Welcome to Litsy!

At 70% I am sharing another update of #BookChain2025. Great prompts, Sarah!

This book gripped me from the start, your child is kidnapped and the only way you can get them back is if you kidnap another child. It explores the darkest places people will go and how their moral code will be tested and compromised for the love of their child. A dark, thriller read that shows the sinister side of some people which I always o fascinating. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I was so excited to find this at Dollar Tree ?

Main character Rachel's daughter is kidnapped. Rachel can get her back if she pays a ransom and kidnaps another child, thus not breaking "the chain."

I enjoyed the ride and couldn't stop turning the pages to find out how or if the chain was going to be broken.

"She's sitting at the bus stop checking the likes on her Instagram feed and doesn't even notice the
man with the gun until he's almost next to her."

##FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

I liked this thriller! My husband described me as "enthusiastic" when I was talking with him about it. Parts were unbelievable, but overall a pick.

Shadow is supposed to be standing guard for me while I read this book, but found him sleeping on the job!

So the premise of this book is great, and I loved the maybe first half of the book as it dealt with the chain and what each link had to do to keep it going. Then we find out who‘s behind it/how it started and it fell flat for me. It wasn‘t shocking, it was just 🤷🏼‍♀️. There‘s also a drug addiction element that just felt unnecessary and didn‘t add anything. The narrator was good, though! 🌟🌟🌟

Starts off strong and keeps you hooked through out the entire book. Could have picked up the pace, but keeps the suspense high through out. Wish the author had introduced the creators of The Chain earlier and gave us more POV from the creators perspective. Ending was predictable if you paid attention and seemed a bit rushed but made sense. Lots of little hints and pieces that fit puzzle quite well. Overall 6.5/10 could have been crazier IMO

I enjoyed this one.

Read for reading challenges.

4.5/5

The Chain is such a compelling idea, I‘m not sure he really needed the main character‘s cancer diagnosis, or the side character‘s heroin addiction, or the villain‘s whole hippie commune back-story, or… Simplifying the story flies in the face of everything we‘re told about how characters should be complex, but I think it would have made the hair-raising plot more impactful. Full review: https://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/the-chain-adrian-mckinty/

Scarier than clowns in a sewer! Real life scary, what would you do when your child is kidnapped and to get them back you need to pay and then kidnap the next child. A page turner bc you know you want to find out how it works and how it ends. Once again, real life scary!

Book 214🎧 4⭐️

What a wild ride! Definitely super creepy and a parents worst nightmare!

Once you‘re in the chain, you can never get off.

*Whoever created the first chain mail is a dick 😂

I had high hopes this was going to be an awesome read. The plot of kidnapping a child for a child sounded bizarre. The book started out exciting and I was all in only taking two days to read. (which is a record for me). First half sucked you in and you just had to see how she was going to get her daughter back. Second half started to fall with a big crash at the end. It was too much like an action movie with not believable plot.

🥰 Saturday Morning - hopefully the kids let me read at least one chapter!!

A compelling-sounding plot: A parent must kidnap a child to save their own kidnapped child, thus creating a chain that must never be broken. Unfortunately, the execution is poor. This is my first Adrian McKinty novel, so I don‘t know if his writing is always like it is in The Chain, but it‘s quite bland. I considered putting it down more than once but I was just interested enough to finish it. I did enjoy the philosophy references, though.

This is a great concept and it starts out strong, but I feel the second half is a little lacking. The explanation for how this whole scheme starts is a little weak, and I feel that, given the danger inherent in the requirement of the participants, it would have blown up far more quickly than it did. While many people do remain calm in moments of crisis, there are just as many whose performance is not improved by being in a state of complete panic!

The beginning had me hooked, but about halfway through it got way less interesting and I just wanted to be done with it.

First part: great, Second part: not so great.

Lazy day. This should be a fairly quick read. ♥️

A ‘chain letter‘ theme that involves abducting children and forcing the next person to do the same before their child will be released. Started off strong but really wasn‘t for me.

So this book arrived in the mail for me and while it was one of my FAVORITES in 2020 I don't want to reread it. Would anyone like it? A swap for a.swap? #BookSwap

Email me rsteve388@gmail.com

7/10
I thought this book was really fast paced and an easy read that kept me hooked until the second part. I felt like the ending became too convenient and predictable. I wish there was more backstory for the people who started the chain. Overall a good and easy read that kept me interested!

