Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

The Chain by Adrian McKinty

159 reviews

cassidyemaier's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

When I learned the concept of this book I was really intrigued because it seemed really fascinating. I waited months for this book on the Libby app so I when it was finally time I was so excited. Unlike most of the thrillers I’ve read, this one didn’t have me on my toes, I had no theories and there really weren’t any twists? Everything was fairly factual and I wasn’t surprised by the ending at all. I’m glad I read it but I’m slightly disappointed.

Content Warnings

sandysmith's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.25

I'm gradually adding books I've read in 2021 to give a true reflection of the books I've read since keeping records. This was the first book I read in 2021, and is what kick started my reading journey having put reading on the back burner whilst bringing up the children, previously being an avid reader. A psychological thriller that makes you think. A stranger rings and has kidnapped your child. In order to release them you must pay a ransome and kidnap another person's child. Your child will be released when your victims parents kidnap another child. If this doesn't happen your child will be killed. An interesting concept but you could see the protagonist early on, which was disappointing. Unlikeable characters, a quick read, but I didn't love it.

Content Warnings

fantomina's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Content Warnings

beeeenerys's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced

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

2.5

What if child kidnapping was a pyramid scheme.

I really enjoyed the first half, it's an interesting, morally dark concept but it should have been left there. The second half turned it into a very plain 'catch the bad guys' action and it fell off and got pretty boring.

the relationship between Rachel and Pete felt unnecessary, like it only happened because they were the two opposite sex protagonists. They should have kept the love platonic. Also the villian being the only character (to my knowledge) mentioned as queer didn't sit quite right.

Because I only enjoyed the first half I'm giving it the first half of 5 stars.

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yalipopcultureads's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Content Warnings

vinceoftexas's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I’ve never been a book reader, because they’ve never kept me engaged. BUT this book was absolutely amazing. It kept me wanting to finish, once I started, I couldn’t stop.
As terrible as the scenario is, this was a fantastic book.

Content Warnings

booksandcoffeewithlexi's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Content Warnings

kira_dylan's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced

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

3.5

Content Warnings

aedmond's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Super fast paced with a fascinating concept. I found the characters plausible … for the most part. The ending was very obvious about 100 pages from the end but that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy the journey to get there.

I’ve seen a lot of reviews hounding this book for how “obvious” and “silly” it seems but with a little bit of suspension of disbelief (I mean cmon it isn’t true crime) I found it extremely fun and captivating.

I did think the author got a little too in the weeds with some of the academic name dropping, philosophy, and tech jargon but as a Techie with a degree in philosophy it felt right up my alley.

Content Warnings

rcarr14's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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