[6] He found his greatest success and critical acclaim with the Sean Duffy series, following the eponymous Royal Ulster Constabulary Sergeant during The Troubles, beginning with 2012's The Cold Cold Ground. The happy couple were very smiley as they cosied . BOOK RATING:The Story 4 / 5 ; The Writing 3 / 5 Overall 3.5, OR listen to the audiobook FREE with Audibles Trial (check eligibility). TANA FRENCH, A masterpiece. 35 year old Rachel Klein is a divorced single mother, with 13 year old daughter, Kylie, living on Plum Island, Massachusetts. And because McKinty hangs on to his wit and literacy even under duress Where McKinty succeeds, in a book that feels heavily worked over to ensure no tangents detract from main events, is in making sure the premise isnt the main event. And the seemingly inescapable web of guilt and lies, is highly plausible and thus compelling. It seemed like any other morning. It was with high expectations that I embarked on Adrian McKintysThe Chain. 5.0. You wont shake it for a long time. Description 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" award-winning thriller (Stephen King). The woman, whose own child has been kidnapped, and Rachel are now links in a chain of abductions. [20] He often uses the classic noir tropes of revenge and betrayal to explore his characters' existential quest for meaning in a bleak but lyrically intense universe. It just doesn't get any better than this. Nail-biting, smart, and convincing. Janet Maslin, "Here's an Existential Thriller:Pass It On. A woman has Kylie bound and gagged in her back seat, and the only way Rachel will ever see her again is if she pays a ransom and kidnaps another child. The call told her that Kylie had been kidnapped, and she was now part of The Chain. "If the hotel walls had ears, this would be their story", "Roger Ferris, International Man of Mystery", "Five-minute memoir: Adrian McKinty recalls a scary school run during", "Aged 16, I vowed never to read another novel", "Mean season: In Northern Ireland, the Troubles come as regular as rainBy Adrian McKinty (Harper's Magazine)", "From Uber driving to a huge book deal: Adrian McKinty's life-changing phone call", "I gave up writing and found work in a bar a year and a half later my book was sold to 36 countries", "New Thriller 'The Chain' Has An Origin Almost As Exciting As Its Plot", "Troubles fiction too urgent and topical to be historical", "Review - Dead I Well May Be by Adrian McKinty", "Fifty grand by Adrian McKinty | Book review", "Adrian McKinty's Hard-Boiled Belfast Trilogy", "The best recent thrillers reviews roundup", "CLAU - Beehive Award Nominees: 2007-2008", "Spread the Word 2009 | Fiction and Non-Fiction Books | National Book Tokens | World Book Day | Booksellers Association", "2010 Spinetingler Award Best Novel: Rising Star WINNER | Spinetingler", "Booktrade.info - Book Trade Announcements - 2011 Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Longlist Revealed", "2013 Spinetingler Award Best Novel: Rising Star/Legends WINNER Spinetingler", "Le tueur se meurt de James Sallis: meilleur polar de l'anne 2013", "Announcing the 2013 Ned Kelly Shortlist | Australian Crime Writers Association", "Grand Prix de Littrature Policire 2014 la slection", "Long List Announced for Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award 2014", "Carrick author Adrian McKinty scoops literary accolade for Troubles thriller", "20th Annual Audie finalists announced in thirty categories. It's something parents do every morning: Rachel Klein drops her daughter at the bus stop and heads into her day. Publisher: Mulholland Books/Little, Brown, Categories: The psychopathy of The Chain perpetrators and the ease with which they toy with their victims, the self-inflicted nature of that torture is chilling. [26] Audible selected Falling Glass as the Best Mystery or Thriller of 2011. In the end, what makes The Chain so frighteningand why it works so well as a thrilleris that all of Rachel's actions remain completely relatable, even as she whipsaws between terror and determination, morphing from victim to perpetrator. In the third section, Jewell alternates narrators and moments in time: The narrator switches to alternating first-person points of view (told by Poppys mother and Floyd) interspersed with third-person narration of Ellies experiences and Laurels discoveries in the present. McKinty has been an especially astute observer of class in fiction. [17] Salerno loaned the author ("advance on the advance") $10,000 to help him survive financially during the process. She cant do this, she must do this, she is now a completely different person who has done this. Then the book grabbed hold and off. Adrian McKinty The Chain belongs in the elite company of world-class thrillers like Gone Girl and The Silence of the Lambs. This is up there with Marathon Man and The Silence of the Lambs. I