169 of 2021. Book 2 of #novelnovember . Interesting premise. This book started off strong but lost some momentum towards the end. I kept thinking about two characters names the whole book. Moonbeam and Mushroom. 😂⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

Pages read:797

#readathon

Busy busy listening to audiobooks this month. 🎧 #audiobooks #listening_litten

I mean, it was easy to turn the pages, but it was just kinda meh for me. Rachel‘s daughter is kidnapped and in order to get her back she must pay the ransom and kidnap someone else‘s kid, who must then do the same thing. It‘s a lot of dialogue and straight up exposition. I didn‘t feel connected to anyone…and some of it, especially at the end, was just way too convenient.

Started so well and had a brilliant plot but the ending just went on a little too long.

This book was difficult to get into but once I got toward the end I was hooked! #July.1.18

I‘m a huge Criminal Minds fan and with it now off the air (we‘ll start the series from the beginning on Netflix when we finish with NCIS) I was intrigued by the premise of this thriller. Needed to be an early summer read since my daughter will be taking the bus in the fall. Read it on the plane to Hawaii.

Another good one! I could have read this in one day if I didn‘t have to adult.

Your child is kidnapped. To what lengths would you go to get your child back? This was a book with an scary and interesting take on kidnapping... when ransom isn‘t enough. #bookspin for June.

Started this in the way in this morning so only a few chapters in, but this is creepy in a real life kind of way. It‘s also my #bookspin

This book was ok for me..I didn‘t love it or hate it but fell somewhere in between. Obviously a plot unlike any other book Ive read but the story just didn‘t grab me to the point where I couldn‘t put it down. In all I say pick because it is different and entertaining..just not edge of your seat thrilling as some of the reviews say.

A fast-paced and very entertaining thriller, The Chain requires a lot of suspension of disbelief, but isn‘t that why we love books? I could not put this one down! I found myself constantly in Rachel‘s shoes and thinking about what I would do in her situation. I liked that despite considering herself a weak person, she was smart, resourceful, and relentless in pursuit of getting her daughter back and breaking The Chain. A wild ride! 4 ⭐️

As a mom, this one hit me hard. I couldn‘t read fast enough to find out how it was going to end.

@AmyG our first book trade is shipping your way tomorrow! Thanks #litsylove and @tanya1512 for the idea and @Tattooedteacher for setting it up!

This book is my worst nightmare. The action drew me in right away, but as other reviewers have mentioned the ending is a bit unsatisfactory.

From the first sentence, McKinty kidnapped my focus, and I couldn't stop reading. It's a heart pulsing thriller.

Once part 2 begins, it slows down a bit & I was a bit disappointed in the direction it took as it wasn't as propulsive or as developed as we learned about the evil minds behind The Chain. It wraps up a bit too suddenly, but part 1 was so strong and made this book completely worthwhile.

This was a good one! Honestly, I'm surprised it didn't get more notice. Anything that involves kids will pull at your heartstrings. I know that if I found myself in this situation, I wouldn't have to be convinced to do whatever it took to get my kid back. Finally, something unique in the thriller/suspense category. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 Full Review: https://suspensebookreviews.home.blog/2021/03/01/the-chain-by-adrian-mckinty/

This book is a parent's worst nightmare, your child is kidnapped and the only way to save them is to kidnap another child. I had a hard time putting this one down, although I found the ending to be a bit predictable and bland, I really enjoyed this one! What a twist on real fears and the never-ending horrific abilities of the internet.

I really don't much about this book, other than it was part of a Buy One Get One Half Off sale at Barnes & Noble. I've seen it around the shelves there during my shopping sprees, but never gave it much thought. From the small summary, it deals with a chain of kidnappings in a small town, with a bit of a twist of how they come about and what the parents need to do to get their children back. Hope it is as interesting as it comes off!

This book is the perfect combination of suspense and thriller. Like I have stated in an earlier review, it is always intelligent to use children in thrillers since they are innocent beings, that everyone fears to lose. I loved the concept and the execution. My only critique is that I think this book would have worked better with an open ending instead of the closed one presented.

Yikes this was a completely unputdownable book. Something perfect for that I just wanna escape mood. Easy writing, quick to devour and hits the ground running, literally just about from page 1.

🇮🇹 (Il settantasette) è un numero legato alla fine. Tutti i libri dovrebbero finire al capitolo settantasette.

🇬🇧 A man once told me that all books should end at chapter seventy-seven.

I see what you did there, Adrian! 😅😅

⭐⭐⭐
It was my #doublespin for January, so I have finally pull it out from my TBR.. not a bad one, but I was expecting something more!
The first half of the book was awesome, I couldn't put it down.. the second half was so predictable and I got bored more than once.

@TheAromaofBooks

Loved it! The story grabs you from the first page and I honestly couldn't put it down. I just had to keep going and devoured it in a few days!

30 pages in and I'm already hooked! #currentlyreading

Very pleased with how much I read last year. Try for 30 again this year, starting with #thechain