The Chain

Starred review from April 29, 2019
An original premise, relentless pacing, and strong female characters lift this nail-biter from Edgar winner McKinty (the Sean Duffy series), which takes a no-holds-barred look at how far a parent will go to protect her child. Divorced teacher Rachel Klein, a cancer survivor, lives on Massachusetts’s Plum Island with her 13-year-old daughter, Kylie. She’s driving to Boston one day to see her doctor when she gets a call from an unidentified woman who sounds upset. The woman tells Rachel that she has kidnapped Kylie, and the only way to get Kylie back is for Rachel to kidnap another child. The woman, whose own child has been kidnapped, and Rachel are now links in a chain of abductions. If Rachel doesn’t follow the program, Kylie will die. In desperation, Rachel and her retired military brother-in-law, Pete O’Neill, eventually kidnap a random child to win her daughter’s release. At that point, an angry Rachel and Pete, ignoring warnings to continue to remain silent and do nothing, go on the offensive to track down the people responsible for the kidnapping chain, culminating in a violent confrontation in a marshy area south of Plum Island. Readers won’t be able to put this thriller down. Agent: Shane Salerno, Story Factory.

January LaVoy's performance of this thriller is as good as they get--focused, intense, smart, and skillful with the appropriate accents. Whether that will save the experience for you will depend on your tolerance for plotting that shades past thriller into gothic territory, so violent and improbable are the premise and execution. The setup: A psychopath mastermind has devised a serial extortion in which a child is kidnapped. To get him/her back, the family must first pay punitive ransom, then kidnap another child from somebody else. Like a murderous chain letter on meth. It's hard for an actor to create distinct personalities where the author has provided none in the text, but LaVoy gins up the terror of these hapless victims-turned-criminals with impressive dedication. B.G. � AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine

October 1, 2019

How far would someone go to get their child back after a kidnapping? That is the question that arises in McGinty's ("Sean Duffy" series) novel. Rachel McNeill receives a phone call from a woman who has kidnapped her teenaged daughter. In order to get her back, she must not only pay a ransom but, in turn, kidnap a child herself and continue "the chain," a racket in which the victim becomes the perpetrator. The premise is far-fetched but nevertheless is a well-executed one with a good deal of suspense as Rachel and her brother-in-law, a former marine, delve into the Dark Web in order to identify the culprits and break the chain. Narrator January LeVoy captures the main character's desperation and anguish as well as effectively portraying the supporting characters. VERDICT Suspense fans who are willing to suspend disbelief will enjoy.--Phillip Oliver, formerly with Univ. of North Alabama, Florence

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