Edited by number-one New York Times best-selling author David Baldacci and including stories by Michael Connelly, Lee Child, Jeffery Deaver, and more, this one-of-a-kind anthology pulls together the most-beloved characters from the best and most popular thriller series today. Worlds collide!

In an unprecedented collaboration, 23 of the world’s best-selling and most critically acclaimed thriller writers have paired their series characters - such as Harry Bosch, Jack Reacher, and Lincoln Rhyme - in an 11-story anthology curated by the International Thriller Writers (ITW). All of the contributors to FaceOff are ITW members and the stories feature these dynamic duos:

Harry Bosch vs. Patrick Kenzie in "Red Eye", by Dennis Lehane and Michael Connelly
John Rebus vs. Roy Grace in "In the Nick of Time", by Ian Rankin and Peter James
Slappy the Ventriloquist Dummy vs. Aloysius Pendergast in "Gaslighted", by R.L. Stine, Douglas Preston, and Lincoln Child
And many more...

Listening Length

10 hours and 49 minutes
Author

David Baldacci - editor
Narrator

Dylan Baker, see all
Audible release date

June 3, 2014
Language

English
Publisher

Simon & Schuster Audio
ASIN

B00JVY1HJE
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length	10 hours and 49 minutes
Author	David Baldacci - editor
Narrator	Dylan Baker, Jeremy Bobb, Dennis Boutsikaris, Daniel Gerroll, January LaVoy, David Baldacci
Whispersync for Voice	Ready
Audible.com Release Date	June 03, 2014
Publisher	Simon & Schuster Audio
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B00JVY1HJE
Best Sellers Rank	#64,088 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) #14 in Thriller & Suspense Anthologies & Short Stories #331 in Literature Anthologies #2,959 in Literary Fiction (Audible Books & Originals)

Customer reviews

5 star		49%
4 star		26%
3 star		14%
2 star		7%
1 star		5%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Favorite Characters Meet in Different Settings

Reviewed in the United States on May 1, 2015

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This is a collection of short stories by some of the best known mystery/thriller writers. The twist that makes it unusual is that they collaborated to write them, presenting us with unusual predicaments and outcomes. The characters you may be familiar with are paired with those of other authors. (If you're familiar with children's picture books--with movable, divided pages-- that allow you to change the picture, you can better grasp the idea of a different pairing, but in printed text.)

I enjoyed this unique opportunity, but not as much as reading full-length stories by my favorite authors. I think my ingrained expectations of settings and characters diminished my pleasure. But, if you're open to a collaborative, short story concept, you may enjoy this book very much.

20 people found this helpful

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RDT

and was pretty excited to read stories that combine some of my ...

Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2017

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I am a regular reader of about half of these authors, and was pretty excited to read stories that combine some of my favorite characters. Unfortunately, this may be one of those things that sounds great in theory only. I really liked the story featuring Lucas Davenport and Lincoln Rhyme. They were a natural fit for one another, and Sandford and Deaver did a nice job fleshing out the plot.

However, most of these stories felt a little bit forced. I think a lot of that can be attributed to it being difficult for the authors to fashion a cohesive story featuring two major characters in only 30ish pages, but a couple of these were just out and out disappointments to me. Particularly the final story that combined a couple of my favorites in Jack Reacher and Nick Heller.

I didn't dislike this book by any means. That being said, half of these authors/characters were new to me, and there was nothing in this introduction that makes me want to explore them further.

10 people found this helpful

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Barb Lillian

Great Anthology!

Reviewed in the United States on August 7, 2017

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The concept, as written by editor David Baldacci, was to "Take iconic writers with iconic characters and face them off against each other." The authors, in order to avoid contractual conflicts with publishers, agreed to participate for free and donate any profits to International Thriller Writers. For each entry Mr. Baldacci paired up two authors who worked together to create a story including two or more of their well-known characters.

In general, these were excellent thrillers by excellent writers. The editing was well done. Within the constraints of short stories, the pacing and character development were good, and the plots and endings were interesting and pretty satisfactory. Many times I found myself grinning as I enjoyed the clever story lines and interactions between the characters.

I bought it for my Kindle, and I am looking forward to reading it multiple times.

5 people found this helpful

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Fred Camfield

A unique collection of shorter stories.

Reviewed in the United States on June 20, 2014

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The concept brought together characters that you don't normally, if ever, see together in the same story. Like most collections, some stories will interest you more than others, and it probably depends on which authors are your favorites. I rarely rate a collection at five stars, but some individual stories might be five plus. They are all stand alone stories, and they can be read in any order. I started with the last one, written by two of my favorite authors. So, to the stories, taken in the order they appear in the collection -

"Red Eye," by Michael Connelly and Dennis Lehane, sends Harry Bosch to Boston to investigate a lead in a cold case. He teams up with Patrick Kenzie who is working as a PI trying to find someone's recently missing daughter. They have a good lead, and neither is concerned about a little illegal entry.

"In the Nick of Time," by Ian Rankin and Peter James, sends John Rebus down to Brighton where he teams up with Roy Grace to investigate a crime from years earlier. A man was stabbed in a gang fight. Events turn out a lot different than expected for everyone concerned.

"Gaslighted," by R. L. Stine, Douglas Preston, and Lincoln Child steps back in time, and is an eerie story about a man who does not know whether he is dealing with reality or a dream.

