Official excert-

How far would you go to find The One?

A simple DNA test is all it takes. Just a quick mouth swab and soon you’ll be matched with your perfect partner the one you are genetically made for.

That’s the promise made by Match Your DNA. A decade ago, the company announced that they had found the gene that pairs each of us with our soul mate. Since then, millions of people around the world have been matched. But the discovery has its downsides: test results have led to the breakup of countless relationships and upended the traditional ideas of dating, romance and love.

Now five very different people have received the notification that they’ve been “Matched.” They’re each about to meet their one true love. But “happily ever after” isn’t guaranteed for everyone. Because even soul mates have secrets. And some are more shocking than others…

Short summary- 10-15 minutes

In the novel, each character’s stories are told simultaneously in a realistic world where people’s soulmate is linked in their DNA and they can take a test to find their Match.

Ellie- Ellie is a very important businesswoman who gets a Match. She is hesitant but eventually contacts him, Tim, and after some fun conversations, they go on a date. She lies about her job but randomly gets attacked by a woman. She confesses to him that she is the woman who created the business of Matches. He is surprised but continues the relationship. They have a great happy relationship and he even proposes to her which she happily accepts. At a work party, one of her employees recognizes him as a man who once interviewed at her company.  She looks at some photos of a younger him and recognizes his mother as a former lab assistant she tested her theory of Matched DNA without her consent during her beginning days when she was morally grey when she was starting her business. She looks into the security footage of his interview. He was there and even looked at the camera. She hires people to do a background check and discovers his real name is Matthew. She  goes to her office and is confronted by him. He tells her everything about his history blaming her for the downfall of his parents, since she tested on them without consent which led to them divorcing and her mother remarrying to a horrible man and becoming an alcoholic and died. He also tells her they are not Matched but he hacked into the system to create and a couple million others. She gets angry and throws a crystal decanter which hits him and then picks it up and bludgeons him to death. She calls her bodyguard to help her and her assistant tells her there is a live feed of her office with a short delay. She tries to stop the feed before her murder is televised but is unsuccessful. Months later, her company has been reduced and she awaits the verdict for her trial. 

Christopher- Christopher is a sociopath who has decided to become a serial killer for the challenge. He gets a notification that he has been Matched and goes on a date to find out she, Amy, is a police officer. First he is intrigued, and tries to ask about the serial killer(him) but she is in the fraud division and doesn’t know much. He actually comes to enjoy spending time with her and questions himself on whether or not a sociopath can fall in love. He continues his killings with the plan of killing 30 girls he found from a dating app.  They keep their relationship private as she has an overprotective family and he doesn’t speak to his. He does research on the girls but eventually his double life catches up with him and he makes a mistake of not noticing one of his victims was pregnant. This causes him to feel sad and sheds a tear. He no longer feels the thrill of the kill anymore and just wants to finish so that he could be with Amy. On his last kill, he is surprised by Amy who has found out his secret. First she found his trophies of pictures, then his burner phones he used to track the girls locations, and finally matched his DNA to the tear the police found at the crime scene. He is honest with her and tells her anything she wants to know. He tells her that he loves her and he doesn’t have a plan to kill again and just wants to be with her. She believes him but the news releases that the Match company was hacked and there are millions of misMatches. She then kills him, cleans up the scene, and erases all parts of him from her life. 

Jade- Jade is Matched with Kevin who she often texts and calls. She lives in England and he lives in Australia. One day, she decided to surprise him and fly to visit him. She goes to his house and turns out he has cancer and does not have much longer to live. At first she is upset, but then understands and decides to stay. She is confused since she does not feel anything for him, but then she feels the spark with Kevin’s brother, Mark, who has avoided her. Kevin is getting weaker and asks Jade to marry him and she says yes. She marries him and he dies 2 weeks later. She decides to go on a road trip to Australia before she goes back to England. The night before her road trip, she visits Mark and sleeps with him. As she leaves, Mark’s mother catches him. She is mad but Mark explains that he lied about Kevin’s match. Mark is actually Jade’s match but lied to make his brother happy since he never expected her to show up. At first, she is upset but then, after talking to his mother, she decides to be with him. They go on the road trip together. 

Nick- Nick and his fiancee, Sally are having dinner with their friends, Sumitra, and Deepak who are telling them to take the Match test. Eventually they do, Sally is not Matched but Nick is Matched with a man named Alex.  At Sally’s insistence, Nick goes to meet Alex at his workplace.  At first there is nothing, but as he leaves, they make eye contact and there are sparks. One day, Alex calls Nick and they decide to meet and they talk and Alex has a girlfriend and both never had any questions about their sexuality. They leave and continue their own relationships. Nick continues to think about Alex and goes to one of his games, Alex seems happy to see him. They start to meet and hang out with each other. While Nick and Sally are having dinner with Deepak and Sumitra when Nick realizes they faked their own Match and Sally realizes that Nick has been seeing Alex. They officially split up and Nick continues to see Alex and they start a physical relationship and they plan to leave when Alex’s work visa is up and he has to go back to New Zealand. They are doing well when Sally texts Nick saying she is pregnant, and he can either stay and help take care of their child or she will have an abortion. Nick thinks about it and decides to stay and Alex leaves. Nick and Sally live together but not in a relationship and her water breaks. They go to the hospital and Sally complains of a headache. After some pushing, Sally takes a break and Nick goes out for snacks. Soon there is an emergency in Sally’s room, the doctors take her away and dies of an undiagnosed aneurysm.  The baby was delivered but is tan. It is revealed that Deepak and Sally were having an affair because they were Matched but Deepak thinks it was a mis-Match since their spark faded, he also wants nothing to do with the baby since he has his own and his wife is mad. Nick takes the baby and goes to visit Alex, asking him to take him back which he does.  

