I generally pass on novels with multiple authors. However, the Douglas Preston/Lincoln Child partnership is a mystery to me. Together, their trashy airport thrillers are actually not bad at all for the genre. Yet on their own, these guys deserve a special section in the Dan Brown wing of the Museum of God-Awful American Writing. I assumed after Douglas Preston's word-poop "The Codex" (listened to this driving up to Yosemite) that Lincoln Child was the decent author in the Preston/Child partnersh More...

This is going to be quick because I listened to this book a while ago and can’t remember a lot of the details! I do remember that I enjoyed it. I found the concept more interesting than I expected. Basically, couples who are deemed “perfect matches” by the high-tech matchmaking company, Eden, are committing mutual suicide at an alarming rate. Lash, a psychiatrist, is brought in to find out why people who have no known suicidal tendencies would do it. Eden is panicking, desperate to show that the More...

Who needs Match.com, Harmony or JDate, when there is Eden? Eden’s sophisticated hi tech computer Liza did all the work for you. Yes, the computer had a name! For $25,000. Liza would find your perfect match. Guaranteed! No scrolling through pictures, no emailing back and forth and no painful first dates. Sure, you had to endure a thorough physical, as well as psychological examination, answer a multitude of personal questions, but who wouldn’t do that in order to find their soul mate?

Lewis and Li More...

To my surprise, I enjoyed this book much more than I thought I would. It takes a different perspective on the notion of the "ideal relationship", pushing the myth of the "perfect match" to an extreme through the use of computers and artificial intelligence. It was a pretty good read for geeky social work academic wanting some light reading, in how it addressed the intersection of technology and relationships, even though neither the writing nor the mystery plot were anything exceptional.

I was in More...

The last of Child’s solo efforts for me to read, "Death Match" is first-rate brain candy when it's compared to other plot driven thrillers that seem much more screenplay than novel - James Patterson's and Iris Johansen's recent factory driven voluminous output comes to mind. But by comparison to the rather high standards that have been self-imposed by his own previous work - the Pendergast canon in conjunction with his partner, Douglas Preston, and his first, “Utopia” - "Death Match" falls well More...

One thing is absolutely certain- Child & Preston both do their best work when they are writing together. That's not to say that their individual works are terrible, but it's pretty clear that they seem to complement each other & make up for the other's shortcomings. That factor is slightly apparent in this novel, even though it's one of my favorites by Lincoln Child as an individual writer.

Death Match is about a matchmaking company named Eden. Eden's not just any type of matchmaker compa More...

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Este é um thriller tecnológico imperdível, que se passa num futuro em que a tecnologia domina o mundo (ainda mais do que na atualidade). A temática principal é a tão polémica inteligência artificial. Neste caso é usada para unir casais perfeitos: os super casais. Mas, tal como é discutido atualmente, será que nos devemos tornar totalmente dependentes de uma máquina para determinar as nossas vidas, o nosso futuro?

A escrita de Lincoln Child é More...

For someone who devours Preston & Child's (basically Pendergast-exclusive) novels, I've been surprisingly picky about their solo work. I picked up Death Match on a whim from the library because I needed something breezy along the lines of Christopher Pike's Falling to go along with the end of summer while I trudge through Crime and Punishment on DailyLit.

Death Match is the story of Christopher Lash, an ex-FBI profiler who has moved into private practice following a life-shattering encounter More...

*****Spoiler Alert*****

A book that started out well written and engaging but seriously unraveled at the end. I felt like the plot had been lifted from a mediocre 80s movie that was trying to be a cautionary tale about technology. Between "the computer did it" and the conflicted genius/maker who chooses to die with his creation rather than face the consequences, Death Match winds up being a bad cliche. Throw in the fact that the heroes can only be saved because a young woman of today, who unders More...

Well... read it the seccond time around - and still think it is an OK read. Not the best book out there, not the worst. It might even be a really decent book for a nice sunny, lazy day on the beach, if you are into that kind of fiction.