"The Laughing Buddha," by M. J. Rose and Lisa Gardner starts with a murder in the past and deals with things magical. It concerns the question of people having past lives, and their efforts to remember previous lives. Starting in the past when a man is murdered for the secrets he may have found, it fast forwards to the future when another man is murdered because he may have possession. Events don't turn out as people expected.

"Surfing the Panther," by Steve Martini and Linda Fairstein concerns missing antiquities and forgery of the same. Some collectors are willing to buy stolen artwork for their own very private collections. But how do they know if they are buying the real thing, if the real thing is never recovered. A skillful forger could easily sell multiple copies, and who would dare talk. But a sale to the wrong person could have deadly results.

"Rhymes with Prey," by Jeffrey Deaver and John Sandford brings us a case where Lucas Davenport travels to New York City to meet with Lincoln Rhyme in a case involving a serial killer. This is another case where the killer has a secret chamber. There are other things going on, and events do not turn out quite as expected.

"Infernal Night," by Heather Graham and F. Paul Wilson sends Repairman Jack to New Orleans to assist in recovering an artifact. But Michael Quinn is also involved. There are strange things about that artifact. Be careful what you wish for.

"Pit Stop," by Raymond Khoury and Linwood Barclay finds Glen Garber and his daughter taking a travel break at a highway service area when he becomes distracted and then sees his vehicle (with daughter still inside) heading out onto the highway. The chase is on as he joins Sean Reilly who had been trailing the man who stole Barber's vehicle. There are some unexpected consequences.

"Silent Hunt" by John Lescroart and T. Jefferson Parker finds Wyatt Hunt heading to La Paz for some saltwater fly fishing when he meets up with Joe Trona, also going fishing. Nothing is ever simple. Some bad guys show up looking for some reported gold. Ah, but Hunt and Trona come up with a plan to deal with the situation. There is more than one way to skin a cat, or to deal with criminals.

"The Devil's Bones," by Steve Berry and James Rollins finds Commander Gray Pierce on a riverboat on the Amazon River trying to obtain a vial of a potent nerve poison in the possession of a scientist more interested in money than in patriotism or public good. Cotton Malone happens to be on the same riverboat on the same mission. They team up when things go very wrong, and the end result is not quite what they might have expected.

"Good and Valuable Consideration," by Lee Child and Joseph Finder places Jack Reacher and Nick Heller in the same bar in Boston for the same reason - to watch a baseball game. But baseball games tend to move slowly, and they take note of other people in the bar, and team up to take advantage of an unexpected opportunity. Reacher discovered something long ago - if bad guys lose something of value, whom are they going to report it to? Good and Valuable Consideration: Jack Reacher vs. Nick Heller

The editor provides short introductions to the stories and biographies of the authors.

11 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

A bread knife?

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 9, 2019

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When this came up in my recommendations I thought I was in for a treat. Crime stories in which established authors teamed up their detectives? Brilliant idea for an anthology. I settled down with a cup of tea to read great stories by favourite masters of the genre, and to be introduced to writers/characters as yet unfamiliar. Not disappointed for one minute. However, one thing nearly made me splutter my tea all over the carpet. In the Rebus/Grace story they investigate a stabbing. I won't spoil it, but simply say would anyone go armed into the night with... a bread knife? And how successful would that stabbing be? Has either author ever been in a kitchen. It will make an interesting exercise for my criminalistics students - spot the anomaly. Great book though

Sue

Introduced me to some new characters and will lead me to several whole new series!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 20, 2017

Verified Purchase

Bought this after seeing the name at the back of a Peter James book. When I saw it was multi authors I thought it'd be interesting to read something written by an author I didn't know - and I was right! Really enjoyed every story, but certain I ones appealed enough to make me hunt down more by authors that I previously hadn't read. Great purchase in its own right, but will lead me to a wider reading too.

2 people found this helpful

A. S. Thompson

Well worth the cover price

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 29, 2014

Verified Purchase

Crime anthologies are an established feature on the literary landscape. But "Face Off" to the best of my knowledge is unique. It pairs in one volume 23 crime writers in 11 stories featuring their series characters. So, for example, Lee Child's Jack Reacher bumps into Joseph Finder's Nick Heller in a Boston bar; Linwood Barclay's Glen Garber goes along for the ride of a lifetime with Raymond Khoury's Sean Reilly; and John Sandford's Lucas Davenport travels to Manhatten to team up with Jeffrey Deaver's Lincoln Rhyme in the hunt for a serial killer.

It is an intriguing concept which works well. And I was introduced to a couple of authors I have not heard of before leaving me wanting to read more. Some stories work better than others (a matter of personal taste of course) but they are all good.

If you like crime thrillers and short stories you should like this volume. I certainly did. Highly recommended.

11 people found this helpful

J.Mike D

Enjoyed the to and fro

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 9, 2018

Verified Purchase

Enjoyed the to and fro. But once again Jack Reacher is described as 6'5"/250lbs, I still don't see Tom Cruise as him. (Maybe Dwayne Johnson?)

3 people found this helpful

ddf

An interesting try

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 19, 2019

Verified Purchase

The concept of having two main characters from two well known authors meet in a story is a very bold attempt. However, I feel the stories were too short to go into any depth, plus you need to know both characters from their original book to really appreciate the story line.

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