first heard of the book when another author, Don Winslow, began to tout . But McKinty waits until the last third of the book to reveal who created The Chain, and how they run it, day-to-day. Max Brooks. STEPHEN KING, McKinty is one of the most striking and most memorable crime voices to emerge on the scene in years. Iactually felt McKinty plumbed far greater depth in the narrative ofThe Chain mastermind than that of Rachel or her daughter.if(typeof ez_ad_units != 'undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[320,50],'bookloverbookreviews_com-large-leaderboard-2','ezslot_1',685,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-bookloverbookreviews_com-large-leaderboard-2-0');if(typeof ez_ad_units != 'undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[320,50],'bookloverbookreviews_com-large-leaderboard-2','ezslot_2',685,'0','1'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-bookloverbookreviews_com-large-leaderboard-2-0_1'); .large-leaderboard-2-multi-685{border:none !important;display:block !important;float:none !important;line-height:0px;margin-bottom:7px !important;margin-left:auto !important;margin-right:auto !important;margin-top:7px !important;max-width:100% !important;min-height:50px;padding:0;text-align:center !important;}. The scheme brings to light a spectrum of humanity ranging from unimaginable viciousness to well, Rachel thinks she knows her own nature until this storys onslaught of terrible choices hits her. Weight: 288 g. Dimensions: 196 x 128 x 30 mm. It's Taken for mothers. Stanley Milgram's postwar experiments in social cruelty, determining what kind of electric shocks subjects would administer to other people if they thought it was normal, aren't directly cited here, but they are essentially what The Chain is aboutBeneath its surface of high-speed thrills, The Chain is clearly the work of the philosophical thinker McKinty has always beenHe would like you to realize that what you're reading is existentialism in action, with Rachel defining herself moment by moment with each choice she makes. 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. A masterpiece of tension. But by God are these sequences nail-biting. Further details on how this Booklover Book Reviews site manages data can be found in our Privacy Policy. In 2019, the author made this comment about that novel: "It didnt sell very well, but it ended up getting the best reviews of my career. When he gets the, Master of international intrigue Daniel Silva follows up his acclaimed #1, An ambitious stand-alone thriller that is both an absorbing crime story and an in-depth exploration of grief, betrayal and corruption Iless latest calls to mind the late, great. McKinty's writing is paced to match. Book Description: It's something parents do every morning: Rachel Klein drops her daughter at the bus stop and heads into her day. ATTICA LOCKE, Diabolically gripping. You get a call from a stranger saying that they have kidnapped your child, they say you have to kidnap someone elses child for your child to stay alive, WOULD YOU DO IT!! He set that all aside in this one. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. The parent added to the Chain in McKintys telling is Rachel, an academically minded single mother whose breast cancer is resurfacing. Falling Glass - Adrian Mckinty - Unabridged CD Audiobook. "Mark Billingham, author of The Killing Habit"The Chain does for parenting what Gone Girl did for marriage; a breakneck narrative and a chilling concept make this a must-read thriller. Adrian McKinty was born and grew up in Belfast, Northern Ireland during the Troubles of the 1970s and 1980s. A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy. Something much better than expected. [McKinty] has proven a dozen times over that he knows how to write people enduring long-term trauma of terrorism, occupation, and kidnapping without cheapening the reality of it. "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 Chain is a straight-up, stone-faced thriller, a present-tense race to find out how Rachel will react to the unthinkable and then find a way to do the unthinkable herself. Okay, I will start to bidding with five stars, I think I heard five hundred stars! BOOK RATING: The Story 4 / 5 ; The Writing 3 / 5 Overall 3.5 Get your copy of The Chain from: Bookshop US Amazon Book Depository Booktopia AU OR listen to the audiobook FREE with Audible's Trial (check eligibility) I have also since read McKinty's second blockbuster action-thriller The Island. Detailed seller ratings. Lisa Jewell. On a Thursday morning, 7:55am, a teenage girl, Kylie, is sitting at the bus stop checking the likes on her Instagram feed, when a man wearing a black ski . One evening, driving in her car, Rachel O'Neill gets a phone call. Genre: Fiction + Literature Genres. . It took four countries, three continents, a couple of