Granted, there is heaps of psychological mumbojumbo, one dimensional characters that react purely to their environs without any motivation/instincts for themselves and loads of weird computer-science-we-have-to-explain-something-or-make-an-escape-possible reality More...

I listened to the audio version of this. I thought it was pretty good for the genre. I had an inkling early on as to the nature of the killer, but a good number of red herrings made me doubt my conclusion for a while.

*** SPOILER****

My one big gripe with the plot was the fact that Dr. Lash ignored the disruptions and weird things going on with his accounts; that seemed like a pretty big clue. After one or two of these things happened, it seemed extremely suspicious and he kind of blew it off - e More...

I was definitely in the mood for a thriller last week when I picked Lincoln Child's "Death Match" from my TBR pile. It didn't disappoint.

I've read almost all the books Child writes with his partner Douglas Preston, but this way my first stand-alone by Child. The premise appears simple: for every person there is a perfect match. We just have to find it.

When a perfect super couple is found slain, and when it is call a double suicide, retired forensic psychologist Christopher Lash is asked to inves More...

This was a long listen for me. The story was good, the characters were fleshed out well, I think in this case it may have been the narrator that I had trouble with. He didn't pull me in as much as I would have liked. Or as much as a lot of audiobook narrators do. Which is why I gave it three stars insted of four. If I had read this as hard copy book it would have received more stars.

This is my first Lincoln Child book that is not a collaboration with Douglas Preston. I will choose more of his bo More...

First of all I must say that I enjoy Child on his own more than his collaborations with Preston even though their books are enjoyable as well. This book is not on the grander scale that their books usually are, its more of a play with some homicide and technology thrown in the mix. The story is interesting even though its not especially original but Child writes the characters well and the tension is there through out the book. As other has mentioned its not hard to figure out who the culprit is More...

I hadn't read any work or co-written work by Child, so this was my first experience with his writing.

The story was about a reclusive computer genius Richard Silver who founds a matchmaking service, Eden, which has incredibly successful outcomes.

People matched using the service find unimaginable long-lasting happiness. There are even six people who are perfectly matched - the supercouples.

When the first super-couple commits double suicide, the company calls on Dr. Christopher Lash, former FBI age More...

A Heavenly Highlight! Lincoln Child

E-Harmony is an amateur compared to Eden Inc. At least that seems to be the case in Death Match by Lincoln Child. Only thing is, those that found the perfect mate are now committing suicide.

At least that is what their deaths look like...

Christopher Lash, a forensic psychologist, is hired to find out what's happening...I thought it was great that he failed to qualify for a match!

I figured this mystery out, but it is still a great book!

Lincoln Child also write More...

I've come to really appreciate Child's writing. His stories are not only clever but typically possess the type of Indiana Jones-esque adventure that I crave. This story was a bit different than his usual, but was very intriguing nonetheless.

The science behind this story didn't feel like a far stretch from what we already see in our modern age, including sites eHarmony, Match, and the like. The characters were likable and the plot had the right balance of pace to it that I found myself searching More...

Eden is a company that specializes in bringing couples together. The matches are nearly perfect and the money-back guarantee has never been invoked. So when one of their six "super couples" - couples who match 100% on all variables - die in what looks like a double suicide, they get worried. They enlist forensic psychologist Cristopher Lash to investigate what could possible have gone wrong.

The biggest downside to this book is that thanks to a blurb from the Washington Post, the real killer is r More...

Christopher Lash, a previous FBI Profiler, has gone into private practice, but is called back into his previous line of work by a private company, Eden, Inc. that is a top of the line matchmaking service. Lash's job is stop the apparent suicides/homicides that is happening with the company's six couples of "perfect matchmaking". Will he be able to complete it before all the couples are gone?

Though very typical (and enjoyable) of a regular Lincoln Child novel, the technical aspect and possibiliti More...

Mystery, science and the perfect relationship possibilities are all mixed in together to form a great story. This is the type of book that requires a lot of attention to keep the facts and characters straight since the story it's like a maze with lots of dead ends before you get to the right path.

