Narrated by: January LaVoyE-Audio, 10:09:07Release Date: July 9, 2019Published by: Mulholland Books
Read from: September 6-15, 2019Stand-aloneSource: LibraryTW: Kidnapping, Violence, Drug AbuseFor fans of: Thriller, Crime, Mystery, Suspense, Action, Adult
You just dropped off your child at the bus stop. A panicked stranger calls your phone. Your child has been kidnapped, and the stranger explains that their child has also been kidnapped, by a completely different stranger. The only way to get your child back is to kidnap another child within 24 hours. Your child will be released only when the next victim's parents kidnap yet another child, and most importantly, the stranger explains, if you don't kidnap a child, or if the next parents don't kidnap a child, your child will be murdered. You are now part of The Chain.
*This book is part of the adult mystery/thriller genre! I have featured it in The Crime Scene as a way to feature the few Adult and New Adult titles I am beginning to read in this genre! There's not much of a difference, however the scenes may be more graphic and there may be more explicit scenes in some of them."
*MY THOUGHTS*
I didn't know about this book before Jimmy Fallon's Summer Reads Book Club, but when I did find out about it, I hurriedly added it to my TBR. But after reading this, I have to say, I'm a little confused on how they didn't pick this one.
Just when everything seems perfect, it turns out it's not. You get a panicked phone call from an unknown number. You finally answer and they tell you they've kidnapped your child and you must complete the things they tell you to get them back. You can't go to the police or tell anyone without their clearance or you and your kid die. Because you are now part of the The Chain.
This was so good, but also so stressful. When I say there's not a minute to breathe in this book, I totally mean it. There's so much going on in this book and it never stops. If you plan on reading this, I suggest you make some time block out an entire day to read it because once you start, you won't want to stop because the action is non-stop.
The characters in this made me not trust anyone. Like for real. From parents to kids to just everyone. Everyone is sketchy and I can honestly say I physically felt my skin crawl from listening to it. It wasn't until the end that I started to feel a bit better about them, but by then it was over.
As for the audio, January LaVoy is one of my favorite narrators. She has SO MANY audios she did because she was amazing. And the audio of this is definitely a production. The sound of a voice distorter that they described was used in the story and it was cool. I loved this but hated it at the same time.
The only thing I didn't like about this book was the drug usage. As you all know I don't really like drugs in books because of a personal family matter. But even with that part, I found myself skipping over it. As usual I feel like there's other ways to get a narrator to be unreliable, but that's just me. That's why I couldn't give this a full 5 stars. People who don't have the personal issues that I do might still be able to enjoy this more.
I don't even have kids and this almost made me want to never try. Everyone and everything that went on in this book was creepy and stressed me out. But it was definitely well worth the read.
Overall, I give this
