The Chain by Adrian McKinty

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Breaking the Chain: A High-Stakes Thriller That Runs Out of Steam

Spoiler Alert: Major plot details and the ending are included below.

Initial Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Final Rating: ⭐⭐☆☆☆

Genre: Thriller, Psychological Suspense
Themes: Kidnapping, Moral Dilemmas, Family, Vigilante Justice

📚 The Premise

The Chain by Adrian McKinty kicks off with a jaw-dropping concept: to save your kidnapped child, you must kidnap someone else’s child. And that family? They’ll have to do the same. It's a twisted, sinister version of a pyramid scheme—but with kids’ lives on the line.

When 13-year-old Kylie is kidnapped, her mother Rachel, a divorced cancer survivor, receives a chilling message: pay $25,000 and kidnap another child, or your daughter dies. The call comes as Rachel is headed to a critical doctor’s appointment—one she misses entirely because her world has just shattered.

The ransom demands are precise. Rachel must:

  • Buy burner phones

  • Obtain bitcoin

  • Select and abduct the next victim

She’s told not to involve her ex-husband, Marty, deemed too unpredictable, but is allowed to enlist Marty’s brother, Pete, a former Marine. Pete and Rachel form a reluctant team, both terrified and determined.

🔥 The First Two-Thirds: Nail-Biting Suspense

Rachel finds an abandoned house to use as a hideout. She identifies a potential target—Toby, a boy who walks home from archery practice—but when that plan goes awry, she abducts his 8-year-old sister Amelia instead. Amelia is taken to the hideout, and things get dicey when a suspicious neighbor calls the police. Rachel narrowly talks her way out of it.

After jumping through every horrifying hoop, Rachel completes her task and gets Kylie back. But Kylie now knows the dark truth: her mother was capable of abducting a child. Their bond is strained. Worse still, The Chain isn’t done with Rachel. They continue to manipulate her into doing more errands, threatening her family if she refuses.

Refusing to stay silent, Rachel partners with Erik, a fellow Chain survivor and tech expert. Erik has built a tracking app that can detect burner phones. Though he’s eventually murdered by The Chain, he leaves Rachel a clue on how to find them.

🧩 The Final Third: Plot Reveal… and Plot Problems

The app leads Rachel and Pete to Choate Island, Massachusetts, where they find a house that seems to hold Kylie. But surprise—Kylie is supposed to be somewhere else, with Marty. Plot twist: the house belongs to Ginger and Olly, twin siblings and the creators of The Chain.

Their motive? Initially to pay off student loans—but the money was too good to stop. We’re dragged through a long backstory involving their mother Alicia, father Tom, and grandfather Daniel. Honestly? It kills the momentum.

Eventually, we return to the action. Rachel and Pete confront The Chain. Gunfire breaks out. Kylie kills Olly. Rachel kills Ginger with broken glass. Pete shoots Daniel. They all survive, and the truth comes out. Rachel and Pete are celebrated for taking down the network. Public opinion, and even the courts, are on their side.

The book closes with Rachel buying a pregnancy test, hinting at a future with Pete, but never confirming the result.

🧠 Final Thoughts

The Chain is a classic case of unrealized potential. The first two-thirds are heart-racing, tight, and high-stakes, with Rachel's moral struggle adding emotional depth. But then it descends into slow, overly-explained villain origin stories that grind the pace to a halt.

By the time the big showdown happens, the tension has already fizzled. Still, the idea itself? Absolutely brilliant.

My Final Rating: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆ (3 out of 5)
(Started as a 5, ended as a 2. Settling in the middle.)

📖 Read This If You Liked:

  • Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell – for missing daughters and dark secrets.

  • Before She Knew Him by Peter Swanson – psychological suspense with a moral gray area.

  • Lock Every Door by Riley Sager – page-turning thrillers with bizarre premises.

  • I Am Watching You by Teresa Driscoll – multiple POVs and a race against time.

Would You Survive The Chain? Let me know in the comments! Would you go through with kidnapping someone else’s child? 👀

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