The Chain

After Marty and Ginger pick Kylie up, Rachel and Pete wait for Erik to call them as planned—but he never does (because he’s dead). A posthumous message comes from Erik, explaining his likely death and how to use his app. Rachel is scared because Erik wrote her name in his notebook (after Pete let it slip). If The Chain leaders retrieve the notebook, they might connect her to Erik’s plan.

After Cheryl’s death, Tom briefly commits to self-improvement, but reverts to old ways, spending most of his time at a bar or working. Margaret learns to emulate his handwriting. One year after Cheryl’s death, Tom comes home drunk and angry that the twins ate the only food in the fridge. He dislocates Margaret’s shoulder, and at school, the nurse sends her to the hospital. Tom feels guilty and briefly attends church, but then starts drinking again. One evening, the twins shoot a drunk Tom in the mouth, wipe off their handprints, and place the gun in Tom’s hand; Margaret writes a fake suicide note in Tom’s handwriting.

The twins are sent to live with their grandfather, Daniel (or Red). He changes the twins’ names to Ginger (Margaret) and Olly (Oliver). He remembers the twins (as he helped Tom kidnap them), but has not seen them in recent years. Daniel is a retired police officer and an avid hunter, who gives the twins beer.

Rachel panics over Erik’s murder. She calls Marty to check on Kylie’s condition; they’re currently at the mall. She then downloads Erik’s app: There’s a series of numbers listed and she has to enter the correct number in the series, otherwise her devices will be locked. Rachel reasons that Erik was trying to block The Chain leaders, not her, so he probably didn’t use a math-based code. She realizes the numbers represent famous retired New York Yankees players. She enters the correct number to access Erik’s app.

Rachel messages The Chain leaders, complaining about her stress and asking if she can buy her way out of it. They message back saying she can’t escape The Chain. Rachel sends more messages until they call her. She prolongs the call, so Pete can track it to the nearest cell phone tower—which ends up being on Choate Island, Massachusetts. She and Pete drive to Choate Island, a swampy, rural place with “barely any sign of civilization” (296). They hike for hours, climb a hill, and finally locate the tower. They scan the area and only see one house nearby, which they decide to check out despite being tired from chemotherapy and heroin withdrawal, respectively.

From a distance, Rachel and Pete spy on the house, and Rachel thinks she sees Kylie on the porch. Pete claims it can’t be Kylie because the GPS device they hid in her shoes says she is at the mall.

When Ginger enters high school, the counselors say she needs better Science and Math grades to join the FBI; Olly helps Ginger improve her grades. Daniel teaches the twins to shoot guns, hunt, clean animals, and cook meat. They don’t have much money, so for college, the twins apply for student loans to attend Boston University. Olly majors in Software Engineering, while Ginger majors in Psychology. After graduation, Ginger joins the FBI, and Olly works for a few different tech companies. However, these companies keep going bankrupt. Ginger starts looking for ways to pay off their student loans and secure housing.

Ginger draws inspiration from a crime family she learns about from the FBI—the Jaliscos, who sold heroin. Whereas many international heroin dealers are violent, Ginger thinks this is not the best approach in the US because it scares away potential customers. The Jaliscos noticed this need for a different approach, as well as how doctors tend to overprescribe opiates; the crime family decided to target this potential clientele, scouting outside Veterans Affairs (VA) clinics to offer people a cheaper, more effective version of the medicine they were being prescribed. The Jaliscos’ drug dealers acted friendly to gain trust, with Pete being one of their victims. This approach introduces Ginger to a specific kidnapping scheme: After a kidnapping, a different person is chosen to take the kidnapper’s place until a ransom is paid. This method minimizes violence and makes the hostages do most of the work themselves.

Ginger combines this kidnapping idea with her childhood interest in chain letters to create The Chain. She alters the process so it’s more self-regulating and profitable. Olly uses his software engineering skills to help Ginger enact her plan. They target criminals whom Ginger knows from the FBI, and extort them into running errands. These criminals prove “trigger-happy,” so the twins start extorting typical people (like Heather and Rachel) instead.

