mystery

UTOPIA, Lincoln Child's only novel that he authored alone concerned an imaginary theme park- the ultimate in technology. In effect, it is a warning of what can happen when technology goes unchecked. It is a wildly suspenseful book and also provides some key insights into the thought, creation and running of a theme park. Now, with his second solo authored novel, he explores another imaginary technology and what can happen if human intervention goes too far.
Christopher Lash is a former FBI forensic psychologist with a busy private practice in New York. He is hired as a special consultant by Eden, a company that specializes in dating services. However, not just any dating service. For a $25,000 fee, the client is put through a barrage of physical, psychological and emotional testing. The data is put into a super computer and a match would be made from the thousands of other applicants. Their success rate is near perfect as most couples match upwards of 98%. However, Lash is asked to look into the double suicide of a perfect 100% match. There does not appear to be precursors that would indicate why the couple decided to commit suicide. Things heat up considerably when the second perfect match turns up dead from another double suicide. Lash must get to the bottom of this before more couples turn up dead.
DEATH MATCH is another fun and exciting read. The positives of this novel include the pacing which is relentless and the plot which is imaginative. Characters, though not filled with great depth, are quite serviceable for this type of an entertainment. The major negative is the needless depth and endless description of the technology. Page after page of psychological testing parameters are covered as is the computer technology used to run the company. This information could and should have been greatly edited. However, by skimming these sections, the reader will move quickly through to the exciting climax and somewhat predictable conclusion. Fun for a day at the beach.

Lincoln Child needs to be very ashamed of himself for this one.

It begins so promising. A psychologist is brought in to research a double suicide. The couple was seemingly perfect: wealthy, intelligent, incredibly happy together, and with a newborn baby. Why had this couple self-destructed?

The company bringing him in is Eden, Inc, a matchmaking service. Founded by reclusive Richard Silver, the company is famous for matching couples that are nearly perfect for each other, with wild success. This couple was a so-called "supercouple," one that was indeed a perfect match.

It begins strong and fluid, and is quite enjoyable. It feels different, as the company isn't dark, sinister and shadowy. They have some aspects of your standard dark, sinister and shadowy companies, but none of the characteristics. In fact it's refreshingly honest and benevolent.

So what changes? Well, the company is based on an incredible computer. This computer, named Liza, is a learning machine capable of passing the Turing Test. That is, the AI can pass for human. It learns, evolves, and adapts. It even teaches itself.

Gee, have you heard this one before?

*Spoilers*
Ok, so you have a smart machine. You read this and your first thought was "did it have something to do with the suicides? Was it acting on its own without people realizing?" Then you think, "No, can't be. This book is refreshingly different. Lincoln Child has done this before, he won't be that lazy. Utopia wasn't a lazy book, aside from Wingnut. The books with Preston aren't lazy books. No way will he be lazy."

Sorry, folks, he's lazy, uninspired, and retells a story you've read a few thousand times before.

/end spoilers.

I give the book three stars because it begins so well. Somewhere between pages 200 and 260 you'll have the entire ending figured out, though. Every tiny twist, every little detail - you'll know it all. With an extra 100 pages left (the book is a bit thin), well, I'm sorry to say you won't care. You already know the ending, so you won't want to read it all that carefully.

Even worse, many of the final pages get bogged down with technical aspects you don't care much about, either. I've done extensive programming in Assembly and even found myself skimming over his discussions on machine language and registers. I feel bad for the non-technically inclined, they'll be utterly lost just as the conclusion is playing out.

Not that it matters, I'm sure they figured the ending out long before and are just reading to get it over with, hoping they are somehow surprised.

A worthy first 200 pages, a sad final 250 pages. Two and a half star book, at best. I rounded up out of respect for the author, I suppose, but even then I feel this should only be getting one star for being so stale, predictable, and ten or fifteen years too late.

As another reviewer pointed out, this book started out fast and then sort of faded out. For the first half of the book, I couldn't wait to keep reading to find out what would happen next. But during the second half, it began to drag, and I just wanted to finish it so I could move on to another book. I have to admit that I was surprised to discover who was responsible for the murders, though. I thought it was a little far-fetched, but I must admit that I didn't see it coming.
All in all, this book isn't bad. This is what I would consider a "beach read" or summer book. Nothing too thought-provoking or deep, just an entertaining (for the most part) book. Not that there's anything wrong with that! Enjoy!