Author: Adrian McKinty
I found this one when I went grocery shopping, I went to the books aisle and it jumped at me with its vibrant red cover.
A gripping story right from the beginning. Kylie, a 13-year-old girl gets kidnapped by some strangers, confused, and scared her mind races as she doesn’t understand how this can be happening to her. Her mother, Rachel, a cancer survivor receives a call to inform her what she needs to do to have her little girl back. From there, the story unravels itself in a quick pace, pushing a mother’s phycological and physical strength to get her daughter back.
No stopping, Rachel, starts to follow the instructions she received. Needing to abduct another child to get hers back sounds horrific but without hesitation she finds strength and brutality to get things done. Being part of the chain becomes hers and her family new reality and living in fear is the new normal.
The author description around the phycology behind the story is great. Everyone in the chain is a victim and an abuser at the same time. Pushing the limits of love can do that to you, I guess. A loving mother becomes a desperate person that insults another suffering mother the premise in everyone’s mind is that your child’s life more important than another person’s child. The book presents a blurry line of what is wrong and right.
The second part of the book combines the origin of the chain with an ongoing battle of its survivors. The evil minds behind this horrible idea get explained and its chilling development gets some attention. At the same time, the consequences of their victims get stronger and stronger.
The story is exciting and hooking from the start. You get the urge and the stress of the narrative throughout Adrian’s writing. Characters are interesting and fighting their own battles. My only downside for this story is that the ending was a bit predictable and it felt a bit rush from my perspective.
However, is a great thriller overall and if you like this kind of reading, I recommend this one to you!
Picture note: I live close to a place that has an actual wooden chain on top of a tree. I thought it would make a good complement to this post’s picture ?.
