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MatchUp
by
Lee Child
It is part of the Joe Pickett, Temperance Brennan, Jack Reacher, Outlander, Cotton Malone, Liz Sansborough, Rambo, Grant County, Lincoln Perry, Harper Connelly, Ty Hauck, To Die, Virgil Flowers, Midnight Breed, Desire Exchange, Rosato and Associates, John Corey, Ali Reynolds, Bravo Shaw, Roy Grace, Tony Hill & Carol Jordan series and is a thriller, time travel, crime mystery, urban fantasy in eBook edition on June 7, 2017 and has 384 pages.
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Other books in this series include [books_series]
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Killing Floor, Die Trying, "Second Son", Tripwire, Running Blind, Echo Burning, Without Fail, Persuader, The Enemy, One Shot, The Hard Way, Bad Luck and Trouble, Nothing to Lose, Gone Tomorrow, 61 Hours, Worth Dying For, The Affair, A Wanted Man, "Deep Down", Never Go Back, "High Heat", Personal, Make Me, "Small Wars", Night School, The Midnight Line, Past Tense, No Middle Name, The Hero, Blue Moon, "Cleaning the Gold"
Eleven short stories in a MatchUp of fiction and thriller writers — a man and a woman pairing — revolving around a blend of the main characters in each pair of authors’ series.
The Series
”Honor &…” (Lee Coburn is a character from Lethal and Joe Pickett)
“Footloose” (Tony Hill & Carol Jordan and Roy Grace)
“Faking a Murderer” (Temperance Brennan and Jack Reacher)
“Past Prologue” (Jamie Fraser from Outlander and Cotton Malone)
“Rambo on Their Minds” (Liz Sansborough and Rambo)
“Short Story” (Jeffrey Tolliver from Grant County and Joe Pritchard from Lincoln Perry)
“Dig Here” (Harper Connelly and Ty Hauck)
“Deserves to be Dead” (Regan Pescoli from To Die and Virgil Flowers)
“Midnight Flame” (Lucan Thorne from Midnight Breed and Lilliane from Desire Exchange)
“Getaway” (Bennie Rosato from Rosato and Associates and John Corey)
“Taking the Veil” (Ali Reynolds and Bravo Shaw)
The Stories
Sandra Brown and C.J. Box teamed up to write “Honor &…” in which park ranger, Joe Pickett, comes up against Lee Coburn in a case of mistaken identity and an undercover op with both men seeing the negative of the other…and that ending is a doozie with Coburn having to adjust his thinking. I’ve added these two to my TBR pile.
Val McDermid and Peter James teamed up to write “Footloose”, a gruesome collaboration between characters to solve a horrible crime in this British thriller. I’ve not read either of these authors, so it was confusing as to which were whose “primary characters”. And who the primary characters were!
Kathy Reichs and Lee Child teamed up to write “Faking a Murderer”, and whew…this was a pip, as a very quiet Reacher uses that deducing mind of his to clear Temperance Brennan of suspicion. It’s a nice blend of the two characters, although the situation made me think of Patricia Cornwell’s Kay Scarpetta. Naturally, Reacher’s charms entice Tempe where his women usually end up *grin*.
Diana Gabaldon and Steve Berry teamed up to write “Past Prologue” which blends a bookseller at an auction who ends up in the past and is rescued and sent back by Jamie. Fascinating enough that I must add Berry’s Cotton Mather to my TBR.
Gayle Lynds and David Morrell teamed up to write “Rambo on Their Minds” a clever incorporation of the Rambo character into this kidnapping scheme. And the bad guys do indeed have Rambo on Their Minds, which gives Liz some ideas. This was funny in a morbid way, and I definitely want to read more about Liz.
Karin Slaughter and Michael Koryta teamed up to write “Short Story” which jumps back in time to when Jeffrey Tolliver first became a detective. Boy, has this guy got women on his mind! And Joe Pritchard has just acquired a new partner: Lincoln Perry. Tolliver ends up in the middle if only because of the scam that was run on him while Pritchard and Perry are looking to take down a drug dealer. It’s an interesting blend of the two characters and another funny one that makes you shake your head at Tolliver’s idiocy and the Helen PD’s ineptitude.
Charlaine Harris and Andrew Gross teamed up to write “Dig Here”, a tale of archeology and credit set in Alexandria, Egypt. It’s an intriguing push-pull between those who don’t believe in what Harper can do and Harper’s attitude, and there’s the usual disbelief that gets dispelled. I always enjoy that aspect of a story, and yet there was a rushed sense about this story. As if the two authors didn’t put a lot into meshing their characters and the story. Sad, because I really like the Harper Connelly series. And I know I want to read more about Ty Hauck.
Lisa Jackson and John Sandford teamed up to write “Deserves to be Dead” which finds Virgil sucked into an investigation with a suspicious Detective Regan Pescoli.
Lara Adrian and Christopher Rice teamed up to write “Midnight Flame” involving a vampire warrior from Boston and an immortal “superheroine” from New Orleans who reveals how she became what she is and her lack of trust in herself even as Lucan is grateful for his new mate. It was okay, and I doubt I’ll be adding these to my TBR.
Lisa Scottoline and Nelson DeMille teamed up to write “Getaway” which is what John Corey hoped for now that he’s on “leave” and Bennie Rosato didn’t want. It’s a fun encounter with the snarky Corey and the suspicious Bennie.
J.A. Jance and Eric Van Lustbader teamed up to write “Taking the Veil”, an odd short story with two militant religious groups battling for artifacts and getting some outside help from a sister and a cybersecurity company. I wasn’t impressed.
The Cover and Title
The cover has a bright red background with a back-to-back silhouette of a woman and a man, both holding guns. The title is in a large white font with the author pairings in a much smaller yellow font below it and the editor’s name in a bigger white at the bottom.
The title is all about the male/female author pairings, the MatchUp of bestselling thriller writers to see how their primary characters mesh in a short story.