Mandy- Mandy is a divorced older woman who has been Matched with a young attractive man, Richard. She is excited and imagines a life with him but then he never messages her and she finds messages on his Facebook, saying he died. She goes to the funeral, and pretends to know him by telling a story but then gets caught by his sister, Chloe. She explains she is Richard’s Match and just wanted to know more about him. Chloe is understanding and invites her over to her mother, Pat’s house. She goes and talks to them, and hears all about Richard and even gets to see his room. She continues to meet them and connects while lying to her own family about him saying he is too shy to come around. Pat explains that Richard had testicular cancer so he saved his sperm, then Pat offers to give Mandy his sperm which she accepts. 

She is inseminated and eventually has to tell her family everything, they are upset and say she is confused but she is mad they do not understand so she moves in with Pat. While she spent the night in Richard’s room, she finds nude pictures of a girl who she also recognizes from some other pictures. She contacts her to find out more and meets her at a coffee shop. She meets Michelle and Michelle tells her and Richard were never serious, because she was a bit of a player and that his family was crazy and asked her to carry Richard’s sperm after his accident. Mandy tries to defend her saying they were grieving but Michelle tells her that Richard didn’t die, but is in a coma. Mandy is shocked and Michelle notices that she is pregnant. Mandy goes to visit him and he twitches, the doctors explain that he is in a vegetative state. She is angry at Pat and Chloe for lying to her and packs up her things trying to leave, Pat and Chloe panic worrying about the baby. Mandy confesses learning that Richard is alive from Michelle and Pat calls Michelle a liar and Chloe says she did not want to upset Mandy. Pat says they both wanted a baby so they should both be happy, Mandy wants to leave and have nothing to do with them which upsets Pat. Mandy is at the top of the stairs and Pat yanks her arm which causes her to fall, and when she tries to move again, she falls down the rest of the stairs.  She wakes in a hospital and the doctor explains she hit her head, so she was in an induced coma and they delivered her baby. She wants to see her baby and the nurse explains the grandmother(Pat) took him for a walk and Mandy calls for the police. The police have searched but can’t find them and while looking at Pat’s home, Mandy remembers a conversation they had about a special place and takes the police there. Chloe is arrested first but Pat has locked herself in the bathroom with the baby and will only speak to Mandy. Mandy talks to her, trying to convince her to come out and Pat explains she had the idea that a baby of a Matched couple could wake up Richard. She stops talking and the police knock the door down to see that Pat has tried to overdose with the baby. They are able to revive them both and the police explain both Chloe and Richard do not share DNA with Pat so she kidnapped them too. Chloe is released on bail with a restraining order and Pat will be at a psychiatric facility and she takes her baby, Thomas, to visit Richard. She puts the baby on his bed and Richard’s hard move toward the baby.

Long summary- 30-35 minutes

The story is told mainly in England, and Australia, through the point of view of 5 main characters who do not interact. It is told in the present day with a bit of science fiction about a scientific way to meet your soulmate and be “matched.” 

Mandy- Mandy is looking up a guy, Richard Taylor, on the internet. He is good looking, fit, and loves to travel. She is very different but they are matched. Mandy is divorced and does not exercise but Richard was a trainer. She imagines being married to him and what their children could look like.

Christopher- Christopher is inside a woman’s apartment. He gets an email informing him that he has been matched and contemplates paying to get the results. He picks up his things, like a garrote, takes her picture, as he has killed the girl whose apartment he is in. 

Jade- Jade is texting her match Kevin. They talk about life and they love each other. She has a lot of credit card and student loan debt. She wants to meet him in real life but he lives in Australia.

Nick- Nick is having dinner with his fiancee, Sally, and their two friends, Sumaira and Deepak. They are married and trying to convince Nick and Sally to do Match DNA to confirm they are soulmates like they did. Nick is confident they do not need to take the test but Sally is more unsure. 

Ellie- Ellie is a boss of a big company that works a lot. She has many expensive things but her business is the most important. She has to do interviews with major news outlets to discuss her work and not her personal life. She receives an email that she has been matched but she ignores it. 

Mandy- Mandy’s family is asking about her match, and she tells them very little information but does show a picture. He is very fit and younger than her. She has been married before and she is plus size which makes her nervous about the match. Her sisters try to give her advice and she thinks about how she failed to get pregnant with her first husband but wanted a child. He took the match test without telling her and then divorced her after getting the results. 

Christopher- He is in his home checking on the details and location of his next victim (#7) using gps. He thinks about the email about his match and is curious about it. Once checking that #7 was at home, he got his stuff and left his house. 

Jade- Jade is at work with her coworkers who are discussing their love lives. They suggest going to Australia to visit him but Jade is reluctant because of her apartment, job and family. They talk about their long distance relationship and how he does not facetime or skype. They also try to convince her to buy a ticket to go see him. 

Nick- Sally thinks they should do the MatchDNA because of reassurance since her parents have remarried multiple times. Nick is reluctant but agrees. 

Ellie- Ellie is awake at night trying to sleep but still thinking about work. 10 years ago, she was a simple worker, and now she was very important. Others suggested that she made some shady business moves to be successful, but she had her legal team work hard to make sure that it would stay in the past. Since she was so successful, she had a difficult time dating, either they would use her for her money or fame. She decides to check out her match and tells her assistant to get information on him.

Mandy- Mandy has traveled for two hours and is at a place she found from Richard’s Facebook. She called in sick to work and did not tell her family where she went. She was nervous since she was awkward with groups of strangers. She goes inside and she is at a memorial for Richard. 

