Reviewed by Craig Sisterson
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.
Remember those chain letters from childhood: pass them on for something good to happen and more importantly to avoid something bad happening if you don’t. You could kind of laugh them off as a kid - as well as their modern-day equivalents on social media or with email spam.
But what if the stakes were raised and it became all too real? What if the good thing was eventually getting your kidnapped child back alive but the only way to ‘pass it on’ was to kidnap another child?
And then encourage your victim’s parents to do the same. Or your child dies.
That’s the horrifying premise in this standalone thriller from the uber-talented Adrian McKinty, who has hoovered up awards and acclaim in recent years thanks to his superb Sean Duffy series set during the Troubles, and now seems belatedly set for wider appreciation among readers all over the globe.
Your child is kidnapped; kidnap another child. That’s the chilling reality facing cancer survivor Rachel when her teenage daughter Kylie is snatched from a school bus stop in Massachusetts. The voice on the phone makes it crystal clear. Just paying a ransom won’t be enough to get Kylie back alive; single Mom Rachel also has to choose another child to kidnap, someone whose parents are also capable of holding their nerve, kidnapping another child, and staying quiet.
The rules are simple, and strict: no law enforcement, no politicians, no journalists. Choose your victim carefully or your own child will be executed. You can never break the Chain.
As Rachel scrambles to find money and choose a child to kidnap, she realises that all her moves are being tracked. Is there any way out of this nightmare? McKinty delivers a white-knuckle, head-spinning tale that also clutches at readers' hearts. How far would you go to save your own child? How much pain would you inflict on others? Is there anywhere you’d draw the line?
The Chain is every loving parent’s worst nightmare, on steroids. It’s terrifying and traumatising in a way that ultra-violent fare just cannot touch. Impressively, Northern Irishman McKinty manages to infuse what is a high-concept, adrenaline-filled thriller with textures of social commentary and touches of the lyricism that’s already won him so many admirers among his peers and critics.
While long-time McKinty fans may miss Duffy, THE CHAIN is a triumph from a true master.
Craig Sisterson is a lawyer turned features writer from New Zealand, now living in London. In recent years he’s interviewed hundreds of crime writers and talked about the genre on national radio, top podcasts, and onstage at books festivals on three continents. He has been a judge of the Ned Kelly Awards and the McIlvanney Prize, and is founder of the Ngaio Marsh Awards and co-founder of Rotorua Noir. You can heckle him on Twitter.
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