The Chain
(Contains spoilers)
I have recently taken advantage of the public library as much as I can. I almost forgot that they also have very recent releases available. I don’t always have to buy the newest books for almost 30 euros, because I have the option to lend them for free instead. My financial situation will thank me later! However, I’ve wanted to read this book many months now, and I just found out that the waiting list for the Chain is quite long. Sooo, I couldn’t help myself, I bought the book..
The Chain is Adrian McKinty’s 2019 published thriller, psychological thriller and suspense novel. He wrote the first version of The Chain in 2012, when he read about the Mexican exchange kidnappings. He compounded that information with the 1970’s chain letter phenomenon, where, especially in that part of Ireland where he grew up, people believed in them almost religiously. However, McKinty’s author’s career didn’t provide the financial security he would’ve hoped for, and he even thought about finding another job. He left the unfinished project lay in his desk drawer for 5 years, before returning to it by the encouragement from his agent. The Chain has become an international success story, and even the movie rights were recently sold to Paramount Pictures. (McKinty, 2019). McKinty has stated:
“My story is a story of never giving up. It’s a story about writers helping fellow writers. I hope it inspires other writers who may be thinking about quitting, to never give up. I never imagined any of this could happen, but I hoped it would. I had hope. I am so grateful and I hope my story inspires others.” (Chandler, 2019)
The Chain tells a story about Rachel Klein O’Neill and her daughter Kylie. Rachel has been cancer free for a year now, when suddenly she has to face another trauma, when her 13-year-old daughter gets kidnapped. Rachel gets a phone call from an unknown number: “1. You’re not the first one, nor the last one. 2. Money doesn’t matter. Only the Chain does.”. Rachel gets instructions to transfer 25,000 dollars to the Chain, kidnap someone else’s child, and keep them with her until the chosen family pays their ransom, and kidnaps another child — that’s how the Chain keeps going. You can’t disobey because the family that kidnapped Kylie, had their own son kidnapped too, and can have him back when Rachel has done her part. Otherwise, they have to kill Kylie and find another child with more obedient parent, or have themselves and their son killed. It isn’t hard to guess which child the parent would set above the other.
Rachel does her part, and even transfers more money to the Chain with the help of her ex-brother-in-law Pete. They luckily get Kylie back, but she’s not the same when she left. She has constant nightmares, wets her bed every night, does poorly in her studies, seems apathetic, and even considers suicide. Rachel notices all this, and starts to find help on defeating the Chain, and that’s when Erik Lonnrott comes into the picture. The Chain might not be as powerful, invincible, and everlasting as they make it seem.
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The ending of the book was out of a romantic comedy, and, in my opinion, didn’t fit the rest of the story. The bad guys die (obviously), but even after that, Rachel and Pete don’t get charged for kidnapping, Pete survives, Kylie goes back to normal, and Rachel presumably survives the re-diagnosed cancer AND might be pregnant. I guess they really got out of the bad side of the mirror world. I actually first thought that Ginger and Olly would kill them all, but to my disappointment, everything worked out perfectly for Rachel. Not that I would’ve wanted her, Kylie, Pete, or Marty to die but something interesting could’ve happened. I understand that Kylie, being the one who went through the most, had the motive and strive for change, but how is it possible that a 13-year-old with no experience on guns, just shoots Olly in the head, even when at the same time all the adults are clueless of what to do. And where did she went when Ginger was strangling Rachel? These factors kinda ruined the end for me, but I didn’t let that affect too much to the rest of the book, because I found it to be really enjoyable.
The book was separated into two parts. The first part was mainly Rachel and Pete trying to get Kylie back, and finally succeeding in it. The other part was more focused on the developers of the Chain. It was quite obvious to guess, even though it didn’t come directly from the paces, that the twins were the ones who started it all. At the end of the chapter 63 you get the full conformation that Ginger, Marty’s new girlfriend, is in fact Margaret, and her twin Olly is Oliver. After that McKinty does kinda a recap of the things that connects Ginger to Margaret’s character: 1. She has a twin brother, 2. She’s a FBI agent, just like her father was, 3. Her grandfather was in Boston police department, just like Red. As if the reader didn’t make this connection by themselves after the first mentioning of the twin brother, or the fact that Ginger’s real hair color starts to come through, and it’s red. Just this alone gives a clue about McKinty’s history on young adult fiction — many things seem to be more explained than they need to be. I was really hoping that the reader could figure out more by themselves. It’s not satisfying if everything is laid right in front of you.
Something that I noticed right away was the use of different references. It seemed kinda unusual because how many of us remember dozens of quotes exactly as they are. I know I don’t. Rachel references, for example J. G. Ballard, George Orwell, Tacituk, Schopenhauer, Lowell, and many other authors, philosophers or influential people. I got the feeling that McKinty found some interesting poems and quotes, and wanted to use them in his book, even if they didn’t necessarily fit to the text. Despite this, I thought that some of McKinty’s writings were very clever. Erik, for example, tells about prime numbers, and states that the number 77 is Iridium’s atomic number, which helped the scientists to figure out what killed dinosaurs. 77 is supposedly the number of the end, and that’s why every book should end in chapter 77. It’s not hard to guess which chapter is the final in the Chain. It was also funny when Pete told Rachel to not let some asshole play him in a movie version of the events. I wonder who actor gets the role of Pete in the upcoming Paramount’s movie..
I can imagine that my review of the Chain seems kinda harsh, but I actually really liked the book. Although, because of the high profile of the book at the moment, I expected more, and was a little bit disappointed. I didn’t care for the over-explanation of some things or the ending, but maybe the latter is not entirely directed to this book only. I’m just kinda tired of the overly happy endings. I found the plot to be very unique, and I definitely want to read more about the Mexican kidnappings, and everything that helped to mold the story. I can say for certainty that McKinty, the Chain, and his own personal success story will inspire others too.
3½/5
References:
Chandler, M. (2019). Paramount buys film rights to McKinty’s The Chain in seven-figure deal. The Bookseller. https://www.thebookseller.com/news/paramount-buys-film-rights-mckintys-chain-seven-figure-deal-1025421
McKinty, A. (2019). The Chain. Epilogue and thanks. Pages 396–397.