Christopher- Christopher is looking at his Match, Amy, from outside the restaurant window observing her looks and behaviors. He finally goes in and makes up a lie about being late. He mentions he is a freelance graphic designer for magazines. Amy goes to the bathroom and asks him to order for her. He has studied how to act and thinks about if his next victim might be home by the time they finish dessert.  Amy comes back and says she had to make some work calls and reveals she is a police officer. 

Jade- Jade decides to go to Australia with an open-ended ticket and finally reaches Kevin’s farm. She did not tell him she was coming and sent him a picture when she arrived. Kevin immediately called and said she shouldn’t have come. 

Nick- Sally and Nick have their results from the MatchDNA and want to open it together.  They are both nervous but Nick reassures her that he loves her no matter what. Sally opens her to say that there was no match and they are upset but decide to make the most of it. Sally asks Nick to open his and he doesn’t care but Sally does. She opens and finds Nick is matched to a man named Alexander. 

Ellie- Ellie is in her car being driven to her home when she reads the background check of her Match, Tim. He seemed unremarkable but asks her driver to make a stop so she could buy a pay-as-you-go phone. She starts to text him and he seems funny. She lies about her job saying she has a boring office job and they set up a date for drinks.

Mandy- Mandy was frustrated that she did not hear anything when they were matched and looked online for him. She saw the post about the ceremony and was sad that they could never meet. At the ceremony, she followed the group into the reception. She hears stories that people are telling and ends up telling her own that she saw online like she was there. The person questions her about it and catches Mandy in a lie and reveals she is Richard’s sister.

Christopher- Originally Christopher was not really interested in his match but since she was a police officer, he was a lot more intrigued.  She is in the fraud department and he casually asks about the serial killer (him) on the news. She can’t say much about it and he changes the subject to why she took the test. She explains that she did since she was busy and he says a generic line about meeting his other half. She calls him out on it and says he doesn’t have to play any games and suggests they leave to have sex, which they do. 

Jade- Jade feels angry she came all the way and texts him. She turns the car around and drives back toward town thinking of theories about what could have happened. She gets even more mad that he made her think she was special and turns back around to the farm. She goes up and knocks on the door,  someone looking like her Match opens the door.

Nick- Nick is in disbelief that his Match is a guy and insists it must be a mistake. Sally thinks that it is funny and jokes that he is gay. He denies it and says he isn’t even bisexual nor had he had any curiosities or experimentations. Sally insists they look him up on Facebook and find him and he is attractive.

Ellie- Ellie arrives at a pub for her date and her driver/bodyguard stays by. They have good conservations and she feels happy about the Match. 

Mandy- Mandy feels embarrassed that she was caught in the lie with Richard’s sister, Chloe, and tries to leave. Chloe accuses Mandy of being one of the older women from the gym that had a crush on Richard. Mandy denies it and tells her that she was his Match and then shows proof. Mandy explains that she wanted to say goodbye and apologizes. Chloe says she understands and offers to introduce her mother. Mandy declines but gives her number so they can reach out another time and leaves.

Christopher- In the process of killing number nine, things went differently and there was a struggle. He ended up killing her in a more violent way and was even injured. He is cleaning up the scene when Amy calls. He has a quick casual conversation with her about making plans whiles he finishes up cleaning. He takes a picture of number nine, then visits number eight’s house to leave a picture of number nine along with a spray painted symbol.

Jade- She looks at the man and since he is not the man she has been talking to and demands to be let in. She goes inside and sees pictures and realizes that he is Kevin’s brother. He introduces himself as Mark and says Kevin went into town and doesn’t know when he will be back. Jade senses he is lying and demands the truth. Kevin shows up and Jade is stunned at his appearance. 

Nick- Nick and Sally are standing outside a physio building and Sally is trying to convince Nick that he needs to meet his Match so that they can find out if the Match was correct. Nick goes inside for an appointment using a false name. He meets Alexander, and makes small talk, and learns that he is from New Zealand and will be going back soon, and that he has a girlfriend. Nick feels nothing and feels relief as he pays. As he leaves, he makes eye contact with Alex and feels something and it seems like Alex felt it too.  Nick goes outside and denies anything happened with Sally.

Ellie- Ellie and Tim send a lot of messages to each other. She says she is a company worker in the city and was vague with the details. She thinks about her past boyfriends and how they felt insecure and emasculated.  They make plans to meet in London and she thinks about revealing her secret.

Mandy- Mandy is at Richard’s home meeting Chloe and her mother, Patricia. They talk about Richard and why he did the test, which he did because his parents were in love. Mandy talks about how she was devastated finding out about Richard’s accident and feels silly since she never met him. They offer to let Mandy see his bedroom which she accepts and looks around getting a sense of Richard and cries realizing that was in love with him.

Christopher-   Christopher is cooking for Amy. He is sleep deprived since he spends his nights with Amy or stalking his victims. He feels weird about Amy since he hasn’t fantasized about killing her. Amy is looking at his books and they are about serial killers and he claims he wants to know about human behavior. She is about to look at another book but he interrupts her with the food. He asks why the serial killer (him) hasn’t been given a nickname since most get one. She says the media does it and tells him what the police know about it and he feels a bit of excitement since he kills for the challenge not the compulsion. He slips up when he mentions the weapon is a cheese wire which the police didn’t know and has to cover it up with a lie. 

Jade- The man looked like Kevin but not like the pictures he had sent her. He reveals that he has lymphoma and that it is advanced. He explains that he was diagnosed before they were Matched and did it so he could find his perfect girl and he knows it was selfish. He also reveals that he has about a month or two left and that’s why they never had a video call.  He apologizes and she decides to stay a little to get to know each other. 

Nick- Nick is at work smoking and thinking about Alex. His coworker thinks it is about an account and Nick lies and agrees. His phone answers and Alex is on the line. They talk about the feeling they had and how awkward they feel. They think it must be a glitch and Alex suggests they go out for beers to talk about it. Nick suggests immediately and they make plans to meet that night.

