The Chain is a 2019 novel written by

Adrian McKinty Adrian McKinty is a Northern Irish writer of crime and mystery novels and young adult fiction, best known for his 2020 award-winning thriller, ''The Chain'', and the Sean Duffy novels set in Northern Ireland during The Troubles. He is a winner ...

Publication history

McKinty quit writing in 2017 after being evicted from his rented house, citing a lack of income from his novels, and instead took work as an

Uber Uber Technologies, Inc. (Uber), based in San Francisco, provides mobility as a service, ride-hailing (allowing users to book a car and driver to transport them in a way similar to a taxi), food delivery (Uber Eats and Postmates), package ...

driver and a bartender. Upon hearing of his situation, fellow crime author

Don Winslow Don Winslow (born October 31, 1953) is an American retired author best known for his award-winning and internationally bestselling crime novels, including '' Savages'', ''The Force'' and the Cartel Trilogy. Early life Winslow was born on Oct ...

passed some of his books to his agent, the screenwriter and producer

Shane Salerno Shane Salerno (born November 27, 1972) is an American screenwriter, producer, and Chief Creative Officer of The Story Factory. His writing credits include the films '' Avatar: The Way of Water'', ''Armageddon'', '' Savages,'' '' Shaft'', and the ...

. In a late-night phone call, Salerno persuaded McKinty to write what would become ''The Chain''. Salerno loaned the author ("advance on the advance") $10,000 to help him survive financially during the process. The stand-alone thriller was inspired by the

chain letters A chain letter is a message that attempts to convince the recipient to make a number of copies and pass them on to a certain number of recipients. The "chain" is an exponentially growing pyramid (a tree graph) that cannot be sustained indefinite ...

of his youth and contemporary reports of hostage exchanges. McKinty returned to writing after the book landed him a six-figure English-language book deal, and was

optioned In the film industry, an option is a contractual agreement pertaining to film rights between a potential film producer (such as a movie studio, a production company, or an individual) and the author of source material, such as a book, play, or s ...

for a film adaptation by Paramount Pictures. In an interview on CBS McKinty talked about never giving up and took the interviewer, Jeff Glor, to Plum Island, Massachusetts, where ''The Chain'' is set. ''The Chain'' was published in 37 countries. In June 2020,

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

acquired the film rights to the novel, with

Edgar Wright Edgar Howard Wright (born 18 April 1974) is an English filmmaker. He is known for his fast-paced and kinetic, satirical genre films, which feature extensive utilisation of expressive popular music, Steadicam tracking shots, dolly zooms and a ...

directing and producing the project and

Jane Goldman Jane Loretta Anne Goldman''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005.''; at ancestry.com (born 11 June 1970) is an English screenwriter, author and producer. With Matthew Vaughn, she co-wrote the screenplays of '' Kingsm ...

writing the screenplay.

Awards

*2019 ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' magazine Books of the Year for ''The Chain'' *2020

Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award The Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award is one of the UK's top crime-fiction awards, sponsored by Theakston's Old Peculier. It is awarded annually at Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and the administrative centre of ...

2020 winner for ''The Chain.'' *2020 Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award longlist for ''The Chain''; CWA Body in the Library longlist for ''The Chain'' *2020

International Thriller Writers International Thriller Writers (ITW), was founded October 9, 2004, at Bouchercon XXXV, the "World Mystery and Suspense Conference", in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Six months later, some 150 authors with more than one billion books sold worldwide h ...

Award for Best Hardcover Novel, ''The Chain.'' *2020 Ned Kelly Award for Best International Crime Fiction for ''The Chain.'' *2020

Macavity Awards The Macavity Awards are a literary award for mystery writers. Nominated and voted upon annually by the members of the Mystery Readers International, the award is named for the " mystery cat" of T. S. Eliot's ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'' ...

for Best Mystery Novel by

Mystery Readers International Mystery Readers International is a fan/reader organization open to all readers, fans, critics, editors, publishers, and writers of Mystery fiction. It was founded by Janet A. Rudolph in Berkeley, California. It publishes the ''Mystery Readers Jo ...

for ''The Chain.''Macavity Award Winners 2020
/ref> *2020

Barry Award (for crime novels) The Barry Award is a crime literary prize awarded annually since 1997 by the editors of ''Deadly Pleasures'', an American quarterly publication for crime fiction readers. From 2007 to 2009 the award was jointly presented with the publication ''M ...

for Best Mystery Novel for ''The Chain.''

Plot summary

Rachel, a divorcée with cancer, gets a call stating that her daughter, Kylie, has been kidnapped and she is now part of The Chain. To get Kylie back she must kidnap another child. Kylie will be released when the parents of the child Rachel has kidnapped kidnap yet another child and continue the chain.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chain 2019 British novels British thriller novels Orion Books books