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A review by powerpuffgoat
The Chain by Adrian McKinty
2.5
Good idea, lackluster (and frankly, ridiculous at times) execution.
As a premise for a thriller, a system that forces regular people hand over their money and commit crimes to provide the bad guys with blackmail material - excellent.
In reality, there were a lot of things that stood in my way of enjoying this book.
The main characters are surprisingly unlikeable, and as much as I understand that they were in a stressful situation, there were some very stupid decisions made by Rachel and Pete. I honestly felt more interested in the story of Eric, but sadly we have to stick with our initial pair (and Rachel's 13-year-old daughter who either sounds too young or too old).
The bad guys behind the whole scheme... Sigh. Another reader made the perfect comparison to Scooby Doo villains, whose motivation and behaviour is so cartoonish it's hard to take at face value. Even in the midst of action, they stop to deliver quippy lines.
While the first part of the book features some really dumb decisions, the second part gets progressively worse, and culminates in the most drawn-out nonsense standoff I've ever read.
It doesn't help that the writing dives into strange, uber-specific passages about how technology works, or the exact type of gun someone has, or the exact type of car they drive... Including an app that gives incredibly verbose instructions.
To top it off, there's some cringe "philosophical" musings sprinkled into seemingly random moments throughout the story.
It reminded me (not in a good way) of Blake Crouch, so maybe it's just one of those things that isn't for me.
As a premise for a thriller, a system that forces regular people hand over their money and commit crimes to provide the bad guys with blackmail material - excellent.
In reality, there were a lot of things that stood in my way of enjoying this book.
The main characters are surprisingly unlikeable, and as much as I understand that they were in a stressful situation, there were some very stupid decisions made by Rachel and Pete. I honestly felt more interested in the story of Eric, but sadly we have to stick with our initial pair (and Rachel's 13-year-old daughter who either sounds too young or too old).
The bad guys behind the whole scheme... Sigh. Another reader made the perfect comparison to Scooby Doo villains, whose motivation and behaviour is so cartoonish it's hard to take at face value. Even in the midst of action, they stop to deliver quippy lines.
While the first part of the book features some really dumb decisions, the second part gets progressively worse, and culminates in the most drawn-out nonsense standoff I've ever read.
It doesn't help that the writing dives into strange, uber-specific passages about how technology works, or the exact type of gun someone has, or the exact type of car they drive... Including an app that gives incredibly verbose instructions.
To top it off, there's some cringe "philosophical" musings sprinkled into seemingly random moments throughout the story.
It reminded me (not in a good way) of Blake Crouch, so maybe it's just one of those things that isn't for me.