Ellie- Tim has given Ellie flowers and is embarrassed since they look bad. They have a drink at a pub and Tim is dressed up and says he has a confession. Ellie fears the worst but he mentions how he felt bad for not trying hard on their first date when she looked amazing. Ellie says she doesn’t mind and likes the awkwardness of him. As he goes to get a table she realizes that she was falling for him. 

Mandy- Mandy met Pat, and Chloe in a coffee shop inbetween where they both lived and Pat is telling stories of Richard.  They ask how she feels hearing about Richard and she admits she feels like she misses him even though she never met him. Pat says she would have loved her as a daughter in law and Mandy tears up. 

Christopher- Christopher goes on a run while thinking about his latest kill. He kills one victim then kills another but returns to the first to add a picture of the next victim to taunt the police. He also leaves a stencil to capture interest because he craves attention. He thinks about his childhood as he was labeled a ‘psycho’ in his school days when he hurt his classmates. His parents had him tested for autism and they were negative. Later, he experimented with how people reacted to different situations as he did not feel a lot of feelings such as guilt, or remorse. He took a self test when he was older learning that he scored highly as a psychopath. He did some research on psychopaths and was curious to know why he enjoyed spending time with Amy.

Jade- Besides Mark, all of Kevin’s family was happy for her to be there. His mother, Susan, told her how Kevin was depressed when he got his diagnosis and he only felt better after he got his DNA Match. Jade is happy that she came but she knew she wasn’t in love with him.

Nick- Nick meets Alex at a bar, feeling nervous but excited. They talk about the feeling they had when they met and how they never experimented being gay. Nick said he emailed the company and that they never had a mismatch. They talk about if they would even be compatible and how they both have girlfriends. Nick’s knee accidentally brushes against Alex’s and they keep their logs touching. 

Ellie- Ellie and Tim are on a simple date, but Ellie feels great. As they are leaving, they have a kiss when a woman yells at Ellie and throws red paint on her.  Ellie is shocked, but Tim grabs a taxi and helps Ellie to go home. Tim insists on calling the police and Ellie says no, which makes Tim wonder who she is. They get to her house, Ellie goes in without Tim. 

Mandy- Mandy is at a family event when her sister asks about Richard since Mandy was supposed to bring him. They hassle her about why she hasn’t brought him, thinking of reasons why but she lies and tells them that he is shy.

Christopher- Amy comes into his house and talks about how the serial killer (him) had violently killed his number nine. Amy and the cops have made theories about him and Christopher is satisfied they are all wrong. He got his victims from a dating app and was happy the police hadn’t connected it. Amy is repulsed by the serial killer but Christopher plays a doting boyfriend. 

Jade- Jade is worried late at night about why she hasn’t felt the spark with Kevin and thinks it is due to his condition. Kevin comes in and asks to go on a drive with her. He takes her to see a sunset, and he talks about being diagnosed. They stay there and Jade realizes she is happy with him even if it isn’t love. 

Nick- Nick is at one of Alex’s rugby games unknown to Alex. They did not suggest meeting again after last time and Nick even went on a trip with Sally. There, Sally had a big sexual appetite and Nick was concerned she was trying to compete with Alex. When he got home, he looked up Alex’s games and went. A ball hits Nick and Alex notices that he is in the crowd and smiles. 

Ellie- Ellie goes to visit Tim at his house. She brings her security and at first Tim is apprehensive but lets them in. Ellie explains that she hasn’t been honest about her job and says she is the scientist who discovered the MatchDNA gene. 

Mandy- Mandy feels alienated from her own family and feels closer to Richard’s family. She spends the night and during the night she snoops around his room. She finds a cell phone with sexy pictures of a girl and naked selfies from Richard. She touches herself to the pictures and a video of Richard. Later on, they are at a park and Pat asks her if Mandy wants children. She says she tried with her ex but she had miscarriages. They go up a hill and Pat says how that was Riichard’s favorite place with nostalgic places nearby. Pat then mentions that when Richard found out that he had testicular cancer, he went to a sperm bank to donate in case he couldn’t have kids naturally. She then offers Mandy the chance to have Richard’s baby. 

Christopher- Christopher is cuddling with Amy while she sleeps, and wonders what she dreams about since he doesn’t. She wakes and wonders why he isn’t sleeping. He says he is wondering about the victim’s last thoughts. He has his cheese wire and pretends to strangle her above her head but he feels like he is falling in love.

Jade- Kevin’s health was deteriorating but Jade spent the time talking to him. She also spent time with his parents learning how the dairy farm worked. She grows to really care for the family. 

Nick- Alex wonders why Nick came and Nick says he was just curious and went. Nick asks Alex if he has been thinking about him like Nick has and Alex confirms it. They talk about how their girlfriends don’t know where they are and they go out together.

Ellie- Tim is laughing at the surprise that his Match discovered the gene and runs the company that is very successful. He understands why she didn’t say anything but not why the person threw paint at her. She explains that not everyone is happy with what happens and that the woman’s son killed several people because he learned his Match was already married. She explains how she discovered it from talking to her sister about “love at first sight” and the science behind it. She discovered the gene that produces pheromones with only one other person. Tim asks about the potential matches being different and Ellie talks about how a non-matched couple can still be in love. She explains how she turned into a business after a news story of it went viral. She explains how she got death threats and how the country has consent laws and they warn people if their match has a criminal record, she says she is not responsible for the actions of the people like gun manufacturers. She says she went to diner so she could feel normal and Tim says he feels the “lightning bolt” with her.

