MatchUp

By: Lee Child - editor, Val McDermid, Charlaine Harris, John Sandford, Kathy Reichs

Narrated by: Laura Benanti, Dennis Boutsikaris, Gerard Doyle, Linda Emond, January LaVoy, Robert Petkoff, Lee Child

Length: 15 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's Summary

In this incredible follow-up to the New York Times and USA TODAY bestseller FaceOff, twenty-two of the world’s most popular thriller writers come together for an unforgettable anthology.

MatchUp takes the never-before-seen bestseller pairings of FaceOff and adds a delicious new twist: gender. Eleven of the world’s best female thriller writers from Diana Gabaldon to Charlaine Harris are paired with eleven of the world’s best male thriller writers, including John Sandford, C.J. Box, and Nelson DeMille. The stories are edited by #1 New York Times bestselling author Lee Child and feature:

-Lee Coburn and Joe Pickett in “Honor & …” by Sandra Brown and C.J. Box
-Tony Hill and Roy Grace in “Footloose” by Val McDermid and Peter James
-Temperance Brennan and Jack Reacher in “Faking a Murderer” by Kathy Reichs and Lee Child
-Jamie Fraser and Cotton Malone in “Past Prologue” by Diana Gabaldon and Steve Berry
-Liz Sansborough and Rambo in “Rambo on Their Minds” by Gayle Lynds and David Morrell
-Jeffrey Tolliver and Joe Pritchard in “Short Story” by Karin Slaughter and Michael Koryta
-Harper Connelly and Ty Hauck in “Dig Here” by Charlaine Harris and Andrew Gross
-Regan Pescoli and Virgil Flowers in “Deserves to be Dead” by Lisa Jackson and John Sandford
-Lucan Thorne and Lilliane in “Midnight Flame” by Lara Adrian and Christopher Rice
-Bennie Rosato and John Corey in “Getaway” by Lisa Scottoline and Nelson DeMille
-Ali Reynolds and Bravo Shaw in “Taking the Veil” by J.A. Jance and Eric Van Lustbader

©2017 Lee Child (P)2017 Simon & Schuster Audio

Critic Reviews

"Each of the 11 short stories is cowritten by two popular writers and features protagonists from their previous works teaming up. Add a host of talented narrators into the mix, and the result is an eclectic, wholly unique audio experience for thriller enthusiasts and those new to the genre....this collection is so varied and consistently excellent that it's difficult to single out any one story." (AudioFile)

They're all good stories!

I originally purchased this book simply because I am such a huge fan of Diana Gabaldon, one of the contributors. Turns out *all* the stories are excellent! Well worth the read.

Excellent!!!

Stories were very entertaining. Narrations fabulous. The character combination worked well. Great authors!
Highly recommend.

Bought for Gabaldon but found much more to read

All but one story were great, very enjoyable read, a great mix of short stories.

All but Two were worth the read

Matchup review

Sandra Brown and C. J. Box are two top western writers paired together. In Honor & … Lee Coburn and Joe Pickett joined forces to defeat a white supremacist group.  Not a bad story. Interesting plot and characters

Kathy Reichs and Lee Child wrote Faking a Murder.. actually a better plot than many of Child’s Reacher books. I enjoyed this one. Although, a lady narrator for Jack Reacher... Hummm. But it’s a good story that moves at a quick pace and keeps you coming back.

Gayle Lynds and David Morrell write stand-alones whose realistic characters ... ok. This opening comment is from a book review and couldn’t be more off the mark! This is one of the stupidest, most non-believable, mind-numbing and intelligence insulting plots / story lines I’ve read in a long time. What’s hilarious is they keep referring to Rambo. It’s kind a like if you made that Yugo and you idolize the AMC Pacer. Don’t read this I don’t know I’m your brain

Karin Slaughter and Michael Koryta paired together to write Short Story... is tempted to check the local newspapers to see if this really happened. It just seems like something that might in rural northern Georgia. The characters are great, interesting and so it the storyline. Enjoy

Charlaine Harris and Andrew Gross. Being different as day and night, Harper locates dead bodies, while Ty is a gritty detective. Together they have to find A missing student. Now this piece of sci-fi I enjoyed it. I pulled it off they made it interesting unique and a little believable

Lisa Scottoline and Nelson DeMille, two legendary thriller authors, combined action, mystery, and humor in the Getaway. Spearheaded by the loss of a dog, Max, John Corey and Bennie Rosato end up meeting in the wilderness... The story feels like a Nelson DeMille novel. I’m not familiar with Lisa Scottline before this but I’m going to have to read some of her books her character then he added an interesting flavor to this story

J. A. Jance and Eric Van Lustbader combined in Taking The Veil. This was a true collaboration since the characters, Ali Reynolds and Bravo Shaw, were placed in Jance’s setting in Arizona... there’s a little over dramatization but it’s not bad

There was one other story and hear about vampires but after a couple of minutes I thought it was listening to something written for teenage girls. I skipped that one.

All in all good read I enjoyed the book and recommend reading it

love it.

A buffet of storylines for everyone enjoy. Great for the commute or long trips

MatchUp

This ANTHOLOGY was a truly unique and enjoyable read from some of my favorite authors. To all - very well done! I enjoyed the collaboration of each pair of you!

Satisfying and so much more

To put some of my favorite characters together in not only clever but very smart enticing stories, was brilliant and soo satisfying.

Matchup review

I really didn't like most of the stories ...they seemed to end abruptly. But thus book might be someone else's cup of tea.

Fun

I enjoyed the introduction to each story describing how the authors came up with their ideas and their writing processes. Engaging.

what a great group of stories

Where does MatchUp rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Top 10% for sure. Especially since I am not a big short story fan.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

This collection has terrific plot and does keep you guessing.

Have you listened to any of the narrators’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

These narrators are always at the top of there craft. This sample meets expectations.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The stories which include

Any additional comments?

This is a great combination of some of contemporary literature's favorite characters. Careful, these characters will lead to craving much, much more.

A wonderful series of short stories

This series of short stories, introduced by Lee Child, is a wonderful start to enjoying more from your favourite authors and the chance to find some new ones.
I have added a number to my wish list and thoroughly enjoyed this romp through various types of thrillers encompassing all types within this genre.
Leap in and find some new favourites along with your current ones!

great

such a great collection of stories by such a talented bunch. I now have some more authors to search and listen to 😊