MatchUp: The Battle of the Sexes Just Got Thrilling
by Lee Child (Editor) 
International Thriller Writers: Thriller (6), Ty Hauck (Collections and Selections — 3.5, Dig Here), Davenport Universe (Short Stories — Includes 43.5 Deserves to be Dead)
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This "highly recommended" (Publishers Weekly, starred review) collection edited by New York Times bestselling author Lee Child pairs the beloved characters of twenty-two internationally bestselling writers in "a must-read for fans of the thriller genre" (The Real Book Spy).The incredible follow-up to FaceOff features twenty-two of the world's bestselling and critically acclaimed thriller writers pairing their series characters in an eleven-story anthology curated by the International show more Thriller Writers (ITW). MatchUp takes the never-before-seen bestseller pairings of FaceOff and adds a delicious new twist: gender. "Think Dancing With the Stars, but with mysteries" (Booklist) as eleven of the world's best female thriller writers from Diana Gabaldon to Kathy Reichs to Charlaine Harris are paired with eleven of the world's best male thriller writers, including John Sandford, C.J. Box, and Nelson DeMille, among others. "This box holds a chocolate or two that will be to everyone's liking" (Kirkus Reviews).
In these innovative stories, their beloved protagonists, Lee Coburn, Joe Pickett, and Jack Reacher—just to name a few—team up to unnerve and satisfy thriller fans worldwide. All of the contributors are ITW members, and the project is edited by ITW member and #1 New York Times bestselling author Lee Child. The lineup includes:
Sandra Brown's Lee Coburn vs. C. J. Box's Joe Pickett
Val McDermid's Tony Hill vs. Peter James's Roy Grace
Kathy Reichs's Temperance Brennan vs. Lee Child's Jack Reacher
Diana Gabaldon's Jamie Fraser vs. Steve Berry's Cotton Malone
Gayle Lynds's Liz Sansborough vs. David Morrell's Rambo
Karin Slaughter's Jeffrey Tolliver vs. Michael Koryta's Joe Pritchard
Charlaine Harris's Harper Connelly vs. Andrew Gross's Ty Hauck
Lisa Jackson's Regan Pescoli vs. John Sandford's Virgil Flower
Lara Adrian's Lucan Thorne vs. Christopher Rice's Lilliane
Lisa Scottoline's Bennie Rosato vs. Nelson DeMille's John Corey
J.A. Jance's Ali Reynolds vs. Eric Van Lustbader's Bravo Shaw. show less
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Member Reviews
I love these collections. Some days it’s so hard to find time to block out the rest of the world & disappear into a great book. With these shorties, you can spend 20 minutes in your favourite hiding spot & enjoy a complete story from some of the best known thriller writers.
Each is a collaboration between 2 authors & there are some interesting pairs here. There are 11 tales in all, representing a diverse range of sub genres…..contemporary, historical, paranormal, romance & pure crime. Everyone will have their personal favs so I won’t review them all. Instead, here are some random thoughts & my top 3 picks.
If you read thrillers at all you’re going to recognize these iconic characters who have become just as famous as their show more creators. Dr.Temperance Brennan, Cotton Malone, Reacher, Carol Jordan & Roy Grace are just a few. But I bet you didn’t expect to run across John Rambo (yes, THAT Rambo…). Even that F**kin’ Flowers puts down his fishing rod long enough to get in on the action. And for every reader who swoons when Jamie Fraser walks by, kilt a-swinging….well, nuff said.
My picks were “Faking a Murderer” starring Dr. Temperance Brennan & Jack Reacher; “Deserves to be Dead” featuring Virgil Flowers & Regan Pescoli; and “Short Story” with Joe Pritchard & a young Jeffrey Tolliver.
As with all collections, some of the collaborations are more successful than others but the list of winners will vary from reader to reader. As much as I enjoy catching up with “old friends”, this is also a great way to try on a new-to-you author & maybe find another series to add to your groaning TBR pile. show less
Each is a collaboration between 2 authors & there are some interesting pairs here. There are 11 tales in all, representing a diverse range of sub genres…..contemporary, historical, paranormal, romance & pure crime. Everyone will have their personal favs so I won’t review them all. Instead, here are some random thoughts & my top 3 picks.
If you read thrillers at all you’re going to recognize these iconic characters who have become just as famous as their show more creators. Dr.Temperance Brennan, Cotton Malone, Reacher, Carol Jordan & Roy Grace are just a few. But I bet you didn’t expect to run across John Rambo (yes, THAT Rambo…). Even that F**kin’ Flowers puts down his fishing rod long enough to get in on the action. And for every reader who swoons when Jamie Fraser walks by, kilt a-swinging….well, nuff said.
