The hype machine is hard at work on this one. And I'm not talking about the Goodreads/Instagram bunch. No, heavy hitters in the suspense field like Don Winslow, Dennis Lehane, Stephen King, and Meg Gardiner are singing the praises of The Chain. Steve Cavanagh says he may never read a better thriller in his lifetime. Really?

I wasn't exactly bowled over by the premise of The Chain. You see, it deals with a child kidnapping. Then the mother receives a chain letter instructing her to kidnap another child or hers will be killed. And so on. It sounded more than a little bit preposterous to me.

It's not like I am unfamiliar with ridiculous plot devices. I mean, you can't get much sillier than a haunted car. Yet Christine is one of my favorite novels. Christine works, at least for me, because of King's intimate writing style and characters that touched me so deeply my soul ached for them.

I'll say this for The Chain. It moves at breakneck speed. Even while my incredulity was stretching to the breaking point.

I almost never quote passages from books in my reviews, but oh man, there are some howlers in The Chain. Such as:

The Highway hums. The highway sings. The highway luminesces. It is an adder heading north.

Or:

Something about this place screams denouement.

And:

Rachel knows and Ginger knows, and Ginger knows that Rachel knows.

I was cringing.

Yes, The Chain has a twist that a blind man could see from a hundred yards. The obligatory implausible and overly dramatic climax is predictable and frankly boring. I found myself skimming.

I'm not necessarily doubting the veracity of the writers who have lavished The Chain with compliments, but I cannot echo them. I had high hopes for this one, too.

Should you read The Chain? Why not? It's a fast-paced but weak book that would make a great bonehead movie.

I give The Chain four generous stars out of ten. You could do worse, but for god's sake, you could do better.

Written by Mark Sieber

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