ordinary woman whose side you won't be able to leave as she fights, tooth, nail, and whip-smart brain.--Daneet Steffens, Seattle Review of Books

Just when you think every single plot has been done along comes something new. Great read. The very definition of a page-turner.--Linwood Barclay, #1 internationally bestselling author of Never Look Away

McKinty hangs on to his wit and literacy even under duress...Beneath its surface of high-speed thrills, The Chain is clearly the work of the philosophical thinker McKinty has always been.--Janet Maslin, New York Times

McKinty has written several gripping stand-alones, of which this one is the best yet; in fact, it may well be the biggest thriller of the summer. . . . It's called the Chain, and it's a Ponzi scheme from hell. . . . A pitch-perfect psychological thriller. . . . Expect the buzz to build quickly for this one--think The Woman in the Window for 2019.--Booklist (starred review)

McKinty's novel is one of those twisty thrillers that will keep you on your feet until the end.--The Palm Beach Post

My God! The suspense. The Chain is an exceptionally good thriller. I am blown away.--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)

Of the current crop of 'high concept' summer thrillers, The Chain is the highest...compulsively page-turning and scary...The Chain is highly-charged fun.--Gene Walz, Winnipeg Free Press

One of the best thrillers of the year.--Jeff Ayers, Associated Press

One of the breakout hits of the summer.--Mackenzie Dawson, New York Post

Parents beware, because Adrian McKinty's The Chain is pure nightmare fuel.--Sabienna Bowman, PopSugar

Rachel Klein, a philosophy professor battling cancer and a bad marriage [is] the perfect pot in which to simmer a stew of ethical, moral, and existential quandaries while the action maintains a constant boil.--Boris Kachka, Vulture

Rachel Knight's daughter has been abducted, and the only way Rachel can save her is to add another kidnapped child to the terrifying chain. Pairing an irresistible concept with a winner protagonist, The Chain promises to be your new addiction once you succumb to the first enticing page.--Alafair Burke, New York Times bestselling author of The Better Sister and The Wife

Scary, plausible, gripping.--Ian Rankin, internationally bestselling author of In a House of Lies

Starting The Chain is like climbing aboard a runaway train. You'll miss meals, sleep, and your stop on the bus - guaranteed.--Val McDermid, internationally bestselling author of Broken Ground

The pace quickens and the tension builds whenever the mother and daughter appear in a scene. In the end, what makes The Chain so frightening - and why it works so well as a thriller - is that all of Rachel's actions remain completely relatable, even as she whipsaws between terror and determination, morphing from victim to perpetrator.--Tina Jordan, The New York Times

The Chain is a rocket ship, tremendous in pace and filled with suspense. It's a ride I won't soon forget.--Daniel Woodrell, author of Winter's Bone

There are few recently published novels better situated and more player-ready for screen adaptation than Adrian McKinty's The Chain. Readers have eaten this book alive and so did the film world...The names attached to that adaptation gives fans good hope for a delirium-inducing result.--CrimeReads

There are many elements that recommend Adrian McKinty's The Chain: A devilishly clever plot, well-drawn characters that leap from the page, a writing style that verges on the electric and the imaginative way he is able to blend fear, panic and determination throughout each chapter. But the element that is most striking is the significant intelligence that goes into the story. Psychological notes are played deeply. Emotional chords are woven tightly to the plot. This adds immeasurably to the excitement, making it not merely a well-told page-turning thriller, but a truly sophisticated bit of novel-writing.--John Katzenbach, #1 internationally bestselling author of The Analyst

This high-concept rollercoaster--dubbed Jaws for Parents in a striking blurb by novelist Don Winslow--is the one that will have readers talking this summer. . . . The Chain turns out to be awfully hard to put down.--Connie Ogle, Newsday

This is more than nail-biting; think cuticle-shredding.--Bethanne Patrick, The Washington Post

This nightmarish story is incredibly propulsive and original. You won't shake it for a long time.--Stephen King

Thrillers... don't get much more psychologically rich than The Chain. --David Canfield, Entertainment Weekly

Told in a spare, punchy style, this is a blazing, full-tilt thriller that entirely justifies the hype.--The Guardian

We promise that if you make room on your summer reading list for The Chain, you won't be disappointed.This intense thriller...is sure to raise the goosebumps.--Lambeth Hochwald, Parade

You have never read anything quite like The Chain and you will never be able to forget it. Brilliant. Beautifully written. A masterpiece of tension. The Chain scared the hell out of me but I could not put it down! I raced to the end of the book and then went back to see how Adrian McKinty pulled it all off. The Chain belongs in the elite company of world-class thrillers like Gone Girl and The Silence of the Lambs. This is nothing short of JAWS for parents.--Don Winslow, New York Times bestselling author of The Cartel and The Force

About The Author

Adrian McKinty was born and grew up in Belfast, Northern Ireland during the Troubles of the 1970s and 1980s. His father was a boilermaker and ship's engineer and his mother a secretary. Adrian went to Oxford University on a full scholarship to study philosophy before emigrating to the United States to become a high school English teacher. His debut crime novel Dead I Well May Be was shortlisted for the 2004 Dagger Award and was optioned by Universal Pictures. His books have won the Edgar Award, the Ned Kelly Award, the Anthony Award, and the Barry Award and have been translated into over twenty languages. Adrian is a reviewer and critic for the Sydney Morning Herald, the Irish Times, and the Guardian. He lives in New York City with his wife and two children.