Reviews with content warning for Confinement - The Chain

Hold on to your hats, cause you're goin' for a ride!

Holy cow! You open this book and it screams down the road like a race car until if finally slows at part II, leaving you breathless and thinking, "what the hell just happened?" To heighten the suspense, the chapters are maybe 5 pages long, like quick cuts in a movie. The pace slows at part II but still remains tense and mysterious and a good thing too or I would have read it well into the night.

It's such an original and terrifying premise, particularly as a parent, that you can only wonder what you'd do in the same situation. Do you actually kidnap another person to save your own child? Would you kill another child to save your own? What a choice!

I've read many Adrian McKinty stories, all set in Ireland, so I was surprised how he well he made the story so American. This doesn't have that gritty Belfast underworld vibe, but captures the "evil can happen anywhere" theme without fail.

I highly recommend this stand alone novel!

Content Warnings

lycheejelly's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Content Warnings

hunterp's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

nancydrew's review against another edition

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Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

1.0

Insipid, plot driven piece. Plot line after plot line written like a film script with sentences like, she looked left, she enters room, etc. Novelist wrote in afterword that when he told his agent his idea for this novel, she dropped whatever was in her hand and commanded him to write the book. Hmmmm

Content Warnings

keen's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

What a rollercoaster. There were times I was screaming quietly into the night at scenes that had me going "How will the characters get out of this??" I'm impressed by all the detail that went into locations and what different characters would know based on their culture, age, and life experiences. Seriously, as a 19 year old, I'm impressed with how well a 13-year-old girl was written and how I was cheering her on. There were a few moments I went "I wish I was as cool as her when I was her age." There were parts of the book I had to repeatedly look up while saying to myself, "This seems familiar," before realizing I was a fool. Lovecraft fans should expect to see some small references here and there.

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