Mandy- Mandy is thinking about Pat’s proposition and thinking about how she does not care for her work at the office. She is debating on the idea of the baby when her supervisor whats to speak with her. He tells her numbers are dropping and says she could do really well at the company if she applied herself since she doesn’t have a husband or children. She gets mad and then leaves to go to HR, she gets a healthy severance package due to the sexism. She calls Pat and agrees to have Richard’s baby.

Christopher- He is getting ready to go out with Amy while he checks on his next victim (#13). He gets his information from a phone number. He had taken precautions to make sure Amy never stumbled on his research from his computer. They go to a restaurant that Christopher picked and #13 is their waiter. 

Jade- She gets the explosive feeling of the Match when Kevin was getting helped to get dressed. However she feels it with Mark, his brother, instead.    

Nick- Nick spends more time with Alex and Alex’s father is sick so he will be leaving in six weeks. Nick tells his friend Deepak about it and he tells Nick he can’t marry Sally if he loves someone else. Deepak reveals that he is going to be a Dad and “jokes” that soon he will be on Tinder. Nick is surprised since his wife, Sumira, is his match.

Ellie- Ellie feels tense as she and Tim visit her family’s house. Tim tries her to lighten up but she explains as she became more successful, she was not around that much. They go inside and Ellie introduces Tim to her family. They seem to like him and she reveals she loves him.

Mandy- Pat paid for Mandy to go to a speciality clinic and she was inseminated and pregnant on the second try. She now spent most of her time with them and even spent a lot of nights there. She is 12 weeks pregnant and has to tell her own family. She has to explain that Richard died and she got his sperm. Her family does not agree with her situation and says she is just an incubator/surrogate. She gets mad and claims they all can’t live happily with their Match. Her sister then confesses her and her husband are not matches but lied about it. They want her to move back home, claiming she needs help. Mandy gets mad, and tells them to leave. She leaves and goes to Pat, which she calls Mum. 

Christopher- Christopher is thinking about his plan and how it came to be and that his goal is thirty girls. He was inspired by how Jack the Ripper is still infamous over 100 years later. He is competitive so it is the idea of killing that many without getting caught that appeals to him. He has the polaroid of his victims in a white album he keeps in the living room. 

Jade- Jade is confused about it but realized it made sense why he avoided being around her. She thinks that is was a coping mechanism since Kevin is ill. Kevin asks her what would happen if he wasn’t sick and then proposes. Jade accepts. 

Nick- Nick and Sally are at a dinner party with some friends that ask about their wedding plans. Sally lies saying they never took the Match test and Nicks acts moody. Suddenly he asks their other friends, Deepak and Sumira, about how they knew. They say it happened gradually and the Match test confirmed it. Nick calls them out and claims they were not Matched, goes on a rant about them trying to act like the perfect couple and they do not know when they meet their “one” there are a feeling of fireworks and nothing else exists “you and him.” Sally hears the him and is surprised but Nick just walks off.

Ellie- Ellie is at the company’s Christmas party with Tim which makes it much better since last year she hardly attended. She talks with Kat, her head of personnel, who recognizes Tim’s face from interviews from a year or two ago. Ellie insists she is mistaken.

Mandy- Mandy is a few weeks away from delivery and staying with Pat who sets up everything for her birth. She is trying to sleep when she is looking at the pictures on Richard’s wall and sees someone familiar. It was the girl from the sexy pictures on Richard’s phone, she then looks her up on Richard’s Facebook. She finds out her name, Michelle, and messages her. 

Christopher- Amy is calling him wondering where he is. Christopher had fallen asleep at number 15’s house. He lies and says he is at work, since juggling both Amy and his goal had left him extra tired. Amy is calling to tell him that the police found #13 and that she recognized her from the restaurant they went to.

Jade- Jade and Kevin have their simple and small wedding. She had not told her parents and they had been messaging her wondering what she was doing.  Mark did not interrupt and she knew she was doing a selfless act but still felt like it was a mistake. 

Nick- Nick is at his house when Sally brings up and realizes that he was in love with Alex and seeing him consistently. She accuses him of cheating but he denies that nothing physical has happened and she calls it an affair still. She is mad that he lied since her parents had a rough marriage. She blames him but he says it is her fault since she insisted on doing the test. They argue but Sally says he should be with Alex.

Ellie- Ellie and Tim spend Christmas with her family. Then they go to her London townhouse. He mentions about her house being immaculate and claims she hasn’t even read any of the books on her bookshelf. He then pulls out one that says “Ellie and Tim.” It was a handwritten book of 95 things he loved about Ellie. The last page asks her to marry him and she says yes.

Mandy- She goes to a cafe to meet Michelle who is very pretty. Mandy asks about her relationship with Richard and she replies that they had an off and on again hook up. She was basically in love with him but he was not, and that he probably had a few other hookups and would most likely never settle down. Mandy suggests that maybe why he took the test and Michelle was surprised that he did. Michelle says that even though they were Matched, he probably would have still cheated since she was a free spirit and did not like kids. Mandy brings up Pat and Chloe and Michelle calls them freaks and said Richard never wanted her to meet them. She then reveals that after Richard’s accident, they found her and offered his sperm to have his baby. Mandy is shocked but Michelle continues that they were very insistent and even threatened to call the police if they did not stop. Mandy says it was probably due to them grieving his death to which Michelle claims Richard is still alive. 

Christopher- He is in the process of killing #20, and since she was a bigger girl, he drained his energy. He finishes and completes his rituals.  He realizes that he forgot one of his rituals of smelling the girl’s hair and he thinks that is due to that nothing smelled as satisfying as Amy.

Jade- They are getting ready for their wedding when Kevin says that he is sorry for Jade since he won’t live long. Kevin’s friends and relatives, except Mark, come to congratulate her. Later, they are married, she talks to Mark and he says they will not do anything about them being Matched.