The only thing I'm lukewarm about (spoiler alert.......) is the "female" computer going all psycho...I mean, really? Out of all the possibilities that have to do with money and power, it's the hormonal More...

For what it is, I suppose this is an okay book. Two couples in different parts of the country appear to have randomly committed suicide. The only link is how they became couples-through a successful, expensive and secretive dating service. A former FBI agent is hired by the dating service to investigate the deaths. Up until the last couple of chapters, I was somewhat entertained. There is nothing taxing about this read. But, I did find myself rolling my eyes at times and I was not at all surpris More...

It was a fascinating/terrifying story concept how easy lift can be altered. I cannot say tho that i liked the way the story was told. there were lots of areas that you were to figure out why it was part of the book.Different points of view are neeed but tey way it was done did not add to the overall story.
It was not an easy book to enjoy as an audio book. there were several areas where they were displaying data for the computer system that the narrator read which was extremely distracting becaus More...

I generally love all Lincoln Child's books (solo or co-written), but I just haven't gotten around to adding them to my shelves here. This one is probably very good and could have gotten 4 stars. However, I guess I gave it 3 when compared to the rest of his books.

This has a very interesting mix of different themes/subjects: pschology, match-making services, murder, technology, building security, identity theft, etc. The way the heroes manipulate the real villain is very similar to several of the More...

This book takes on the computer-match dating system, but takes it way high tech - a super-computer with AI, a tank full of avatars, and the US government all thrown in for good measure. It has the makings of an excellent who-dun-it techno-thriller, unfortunately the storytelling is a bit sloppy and lazy, making for a predictable ending and some pretty bad red-herrings. On the upside, it's easy to enjoy almost anything if you're listening on a headset while scrubbing floors and I give points for More...

This was an intriguing thriller about artificial intelligence and what can happen when one person has too much power. I was guessing for a large portion of the book. Although I did figure it out before the end, that didn't detract from how much I enjoyed the book. I liked the flashbacks that made the main investigator very human. This book was a quick interesting read. The pharmaceutical aspect seemed fairly accurate. I'm not sure if all the computer information was accurate or possible, but ver More...

I liked the book ok- I thought it was too predictable and I was annoyed that it took the characters so long to figure it out when it was SO obvious to the reader. I also found the ending too long and drawn out- it took them forever to get a resolution, which included what felt like pages and pages of computer jargon that was hard to follow and even more boring to listen to (I 'read' this as an audiobook). Overall, though, it was ok. I finished the book, which says a lot. I never feel the need to More...

I had a few problems with this book. First I knew the ending half way through. I kept hoping that there would be a twist at the end and I would be surprised. I wasn't. The second problem was there were too many details. The book just kept going on and on. My final problem was the language. It was a clean book except there was too much swearing. It was too bad because I liked the concept. Eden a couple matching company has two of their "perfect couples" commit suicide. Dr Nash comes in to find ou More...

This book was impeccably researched. My biggest problem was that although I really liked the concept, I figured out the killer the moment that character was introduced. Not sure if it's because it takes a very good story and writer to allow me to truly get lost in the pages without poking behind the curtain, but the wheels of plot felt quite loud. It literally was like, oh here's character X, who must be the killer because of Y. And then the second half of the book held no surprises. Although I More...

An enjoyable technothriller in which psychologist Christopher Lash is called on to investigate the suicides of a 'supercouple' - a couple put together by the world's most prestigious and advanced dating agency. Although slightly predictable, the story is an intriguing one as is its technology and psychology context. It doesn't dig deep though and I was left wanting more background on the hero and the couples he investigates. A pageturning beach/plane read.

Review to follow on http://forwinternigh More...

The beginning concept was fascinating. The story surrounded Eden - the perfect match making company - was well explained while still leaving you wanting to know more. It brings you in and make you wonder, would you spend the several thousand dollars for the service? Yeah, definitely.

As for the main character, I'll be honest: I don't even remember his name. And his background story? Why was that even in there? All it did was confused and it was never completed, was it? I don't even know.

The endin More...