My picks were “Faking a Murderer” starring Dr. Temperance Brennan & Jack Reacher; “Deserves to be Dead” featuring Virgil Flowers & Regan Pescoli; and “Short Story” with Joe Pritchard & a young Jeffrey Tolliver.
As with all collections, some of the collaborations are more successful than others but the list of winners will vary from reader to reader. As much as I enjoy catching up with “old friends”, this is also a great way to try on a new-to-you author & maybe find another series to add to your groaning TBR pile. show less
MATCHUP, edited by Lee Child, is what happens when you ask 11 of this countries' best thriller writers to pen short stories for a collection. Just a little bit of, "I've seen that done to death", but to make it a bit more interesting, these 11 are paired up with members of the opposite sex who are also aces in the thriller writing department. The icing is they both bring their lead characters into the stories. The results are wonderful, short yet complex tales. And where else is there a chance for these long standing characters to meet each other.
This happens 11 times over and just as I read what I thought would be my favorite in the collection, another one comes along to put me back on the edge of my seat.
Fun and fulfilling, writers as show more diverse as J. A. Jance, John Sandford, Gayle Lynds and Peter James, as well as 18 other members of the International Thriller Writers, give us their best characters in great settings that play to the strengths of all concerned.
So just how does Cotton Malone figure into one of Diana Gabaldon's stories? And why would Jack Reacher find Temperance in his life? And Joe Pickett, who is becoming a favorite of mine, shows up with a runaway horse and a gun pointed at him. By Lee Coburn no less.
The downside of this collection is that you meet authors, and characters, you probably haven't read before. So there goes your reading lists and lots of time you might have been using to cut the grass or train the puppy to sit and stay.
Okay, it is a downside with nothing but silver linings. show less
This happens 11 times over and just as I read what I thought would be my favorite in the collection, another one comes along to put me back on the edge of my seat.
Fun and fulfilling, writers as show more diverse as J. A. Jance, John Sandford, Gayle Lynds and Peter James, as well as 18 other members of the International Thriller Writers, give us their best characters in great settings that play to the strengths of all concerned.
So just how does Cotton Malone figure into one of Diana Gabaldon's stories? And why would Jack Reacher find Temperance in his life? And Joe Pickett, who is becoming a favorite of mine, shows up with a runaway horse and a gun pointed at him. By Lee Coburn no less.
The downside of this collection is that you meet authors, and characters, you probably haven't read before. So there goes your reading lists and lots of time you might have been using to cut the grass or train the puppy to sit and stay.
Okay, it is a downside with nothing but silver linings. show less
Fabulous compilation of great suspense authors working together to produce a volume of action-packed short stories and intrigue. Definitely both fast and fun, especially since the authors used their most famous characters in the short story setting. Some characters whom I might like to explore in the future are Jamie Fraser, Cotton Malone and Harper Connelly, possibly also Lucan Thorne and Lilliane Williams.
Eh... not bad. A cute little collection of short stories including some of my favorite authors and some I had never read before. The concept was interesting, pairing a male and a female author and intertwining their iconic characters. The only issue that I encountered was the problem of the “short” story. Everything wrapped up too quickly and easily to fit into the short story scheme. Most of the stories left me wanting more, and wondering where they could have gone with a full novel. They all showed potential, but I feel they fell “short”.
A fine collection of good, with many excellent, short stories. A challenging premise: to pair proven authors, into female/male teams, to write a story that features their characters and maintain their usual modes of operation. Great introduction to some writers, previously not noted, that I will add to my wish list.
I'm leaving the cover of Matchup a little larger this time so you can see the wealth of authors who contributed to this compilation. But if you look again, you'll see that they are paired - pairings that you wouldn't expect to see. For in Matchup, two well known authors have take their signature characters and co-written a short story featuring the two. Lee Child is the editor and he provides a small commentary before each story, giving some background on the authors as well as the collaboration.
I have read many of these authors and it was nice to see familiar characters again, but a few were new to me. Matchup was a great way to get idea of who these characters were. Some of the pairings had me wondering how in the world two quite show more different leads would work together. Diana Gabaldon and Steve Berry? Sandra Brown and C.J. Box? Well, the answer is - really well. The stories are clever, fun to read and satisfying. I enjoy short story collections as you can pick them up and down, easily (and satisfyingly) finishing a story at a short sitting.
I chose to listen to Matchup and I'm so glad I did. There are a number of narrators as well. I had listened to some of them before, but a few were new to me. This was also a great opportunity to discover some new audio book readers.
It's really hard to pull out favourite stories, as I did truly enjoy them all. But if pressed I would say Lee Child and Kathy Reichs were a favourite. Tempe bossing Reacher around was great fun. And I also really liked Karin Slaughter and Michael Koryta. Koryta was new to me, but I am going to pick up one of his Joe Pritchard books after this introduction. Slaughter gives us a look at a young Jeffery Tolliver that was fun. I am a huge fan of both Peter James and Val McDermid. Having both Tony Hill and Roy Grace on the same case was wonderful.