careers, philosophy studies at Oxford, serious writing awards and major gonna-make-you-a-star-kid machinations in several fields of endeavor to yield this opening sentence from Adrian McKinty: Shes sitting at the bus stop checking the likes on her Instagram feed and doesnt even notice the man with the gun until hes almost next to her.. Beautifully written. In his Sean Duffy series of police procedurals, he writes with a dry humor that often tips into hilarity, but there's none of that here. Disclosure: If you click a link in this post and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. KIDNAPPER. "Dennis Lehane, New York Times bestselling author of Mystic River and Since We Fell"A masterpiece. The fourth of five children, he grew up in the Victoria area of Carrickfergus, County Antrim. 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. He would like you to realize that what youre reading is existentialism in action, with Rachel defining herself moment by moment with each choice she makes. For every child kidnapped, another must be taken. But when little Kylie finds a wrench in the room where shes chained, the outcome is just surprising enough to heighten interest, not kill it. If your child was kidnapped, how far would you go to get her back? It turns out that kidnapping is only the beginning. Great read. And maybe thats the problem. SUSPENSE | Nominee for Best Mystery & Thriller (2019). Thats how girls vanish. Thats how Patterson books sound, too. The Chain scared the hell out of me but I could not put it down! In Adrian McKinty's thriller The Chain, that's precisely what the victims are required to do. Jewells (I Found You, 2017, etc.) [22] Some reviewers have criticised the explicit use of violence in his novels. The latter part of the book tilts toward decryption and computer science, because as any thriller reader knows, saving her daughter wont be enough; Rachel will have to get to the bottom of whatever this crime ring is too. As Rachel becomes more determined to bring the whole chain down, McKinty loses a bit of narrative credibility; more frustratingly, in the back half of the book, he slows down, adding fat to. It's a ride I won't soon forget. * My receiving a copy from the publisherfor review purposes did not impact the expression of my honest opinions. Adrian McKinty | The Chain. What an elaborate conceptand nightmare! Otherwise The Chain will be broken. The Chain . Adrian McKinty. [27] In the Morning I'll Be Gone was named as one of the 10 best crime novels of 2014 by the American Library Association. To McKinty's great credit, he can make readers wonder at any point whether the ground may fall beneath their feet and how much evil they might be pushed toward. . Communication. 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. And because McKinty hangs on to his wit and literacy even under duress. Shipping speed. IF ANY OF THESE THINGS DONT HAPPEN: Except better, because it's so utterly believable. You think this is hitting rock bottom and surely Rachel has experienced all the bad luck possible? Accurate description. Adrian McKinty is an Irish novelist. I read several of the negative reviews of THE CHAIN posted here by other fans of McKinty's previous work and have to thoroughly disagree with . If Rachel doesnt follow the program, Kylie will die. And he brings that experience and talent fully to bear upon the reader with. The Chain Author: Adrian McKinty Published: July 9, 2019 352 Pages. Entdecke SIGNIERTE Stadt der Trume: Ein Roman von Don Winslow, signiert, neu, Bestseller in groer Auswahl Vergleichen Angebote und Preise Online kaufen bei eBay Kostenlose Lieferung fr viele Artikel! Adrian McKinty just leapt to the top of my list of must-read suspense novelists. Its free and takes less than 10 seconds! Your purchase helps support NPR programming. Buy "The Chain" on IndieBound. RELEASE DATE: April 24, 2018. Categories: [29], Two more Sean Duffy novels to be published by Blackstone Publishing[70][71], On a blog post dated July 15, 2021 on his oficcial site, McKinty explains that the 7th Sean Duffy novel (The Detective Up Late) may be out in late 2022. 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. After writing several short stories, a novella and book reviews, his debut crime novel, Dead I Well May Be, was published by Scribner in 2003. He's the real deal. Agent: Shane Salerno, Story Factory. In 1999, while his wife studied for a Fulbright in Israel, McKinty played loose head prop forward for the Jerusalem Lions Rugby Club. Behind the scheme is a sociopathic monster collecting a ransom for each child in the Chain. Her brain tells her to run, but she doesn't make the correct split-second decision, and she is taken at gunpoint. But the long arm of the crime novelist Don Winslow, the Cartel wizard who turned his own career into the kind McKinty now hopes to achieve, is also visible.