Onyx reviews: The Chain by Adrian McKinty

Reviewed by Bev Vincent, 06/12/2019

People have been kidnapping for ransom for centuries. The primary risk in such a crime is, of course, getting caught in the act. To take someone off the street or from their home exposes the kidnapper. He or she might be identified by a third party, or they may be stopped by the police. The money exchange and the victim return are other instances when the kidnappers expose themselves to possible arrest. What if you could outsource the risk?

For example, a number of years ago, a group of would-be bank robbers lured an unsuspecting individual to their farm, drugged him, strapped an explosive vest to his chest with a remote trigger, and forced him to commit the crime on their behalf. If he were captured during the robbery, the real robbers would trigger the bomb, protecting their identities. In the abstract, it's a clever idea that could be extended to other crimes.

The mysterious people behind The Chain have crafted a near-perfect method of generating an illicit income stream. The loved ones of the person who is kidnapped must not only pay a sizeable ransom in untraceable bitcoin currency, they are forced to kidnap the next victim. They act as surrogates for the real criminals in almost every facet of the follow-up crime. Only when the subsequent person has completed their part in continuing The Chain will the first kidnapping victim be released. If anyone who has participated in The Chain goes to the police, they will have to admit they committed a felony. If the family of a kidnapping victim refuses the terms, the coerced kidnappers must kill the victim and find another. Therefore, they are advised to choose wisely.

The organization behind The Chain has incredible reach. Participants in this mad chain letter of kidnapping are surveilled and monitored for any signs they're about to break the covenant. All communications with The Chain take place through the Dark Web, burner cell phones and untraceable apps. It's a well-oiled machine that may have been running for decades or more.

It isn't about the money, it's about protecting The Chain, the perpetrators tell their surrogates. If a link is weak, the entire structure is at risk of collapsing, with unimaginable repercussions for everyone involved. However, when Rachel's 13-year-old daughter is kidnapped and Rachel performs her part in propagating the criminal enterprise, the cancer survivor—whose disease may have recurred—comes to realize that the shock waves from their actions will last long after the criminals have moved on to the next link, and the next. Armed with fierce determination and the willing cooperation of Tom, her former brother-in-law—an ex-marine engineering officer/drug addict with access to heavy armaments and sophisticated technology—Rachel decides it's time someone stood up to the nameless, faceless entities behind The Chain.

The Chain consists of two main parts: Rachel's actions to get her kidnapped daughter back and the aftermath, when she embarks on a mission to break The Chain. The tone is somewhat different in each: At first, Rachel is a victim forced to do things she would never previously have considered, but later she becomes a warrior determined to free herself and her daughter from the trauma their acts have caused. In this latter section, McKinty also lifts the veil on the brilliant but twisted minds behind The Chain, revealing their origin stories.

This novel, a rare standalone thriller for McKinty, is the very definition of a page turner. The concept is ingenious and the execution is nearly letter perfect. The resolution is a little too neat, relying on some lucky happenstance to allow Rachel and Tom to track the perpetrators to their lair for the explosive showdown, but by the time readers get there, they'll be too exhausted to notice.