Nick- Nick is in a budget motel that he stays in since he separated with Sally. He is with Alex and Alex told his girlfriend too. They talk about their “relationship” since Alex will be leaving in a few months. They decide to start being physical and they kiss.

Ellie- Ellie suggests they kept their engagement a secret since she is famous. Her family was happy and surprised Tim did not ask their father for permission but Ellie thought he had. She was really happy with her life and one night when they were not together, she decided to make a book like Tim made for him. Tim had recently used her Ipad so his cloud was up and she was looking for pictures for the book. He sees pictures of him with someone who could be his Mom but he had told Ellie they were all destroyed in a fire. She recognizes the woman.

Mandy-Mandy is still in shock that Richard is still alive. Michelle clarifies that he survived the accident but is brain dead so he is kept in a nursing home. His family had a memorial for him because they told his friends to not visit him and have a remembrance instead.  Michelle thinks they wanted someone to replace him so they asked her to have a baby, then she realizes that Mandy is pregnant. Mandy leaves and puts the nursing home into the navigation and goes. 

Christopher- Christopher does research into psychopaths and love. He reads information and relates it to past girlfriends. He also reads that a psychopath may be capable of falling in love.

Jade- Kevin dies not long after their wedding. He slowly deteriorated then passed away surrounded by family. They have the funeral and Jade realizes that she does love Mark and that it isn’t a case of transference.  The funeral ends and they go in to celebrate his life rather than mourn it. Jade goes to Kevin’s room and cries because she lost her best friend. 

Nick- Nick suggested to Alex that he goes with him to New Zealand and puts in his notice to take a sabbatical. He told his family that he separated from Sally but not that he Matched with a man but would if the time with Alex does well. He had separated from Sally for a while but she sent him a message saying she needs to see him because she is pregnant. 

Ellie- She recognized Tim’s mother as someone she worked with about 15 years ago. She was a lab assistant who Ellie tested her theory on which she didn’t really follow rules. Ellie goes to Kat and asks about when she recognized Tim as “Matthew”. Kat is nervous because she gives Ellie a file that he was “Matthew Ward.” Kat tried to take a picture of Matthew several ways but it never came out. Ellie reads the file about Matthew and a lot of basic information is different so she requests security footage on the days of Matthew’s interview. She finds footage but notices one minute is missing. She sees another view of the hallway that has Tim looking at the camera saying “Hello, Ellie.”

Mandy- Mandy is visiting Richard and learns he has been there for ten months. She sits next to his bed and notices he looks small compared to the pictures. She starts to talk to him and even cries. She holds his palm to his cheek and his body jolts, and she calls the nurse.

Christopher-  Christopher is struggling to finish his goal while continuing to date Amy.  He occasionally drugged her so he could continue his research or even kill two of his victims. Amy told him that she loved him and he said the same and actually meant it. The more he spends with her the less he joy form his kills. He and Amy kept their lives secluded and no one really knew about their relationship. She explained it as she has a protective family and keeps him a secret. 

Jade- Since Kevin’s funeral, Jade feels claustrophobic and with Kevin’s parents blessing she plans to take his car and go on a road trip down the coast of Australia. Mark has been ignoring her and one night during her routine swims,  he visits her.  She wonders what he is doing when he jumps into the pool and kisses her. He knows she is leaving and wants to know what he is missing and then leaves.    

Nick-Nick is angry that Sally knew for a couple weeks and never told him. She gives him a choice to either stay with her to raise the baby or she will get rid of it. She thinks it happened on their vacation. She makes him choose.

Ellie- She goes on her everyday business and meets with her team in a hotel. Her private investigators give her more information on his parents. They divorced and his mother died in a house fire three years ago. His father is living in a facility for stroke victims and he can’t speak. He had erased all records of himself and only applied to gain access to the building. She goes to her office and sees Tim in her office, suggesting they speak. 

Mandy- The doctors examined her and explained Richard is not in a coma, he is a vegetative state. He moved because it was a natural reflex and sometimes Matched patients have responded in the past to their Matches and might be more intense with pregnancy hormones. The doctor leaves, and Mandy stays hoping to get another response but nothing happens. 

Christopher- They are at the beach and he is thinking about finishing early at 26 victims due to his relationship with Amy. She asks what their future is and mentions he is different. She knows he has secrets but is confident they won’t hurt her. He is tempted to reveal everything but just replies he wants whatever she wants. 

Jade- She spends more time with Mark but knows her road trip is coming. The night before she leaves, she goes to his room and they sleep together. She invites him on the road trip but he declines because of his family. She feels rejected so she leaves but Mark’s mother is there. 

Nick- Nick is staying at the hotel thinking about becoming a father, and ignoring Alex’s messages. He knows he can’t ask Alex to stay but he wants to be active in raising his child. 

Ellie- Tim/Matthew is in Ellie’s office and tells Ellie he will explain everything but she can not press her alarm in her office. She fixes herself a drink and sits on the sofa. He knows she was at the hotel since he had access to her cloud account. Ellie thinks he is there for money and he denies it. He reveals that he knows that his mom was one of her first test subjects and Ellie gave her the test unknowingly. Ellie acknowledges that she ‘borrowed’ some DNA to build up her database to which he reveals she went through trash to get it without their permission. He also reveals how she would bribe for access to the DNA database and clinics to get more financial backing. She knows it was slightly unethical but it justifies the means. He asks her if she knows about his dad and he reveals he was also an unknowing test subject that got Matched and left his wife ( Tim/ Matthew’s mom) to be with another woman so he is going to destroy her life. 

