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A review by readingthestars
The Chain by Adrian McKinty
2.0
Ahhhh yes, yet another thriller where it's very obvious it's written by a man based on how he handles the main female character.
This book started off very promising, with a premise that reminded me of The Kill Club by Wendy Heard, a novel I really enjoyed. But it got old sort of fast, like within the first 40%. A lot of things were repeated, characters are kept at an arms length and we're just told everything that's going on in their brain, and sooo many mentions of "The Chain" that it was a bit much. By the time the first part ended, I thought the book was just about wrapped up, but then it enters the second part, which feels almost like its own book. I think that instead of dividing the story into these very distinct parts (being a part of The Chain and then taking down The Chain), the second part could have just been incorporated into the first for a more integrated experience.
The writing also leaves something to be desired. To set the scene, the author would simply write something like, "Her house, afternoon." And that gets old fast! The way it's written, the novel would make for a good screenplay, and I think the plot in general would lend itself to the screen well, but the beat by beat action would need to be tightened up a bit. Also, the romance was NOT needed! Authors, please stop giving your female main character a love interest when it doesn't feel organic to the story!
It's a quick enough read that, even though I didn't really care to finish reading, I did anyway, but I can't say I was particularly intrigued the whole way through.
This book started off very promising, with a premise that reminded me of The Kill Club by Wendy Heard, a novel I really enjoyed. But it got old sort of fast, like within the first 40%. A lot of things were repeated, characters are kept at an arms length and we're just told everything that's going on in their brain, and sooo many mentions of "The Chain" that it was a bit much. By the time the first part ended, I thought the book was just about wrapped up, but then it enters the second part, which feels almost like its own book. I think that instead of dividing the story into these very distinct parts (being a part of The Chain and then taking down The Chain), the second part could have just been incorporated into the first for a more integrated experience.
The writing also leaves something to be desired. To set the scene, the author would simply write something like, "Her house, afternoon." And that gets old fast! The way it's written, the novel would make for a good screenplay, and I think the plot in general would lend itself to the screen well, but the beat by beat action would need to be tightened up a bit. Also, the romance was NOT needed! Authors, please stop giving your female main character a love interest when it doesn't feel organic to the story!
It's a quick enough read that, even though I didn't really care to finish reading, I did anyway, but I can't say I was particularly intrigued the whole way through.