Mr. Child certainly has found a niche - technology and writing thrillers. A little difficult to get through all the 00000000's and other techno babble - but necessary to be convincing. Great read...

Now that I've read both Preston and Child as singular authors and coauthors, I now know Preston seems to be the backbone to Preston/Child's collaborative works. With "Death Match", Child developed an intriguing premise but failed to execute the story. Despite the promising premise, the story was actually BORING. It was slow-moving, the characters were "eh", and the end was predictable. It's unfortunate Child didn't have the insight to insert more conspiracy and intrigue, for the "long-awaited" answer to the deaths ended up being disappointingly simple and obvious. Hopefully Child's "Utopia" proves to be a more interesting read.

Lincoln Child starts with an intriguing premise for what could have easily been a 5 star novel.

The book starts of strong and is very gripping -- until the technology that was supposedly used to match the couples is revealed. It starts out pushing the reader's ability to suspend disbelief and things go down hill from there.

The ending is obvious very early on and the book continues on longer after the "secret" is revealed.

I checked it out the library and I would recommend the same for any Lincoln Child fan. It's worth a read, but not a purchase.

I read a lot of genre fiction, and I can say without hesitation that Lincoln Child has real talent. Unfortunately, DEATH MATCH turns out to be a minor effort from a writer with tremendous potential.

DEATH MATCH is a very well written book. The quality and intelligence of the writing is first rate, much higher than average. I also thought the premise of the book was highly inventive: the idea of a highly sophisticated matchmaking service that can create "perfect" couples. Indeed, the first two hundred pages of this novel are genuinely great, as Child explores in depth the inner workings of how such a matchmaking organization would work. Clearly, Child has done a great deal of research into personality psychology, which I found quite fascinating.

Unfortunately, this novel goes off the rails about mid-way through. Child abandons the matchmaking premise and instead turns his attention to a supercomputer with artificial intelligence. The reader is forced to wade through a lot of technical computer jargon and a completely unrealistic chase scene through an office building. Even worse, there is an ending that is supposed to be a big surprise, but I found completely predictable and cliched. This book ends with a whimper.

I liked DEATH MATCH enough to read more work by this author. However, this book was ultimately kind of a disappointment, since I was hoping for so much better. Still, if Lincoln Child can fine-tune his plotting, he can turn into the next Michael Crichton in my opinion.

** Possible spoilers **

Child obviously has done his homework regarding computers and AI. The premise is an interesting one, the storyline is very well developed and proceeds at an exciting pace. The ending is somewhat far fatched though; the computer Liza being the culprit and all. I mean, if it is capable of tracking Lash's activites and realizing that he is a threat, how come it cannot figure out the plan by our hero and his friends in the end that results in its termination?

Also there are a few loose ends that seem to be storylines in themselves - the stalker, Lash's past life, the enigmatic employees of Eden who seem to be hiding secrets etc. Were they added just to distract and keep you guessing? If so, they were not brought to a satisfactory conclusion.

This book is certainly better than Child's other solo effort - Utopia, a monumental bore despite the lofty title. I am still waiting for the next Douglas/Child joint effort, sans Pendergast, of course. I think we have had enough of the Holmes/Mycroft alter egos.