Death Match

I’m conflicted on this one. It was...ok...it was well written, with good characters and the like...but...I figured it out maybe halfway through the book. If these are supposed to be the smartest people in the room, how did they miss the blatantly obvious...it had potential, just didn’t meet it.

Christopher Lash is a psychologist specializing in marital relationships. He previous worked for the FBI, giving him insight into criminal behavior. This is the reason officials at Eden Inc. have contacted him, to investigate the mysterious double-suicide of two of their clients. Eden is a matchmaker, but unlike any before it. Eden uses a highly advanced Artificial Intelligence to match individuals on every little detail (more than a million criteria). Lewis and Lindsay Thorpe were two such individuals, and were also the company's first "super couple:" two people who are a 100% match. But now they are dead...and Lash must find out why. Because another super couple has killed themselves...and there are four more such couples to go. But show more finding out why two perfect couples would want to kill themselves is only half of Lash's problem, because somebody is messing with his life, in ways that could only be done through the technology available at Eden."Death Match" is a top-notch thriller from Lincoln Child, who has brought us (especially in collaboration with Douglas Preston) so many enjoyable, well-planned thrillers. This novel is no exception; though it is a bit predictable, it is still enthralling. The technological details are broken down into layman's terms, but with serious research behind them. Lash is an appealing, conflicted character, as are those he encounters. show less

This reminds me of Child's Utopia. The computer-y stuff in this book is a match to the engineering stuff in Utopia. There's a lone male troubleshooter (like in most of his stand alone titles). There's a reclusive genius (like in Utopia). I even knew the who and why well before the halfway point in the book. I also knew how most of the ending would go. None of this detracts from the pace and excitement of the book. Ok, yes, this isn't exactly a brain-bending mystery; but that's sort of why I read Child. His plots are usually obvious like a really good "bad B movie."

A well-known and successful matchmaking company becomes concerned with some of their most closely matched couples begin committing double suicide. Dr. Lash, a former FBI psychologist is called in to help profile the possible murder before he strikes again.

I think it's safe to say that when you are reading ANY mystery novel and a sentient, talking computer is introduced, they pretty much killed everyone. With that eternal truth in mind, I hardly think it's a spoiler to tell you this: "Liza, the sentient, talking computer, from Lincoln Child's novel Death Match killed everyone." From the moment she is introduced, the book is ruined. Or rather, that's what the first time reader will assume. Actually, even though the killer has been show more revealed, it really does get much MUCH worse. All of it leads up to a shockingly tedious climax wherein the main characters must hack the evil computer to erase her memory.

I'm hardly a computer whiz, but my husband is a programmer and enough has rubbed off that it was clear to me throughout this novel that Lincoln Child may never have actually used a computer in his life. His description of the internet and its capabilities stops just short of declaring the whole thing "magic".

Coupled with predictable plot twists and flat characters this "thriller" will gain its must resounding kudos when it finally ends. show less

This is not the kind of book I would normally pick up and read. The story surrounds the mysterious double suicide of a couple who were perfectly matched through a succesful computerised dating agency (which has a success rate that is even higher than Cupid's arrows). Now I like computers, but mix computers and dating and the image that this conjures up for me is such a sad stereotype that I shall not dare write it out! I also don't go for crime thrillers much.

But Lincoln Child also wrote Utopia, which I also very much enjoyed - so I gave this one a go, and was surprised to find this story was every bit as readable. Here is a good plot driven thriller with perfect amounts of mystery, suspense, prejudicial emotions and action to make it show more the kind of book you just want to pick up again each time you set it down.

The nature of the narrative would suit it for adaption to film, I expect. It is not a deep and philosophical novel. It is just a very good story, well written and well executed. This is the kind of book Dan Brown would have aspired to write, had he had a better talent for detail (but what does Dan Brown care? people buy his books anyway!)

So if you want a good and exciting plot driven thriller without annoying inconsistencies or silly pretentions, then this one will do just fine. show less

Spannende techno-thriller, met voorspelbaar einde; maar toch goed geschreven en entertaining.

Fuuuuuuck. Really? It was the computer the whole time, and I guessed it? This never happens.

At least the computer stuff was realistic, even though the narrator read "AND" as "A-N-D" as if it were an acronym and not a logical operator.