Through ransoms, Ginger and Olly make enough money to pay off their loans and have everything they need. However, they don’t stop The Chain. Still, Olly worries about getting caught, especially with how his capricious sister runs things when he’s not around; she doesn’t change their anonymous accounts and burner phone numbers often enough. She sometimes makes calls from her personal phones and uses The Chain for personal matters, such as ordering murders of people she doesn’t like. While investigating, Olly discovers “Rachel” in Erik’s notebook about The Chain, and texts Ginger that they need to talk. He suspects she is mixing personal and business matters because he knows Ginger’s new boyfriend, Marty, has an ex-wife named Rachel.

Rachel and Pete realize Kylie’s GPS device is wrong, as it says she has been at the mall for nine hours. Now, Rachel is certain that Kylie is inside the lone house. She and Pete plan to storm the house. Pete goes on ahead, but is caught by a man with a gun. The man says he’s going to alert Daniel of Pete’s presence.

Ginger thinks everything is going her way: The Chain is running smoothly again, and Marty is getting along with her family. She saw Marty’s Facebook profile while researching Rachel, found him attractive, ordered a murder of his previous girlfriend Tammy, set up a fake chance meeting, and charmed him. Olly confronts her, revealing that Rachel’s name was written in Erik’s notebook. This information is news to Ginger, who begins to panic.

Marty stares out a window, thinking about Kylie and Stuart. Ginger enters the room. Marty is shocked at the sight of Rachel walking toward the house. Ginger then puts a gun to Marty’s head.

Rachel approaches the lone house with her shotgun. Pete’s still on the ground, held there by the armed man. Ginger comes out of the house, pretending to be confused. Rachel sees her and apologizes, thinking there must have been a mistake. Daniel comes out, asking what Pete and Rachel are doing. Ginger claims she has the situation under control and asks Rachel to drop her shotgun, but Rachel realizes Ginger is probably behind The Chain. She tells Pete, who shoots out the lights.

Daniel shoots at the dark with an automatic weapon. Rachel and Pete lie on the ground to avoid getting hit. After about 10 seconds, Daniel runs out of ammo and has to reload inside. Rachel and Pete shoot the armed guard.

Rachel and Pete enter the garage and search the house. They hear Kylie calling from outside, as she’s being led to a farm structure. Rachel and Pete follow. Inside the structure, Ginger and Olly are on an upper level and have guns pointed at Kylie and Stuart. Marty is lying next to them, injured and semiconscious. Ginger tells Rachel and Pete to drop their weapons, or she will kill the children. They refuse, and Ginger shoots Pete’s torso, knocking him down. Rachel still won’t drop her gun. Ginger says if Rachel drops her gun and gives her and Olly 24 hours to flee the country, she’ll let them all live. Rachel agrees, and the children run to her. However, Olly reveals he and Ginger still plan to kill all of them.

Since her kidnapping, Kylie learned how to escape handcuffs; she now carries a lock pick at all times. There’s a gun on the floor, so while the twins talk among themselves, Kylie undoes her handcuffs and shoots Olly in the head.

Olly dies; Kylie tries to shoot Ginger as well, but misses. Rachel charges Ginger, who has no bullets left. Ginger knocks Rachel down and starts choking her. Rachel finds a shard of broken glass and shoves it into Ginger’s neck, killing her. The surviving group calls 911 and the fire department because something outside is starting to burn. An injured Pete can’t speak but lifts his gun.

Daniel recalls his days in the army, of coming home from the Vietnam War and being told by his girlfriend that he has a son now (Tom). After his girlfriend left, Daniel raised Tom, who went into law enforcement like him. He approaches the farm structure and realizes his grandchildren are dead. He aims a grenade launcher and fires it at the group.

Pete shoots when he sees Daniel aiming at the group. The men fire at the same time, but Daniel forgot his safety was on—and is killed.

The authorities arrive to bring the surviving group to safety and extinguish the fire.

While Rachel and Pete have committed crimes, the Dunleavys side with them, making it difficult to prosecute them. The news covers The Chain, and the general public also doesn’t want to see Rachel and Pete punished. Now that the threat of The Chain has been neutralized, the characters are able to share their experiences and recover. In the present, Rachel buys a pregnancy test, but the novel ends before she learns her result. She reflects on how there are two possible futures, but both of them are acceptable to her.