Mandy- She goes back to Pat’s mom and gets ready to leave Pat’s house, grabbing clothes and supplies. Pat and Chloe come home and Mandy says she has to go home to visit home for a few days. They panic and ask if anything is wrong with the baby but Mandy confesses she knows about Richard by talking to Michelle. Pat calls Michelle a liar, and insists that he never loved her. Chloe confesses she did not mean to lie but since Mandy assumed Richard was dead, they did not want to upset her more. Mandy is angry since Pat even told her where she spread his ashes. Pat claims that Richard is dead and that she wanted a baby so they are both happy. They wanted her to carry the baby since she was Matched and they sent the test themselves. Mandy is mad at the top of the stairs and says she and the baby will not be part of the family and Pat yanks at her arm mad that Mandy might take her grandchild away and Mandy falls into spindles. Mandy is bleeding, Chloe wants to call an ambulance but Pat tells her to stop, Mandy tries to get away and tries to walk down the stairs but falls facedown.

Christopher- He is in the process of killing number 29 but he just wants to get it over with. When he killed number 27 he felt empathy since when he returned after number 28, that number 27 was pregnant and had a coffin birth, where gasses push out the fetus. He does deep research and finds that she told a couple people she was pregnant. He missed it since he was busy hanging out with Amy and he feels like if he wasn’t in a relationship that he would have missed it and taken the victim out. 

Jade- Susan yells at them, wondering why they would sleep together considering they just buried Kevin. She assumes they have been sleeping together for a while. Jade denies it and says there was no chemistry between her and Kevin. Susan is angry since they were Matched and Mark says that she wasn’t his(Kevin’s) Match but his own Match.

Alex- Alex goes to Nick’s hotel room since Nick was not answering his phone and the manager says he will be fined for the smoke smell. He finds the envelope and looks outside the window.

Ellie- Tim/Matthew explains that after his dad left after being Matched he left his mother and was forced to move and eventually became an alcoholic and lost her job due to it. Matthew had to deal with it and eventually she was Matched. She was Matched to a manipulative man who was actually a pedophile and made his mom believe he was innocent. So she paid for his legal fees but he still went to jail. She eventually died because she was passed out with a cigarette and burned alive. Ellie does not feel any sympathy and claims lots of couples stay together even if they weren’t matched, and people should take responsibility for their actions.  He claims that Matched people have better opportunities and various other problems that happen, she argues saying advantages that have happened due to it. They argue for a while but Ellie finishes with that the business exists, but Matthew claims for not much longer. Ellie claims he is like the manipulative man his mother married but she is better than his mother. Matthew counters that she still loves him. She agrees because they are matched but Matthew says that they were never Matched because he hacked into the servers to manipulate the servers when she opened an email to her private account. He explains he came to the interview to get more information and snuck in a lens deflector to get alone time with a computer. He did it to prove that she fell in love not due to science but her own feelings. She feels angry but she says so what and Matthew reveals he mis-matched over two million random people over 18 months saying her business is now worthless.    

Mandy- Mandy is in the hospital and has stitches from an injury on her head. She gets the attention of a nurse then a doctor who tells her that her baby boy is safe. He tells her that she fell down the stairs with a head injury which caused her to be sedated for a few days and she was given a c-section. She asks to see her son and the nurse goes but comes back to say that “her family” (Pat and Chloe) have taken him and Mandy insists the police be called.

Christopher- He is in number 30’s apartments and wants to finish quickly so he can be done with it and spend time with Amy. He used his normal distraction of a dropping ball but there was no response so he tried again but then felt pricks to the back of his neck, and passed out seeing Amy’s face.

Jade- Mark explains the brothers did the test at the same time and Mark got Matched to Jade and Kevin had no Match so he deleted his brother’s email and sent him Jade’s info. Jade herself didn’t check the name when Kevin said he was her Match. Since she was miles away, he never expected her to show up. Jade is mad since he let her believe that she was a heartless bitch for not loving Kevin while he kept silent. She storms out saying she can’t trust him again.

Nick- Nick is with Sally and she has trouble sleeping due to the baby and her headache. 5 months have passed and Nick chose to be the baby’s father and apologized to Alex. He spent a couple of days before Alex went back home and Nick was upset and cried. He went back to work and went shopping for baby stuff as well as attend Lamaze classes. Nick asks her about seeing their friend Sumira and Nick is convinced something is wrong but Sally claims she is just letting her settle with her own babies. Then Sally’s water breaks.

Ellie- Tim is gloating and Ellie is convinced her IT team can fix it. She then realized there are signal blockers when she tried to call using her phone. Matthew says he doesn’t want money or anything, just to see her empire crumble. Ellie is mad and thinks her press department can spin it against him using his past and anything to discredit him. He thinks being her fiance will help credit him and he puts his own spin on it. She thinks people won’t believe him and he says he has all his research on hard drives who will be sent to expose the story. She gets mad and he stands up to go. As he walks away, she throws a crystal decanter at his head which hits him and he falls. She picks it up and hits him again.  

Mandy- Mandy goes to Pat’s home with the police one month later. They had issued a warrant after Mandy talked to the police and they searched Pat’s and Chloe’s houses. Mandy returned to her family and everything was good between them. In the house, she is looking in Richard’s room and sees the photo collage on the wall and remembers something and thinks she knows where the baby is.

Christopher-  He wakes up tied to a chair still in number 30’s house. Amy is there and he asks where the victim is. Amy explains that when she came and tied up the girl and put her in the bedroom. Christopher is happy and says they could have been a good team. She claims he doesn’t have feelings and he says he has feelings for her. She thinks she is part of his plan, that it was a challenge. He accepts this but says things have changed and says 30 was always his target. She explains she found out several days ago and saw his “photo album” and realized that they were not copies but his own. Then she searched his house and found the burner phones he used. She also explains he left DNA at the scene of the victim with a baby. He explains that he felt sad since he imagined that victim to be her. She doesn’t believe him because of his books and he explains that feelings are new to him. He also explains that he fell in love with her and claims she makes him want to be a better man. Amy takes out the keys for the handcuffs. 

