The Chain

Adrian McKinty

Like any parent on any given morning, Rachel Klein dropped her daughter off at the bus stop and went about her day. But a call from an unknown number on her cell phone changed everything. The caller was a woman who informed her that Kylie was being held captive, tied up in the backseat of her car, and if Rachel wanted to see her again, she had to follow her instructions precisely: pay a ransom and find a new child to kidnap. However, this kidnapping was out of the ordinary: the caller was a mother whose son had been kidnapped, and if Rachel didn't do what she asked, he would be killed. "You're not the first. And certainly not the last." Rachel was now part of The Chain, that ingenious and endless project that turns a victim into a criminal – while someone else, in return, makes an outrageous fortune. The rules of the game are simple, and the moral challenges are beyond imagination: you start by finding the money quickly, searching for your victim, and then committing a heinous act that you never thought you were capable of, even just twenty-four hours ago. But the masterminds behind The Chain know that parents will do anything to save their children. And kidnapping is only the beginning.