MatchUp by Lee Child

This one was a real find for me.  It has some of my favorite authors in it with amazing combinations.  This was an excellent read.

Simon and Schuster and Net Galley allowed me to read this one for review (thank you).  It will be published June 13th.

Mr. Child asked various authors to participate in writing a short story with another author.  They could chose which of their characters to use.  Some of the women even knew who they'd like to work with.  Each story in this group is great.  Some of witty, some punny; all are full of tension and suspense.  This is one anthology where I can say I enjoyed every one of the stories.

Here is the list of stories:

-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 Lucas Davenport 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 

As you can see, there are some pretty powerful characters and authors here.  You recognize the teamwork when you see the stories.  This is almost like getting a birthday present for me.  Favorite authors with brand new short stories.  How could I not like it? 

Make Me: A Jack Reacher Novel by Lee Child

Jack Reacher goes where he wishes now.  When he drops off the train at a whistle stop, he only chose the location because it was called "Mother's Rest".  He wants to know why.

Delacorte Press and Edelweiss gave me the opportunity to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published September 8th.

Jack is surprised to see a tall Asian woman come out of the dark to check him out.  She obviously was waiting at the train for someone to arrive, but it wasn't him.  He asks her about a place to stay and she takes him to the only motel in town.  She goes to her room, he gets himself a room.  The net day he checks out the town.  Nobody knows why the stop is called Mother's Rest.  There's no grave, no history plaque, no memory of how it came to be.  But Jack's curious and keeps looking.  When he notices he's being followed and people are calling in on the phone all the time, he gets even more curious.  Once he finds out that the Asian woman is a previous FBI agent here looking for her private investigation partner, he wonders if the town had anything to do with it.

They get threatened, they get evicted, they come close to being beat up, but they don't stop investigating.  As a matter of fact, they find they like each other and are soon sleeping together.

The hidden crime in that town is despicable and ugly.  They'll do anything to hide it.  But no matter what they do, Jack and his lady friend are right on them.

Mr. Child always writes exciting books, this one is no different.  I expected Jack to win but you have to read the whole story to find out and the ending is dramatic.  It keeps you reading!

Inherit the Dead by Lee Child, C. J. Box, Charlaine Harris, John Connolly, Mary Higgins Clark

Searching for a missing person is not high on Perry's list of things he wants to do.  However, since he's been thrown off the police force and has no other jobs, it's better than nothing.  And Mom appears to have big bucks, so he should have no trouble getting paid.

Touchstone and Edelweiss allowed me to download this ebook for review (thank you).  It was published the first part of this month, so you can find a copy at your local bookstore now.

This type of novel always fascinates me.  Each author does a chapter and the story evolves as it goes along.  This type of cooperative story telling seems like it would have bumps and chunks that don't quite fit together.  It never turns out that way.  Each chapter fits together nicely and the story turns out to be more interesting because of the different author tastes it is enhanced with.

Angel is a beautiful sexy young woman who is used to getting her way.  Everyone is mesmerized by her, even Perry.  He knows better, but she's a package any man would like to open.  The problem is she's no real angel...

This story had an usual twist at the end and I liked that.  It made the story make sense in an odd way and it showed Angel's true nature.

Why not take a step from stone to stone (one chapter to another) and see how well these various authors tell their tales?  If you love mysteries and family drama, you'll find it here.

Happy reading.