This writer went from eviction to the bestseller list

About two years ago, Adrian McKinty was done as a writer. The Irish author had published several detective novels set in Belfast. They were well-reviewed; some even won prestigious literary awards. But none of the moderate success had translated into money (“I was literally making hundreds of dollars a year,” says McKinty, who had quit his teaching job to write full-time). In fact, things had gotten so dire that McKinty and his family had been evicted from their place in Melbourne, Australia. McKinty was scrambling to pay the bills with some bartending work and driving for Uber. He had posted on his blog to let people know he had quit writing. A month later, bestselling author Don Winslow called him; Winslow had read his books and enjoyed them; he didn’t want him to quit just yet. McKinty told him the whole story, whereupon Winslow called his own agent. “Two weeks later, well after midnight, I’d had a long stressful day and the phone was ringing,” says McKinty. “And the voice on the phone says, ‘Adrian, this is Shane Salerno, calling from Hollywood, California!’ And I thought ‘Oh, great, a Nigerian phone scam.’ He starts pitching me that I should write another book. He said, ‘Your problem is you’ve been writing these books set in Belfast. Do you have an American story in you?’ ”

McKinty had no manuscript, no pages to show, just an idea that he’d gotten while visiting Mexico City years before, where he’d read about the bizarre trend of kidnappings that allowed one family member to swap themselves in exchange for the safety of another.

That idea would become “The Chain,” now one of the breakout hits of the summer, which was published in July with an eye-catching cover blurb, courtesy of Winslow: “This book is like ‘Jaws’ for parents.”

That’s an apt description, as the book centers on a kidnapping chain that forces terrified parents to kidnap other children in order to free their own child. If anything is done to break the chain, if a mistake is made or the authorities are notified, your child will be killed. It’s not about the ransom money. It’s about the chain.

The book landed on the New York Times bestseller list; Paramount Pictures acquired the film rights in a seven-figure deal. And the author who was ready to hang up his hat for good? Absolutely thrilled.

“I’m 50 years old,” says McKinty. “If a 50 year old is allowed to be giddy, I’m giddy!”