The Chain
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Author: Robin Lamont's The Kinship Series: The Chain, The Experiment, The Trap

Reviewed by: Veggie Fans

Publisher: Grayling Press

The Chain by Robin Lamont is available from Amazon.

Review:

Robin Lamont’s novel The Chain, the first book in The Kinship Series, hooks readers from the very first page. From there, Lamont doesn’t let up as she engulfs readers in a world where the stakes are life and death.

The Chain follows Jude Brannock, a strong compassionate woman who works with the animal rights organization The Kinship to fight for the humanity of all living things. She travels to the small town of Bragg Falls to meet with a slaughterhouse worker, turned under-cover investigator, regarding shocking abuse and horrific inhumanity endured by pigs at D&M Processing. When Jude learns that her informant has died of an apparent suicide, she puts on her investigator hat and exposes a spiderweb of neglect that encourages the atrocious treatment of animals and provokes employee injuries.

Throughout the novel, readers get a peek inside of the D&M slaughterhouse. Lamont doesn’t shy away from the violent imagery that occurs in that deadly setting. She illustrates everything from the terror felt by the animals as they approach the plant to the gruesome realities of the kill floor. Readers also get a glimpse of the pressure and intensity that the workers, many of whom are undocumented immigrants, deal with on a daily basis as they work in an unimaginable environment.

As Jude dives deeper into her investigation, she meets a series of individuals who give insight on the sad realities of working in a slaughterhouse. Emmet, a newly promoted D&M manager, tries to level with Jude about how the entire town depends on the slaughterhouse in one way or another. His despondent daughter Caroline is inspired by Jude’s passion and becomes an ally to animals. Jude also meets a few dangerous enemies along the way.

With The Chain, Lamont does a brilliant job of promoting the betterment of animals while providing readers with a story that will have them on the edge of their seats. On top of that, the characters are well-rounded and interesting and the writing is nothing short of exceptional. We can’t wait to follow Jude as she investigates a government agency which is recklessly killing animals in The Trap, the next edition of The Kinship Series.

About the Author:

Author ROBIN LAMONT has been a Broadway actress and singer, private investigator, and county prosecutor. Her book The Chain, the first in The Kinship Series, was a Foreword Reviews Book of the Year Finalist. The second in the Kinship Series, The Trap, is about the hidden activities of the USDA’s Wildlife Services. Her protagonist Jude Brannock is a brash and single-minded investigator who believes that nature and animals deserve our respect and must be protected. In the third book in the series, The Experiment, Jude investigates an animal testing lab along with the strange world of biopharmaceuticals.

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