I really enjoyed Matchup and hope we can see another collection such as this show less
I have read many of these authors and it was nice to see familiar characters again, but a few were new to me. Matchup was a great way to get idea of who these characters were. Some of the pairings had me wondering how in the world two quite show more different leads would work together. Diana Gabaldon and Steve Berry? Sandra Brown and C.J. Box? Well, the answer is - really well. The stories are clever, fun to read and satisfying. I enjoy short story collections as you can pick them up and down, easily (and satisfyingly) finishing a story at a short sitting.
I chose to listen to Matchup and I'm so glad I did. There are a number of narrators as well. I had listened to some of them before, but a few were new to me. This was also a great opportunity to discover some new audio book readers.
It's really hard to pull out favourite stories, as I did truly enjoy them all. But if pressed I would say Lee Child and Kathy Reichs were a favourite. Tempe bossing Reacher around was great fun. And I also really liked Karin Slaughter and Michael Koryta. Koryta was new to me, but I am going to pick up one of his Joe Pritchard books after this introduction. Slaughter gives us a look at a young Jeffery Tolliver that was fun. I am a huge fan of both Peter James and Val McDermid. Having both Tony Hill and Roy Grace on the same case was wonderful.
I really enjoyed Matchup and hope we can see another collection such as this show less
MatchUp (edited by Lee Childs) is a collection of 11 short stories written by boy/girl pairs of prolific and well-known thriller/mystery writers. It would be fair to say that none of these stories are going to win any short-story awards. BUT, it was entertaining to see writing pairs like Sandra Brown & C.J. Box and Peter James & Val McDermid have a lot of fun with their characters and to know they were writing situations in which they normally would not have involved their characters. A couple of the standout stories for me were those written by Kathy Reichs & Lee Child and Charlaine Harris & Andrew Gross, the first because it did actually have a twist I was not expecting and the second because of the pairing of a woman with show more supernatural abilities with a (charming) skeptic.
I definitely enjoyed the most those stories that involved characters I was already familiar, and I did add a few books to my to-read list from authors that I’d never heard of and/or would like to read more from. But, mostly this was a so-so read with no real surprises and not very stellar short stories. I tend to recommend collections like this to customers who have finished a series they really love and who are looking for another series to start. This would be a great collection for that purpose. I would completely pass this up if I was someone unfamiliar with the writers involved - it definitely would not be worth picking up if that was the case.
(A review copy of this book was provided by the publisher.) show less
I definitely enjoyed the most those stories that involved characters I was already familiar, and I did add a few books to my to-read list from authors that I’d never heard of and/or would like to read more from. But, mostly this was a so-so read with no real surprises and not very stellar short stories. I tend to recommend collections like this to customers who have finished a series they really love and who are looking for another series to start. This would be a great collection for that purpose. I would completely pass this up if I was someone unfamiliar with the writers involved - it definitely would not be worth picking up if that was the case.
(A review copy of this book was provided by the publisher.) show less
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Author Information
Lee Child is the pen name of Jim Grant, who was born in Coventry, England on October 29, 1954. He attended law school at Sheffield University, worked in the theater, and finally worked as a presentation director for Granada Television. After being laid off in 1995 because of corporate restructuring, he decided to write a book. The Killing Floor show more won the Anthony Award for Best First Novel and became the first book in the Jack Reacher series. In 2012, the first Jack Reacher film was released starring Tom Cruise. His book's, Worth Dying For and Past Tense, made the bestseller list in 2018. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Lee Child is a LibraryThing Author, an author who lists their personal library on LibraryThing.
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Series
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- MatchUp: The Battle of the Sexes Just Got Thrilling
- Original title
- MatchUp
- Original publication date
- 2017-06-13
- People/Characters
- Jack Reacher; Temperance Brennan; Lee Coburn; Joe Pickett
- Important places
- Jackson Hole, Wyoming, USA; Portland, Oregon, USA; Sedona, Arizona, USA; Tennessee, USA
- First words
- When Joe Pickett set out that morning, he hadn't anticipated coming face-to-face with a killing machine.
- Original language
- English
- Disambiguation notice
- These stories, edited by #1 New York Times bestselling author Lee Child, 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 P... (show all)eter 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
Classifications
- Genres
- Fiction and Literature, Mystery
- DDC/MDS
- 813.087208 — Literature & rhetoric American literature in English American fiction in English By type Genre fiction Adventure fiction Mystery fiction Collections
- LCC
- PS648 .S88 .M38 — Language and Literature American literature American literature Collections of American literature Prose (General)
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 394
- Popularity
- 79,553
- Reviews
- 24
- Rating
- (3.84)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 15
- ASINs
- 4
