The Chain by Adrian McKinty 10/10
More than lives up to the hype. Brilliant idea brilliantly executed. There aren't many thrillers around that, in the midst of all the action, allude to Borges. But first and foremost it's about plot, and that keeps the pages turning. I read it in two sittings.
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Few years back I had a short story published in the US with the same name. Premise was about a man being blackmailed, who found in the end that as well as paying up, to free himself he had to carry out the blackmail the next person in the chain. Beat Ian Rankin and tied with Ed McBain in the readers' top ten of the year, and I thought, hmm, I like the idea, maybe I should work this up into a novel. Never did. Ah well. But then it is more about the execution...