Jade- Jade grabs some clothes and drives out in her truck to a motel.  She tries to distract herself by doing touristy things but fails and eventually goes to the place where she watched the sunset with Kevin long ago. Susan approaches her and asks Jade if she married Kevin even though she didn’t love him and why. Jade explains that she wanted him to be happy in his last days. Susan explains Mark wanted the same thing for Kevin so Jade should try not to be mad at him. She explains she needs space and Susan says that she should let Kevin go and love Mark. 

Nick- Nick is in the hospital with Sally who is pushing, who is refusing pain meds. Nick is trying to comfort her as she pushes. After 20 hours, the nurse suggests Nick take a break. When he is getting a snack from the vending machine, alarms go off and Sally goes unconscious and the nurses can’t wake her. They take her to surgery for an emergency c-section and when they return, she is dead. 

Ellie- Ellie is in shock and calls Andrei for help. He comes and tells her to change and he tries to comfort her saying he did it to himself. He says he will have a crew to clean it up. Ellie leaves and her assistant comes to tell her that there is a live stream of her office. She sees the screen and there is a 15 minute delay of what has happened in her office. She wonders who can see it and her assistant says all the employees can see and other sites such as YouTube. She says it is coming from her office so Ellie runs back and her and Andrei try to destroy her computer but it is still streaming, and her IT can not  stop it.  She sits and listens as she hits Matthew and Andrei says he will help her out of the building. She says no and to arrange her team and clear her schedule. 

Mandy- She waits in a car as the police go to the cottage that Mandy remembered Pat talking about. The officer comes back and says Chloe has been arrested but Pat has the baby and is barricaded in a bathroom and says she won’t come out until Mandy talks to her. Mandy does not want to but the officer comforts her saying she won’t be alone and gives her advice to talk to Pat. She talks to Pat and asks about the baby, and Pat claims that Mandy wouldn’t have let them see the baby so she took him. Pat says she read that a baby might bring a patient out of a coma so she took the baby to Richard but nothing happened. Mandy then asks to have the baby back but Pat says they are tired and need to rest and eventually stop responding. They kick down the door and both Pat and the baby seem dead.

Christopher- Christopher felt a connection in that moment to Amy and tells her he initially got a thrill from killing while they were dating but eventually faded. She ask then why he didn’t stop and he says his mission was always 30 and then to disappear. He explains he thought about stopping but feared there would be resentment. He tells her to ask him anything, she asks various questions about his killings and why, he explains everything. He then asks her why she didn’t turn him in and she explains that in the future she would always be known as the police whose boyfriend was a serial killer. He asks to be let go and she is hesitant thinking that he will not have enough in the future, that he might want to be challenged again but he denies it and says he loves her. Suddenly, the news reports about Ellie killing her fiance and how the Match results might be tampered with. Chris looks at Amy and claims that isn’t them but she uses the cheese wire and kills him.

Jade-She prepares to leave by prepping the car and getting supplies. She begins to leave and Kevin’s parents are sending her and Mark off. 

Nick- Sally had died of an aneurysm and gave birth to a darker skin baby. Her and their friend Deepak had an affair because they were Matched. He realized Deepak was the father when they came over for condolences and he was in shock. When Sumira and Deepak took the Match test, they realized they were not Matched but Deepak realized his Match worked with Sumira so he hinted at a gathering. Deepak and Sally felt the spark and eventually they started sleeping together. They plan to both leave their spouses, but then Sumira gets pregnant and he decides to not leave her. He thinks they might be one of the mismatches because after their initial spark, it eventually faded. He also thinks Sally suggested she and Nick take the test to give him a way out. Nick asks what Sumira thinks of the situation and says she is upset and wants nothing to do with Sally’s baby. He continues to say he also wants nothing to do with the child and leaves Nick with the baby. 

Mandy-Pat and the baby survived and the police tell her that Richard and Chloe did not share DNA with Pat, so she probably took them as well. Chloe will be released on bail and can not go anywhere near Mandy or her home. Pat is going to a psychiatric facility and it is revealed she had miscarriages and stillbirths around the time that Richard and Chloe came into her life. She takes her son to see Richard and tell him that she named the baby Thomas after her father. She sneezes and puts the baby near Richard and the safety railing as she grabs a tissue. Afterwards, she sees Richard’s fingers curling toward Thomas’s hand. 

Amy- Amy feels sad that Christopher is dead but cleans up the scene. She found the evidence a few days ago and followed him. She watched him as prep for his kill and cried. At the scene, she dragged him outside, covered him with a blanket and called the police and whispered for help.  Outside, she throws alcohol on top of him and burns him. She also leaves his stencil outside as well. She goes to his house, gets rid of any possible DNA, and leaves his car in a crime hot spot. In the future, people wondered why the serial case ended the way it did and she ended up giving him a nickname of the Saint Christopher Killer.

Nick- Nick is in New Zealand with his baby. He surprises Alex and asks him to take him back along with his baby. Alex just cries and hugs him. 

Ellie- Seventeen months later, Ellie is at her desk. Her staff has scaled down and there was a lot in the media. The media was mean to her but the video was analyzed and many called Matthew a psychopath and some called her a victim of mental abuse. There was a loss in business and a lot of lawsuits. She leaves her office with new bodyguards. She is having a drink when her assistant comes and tells her that the verdict is ready.

My Review- 4.5 out of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this story. It immediatley grabbed my attenttion with the serial killer plot but in my opinion, was the least shocking story. The plot twists were good and the way each story ended was nice. I would have liked to hear Ellie’s verdict or if Richard truly woke, but overall it was fun to read. I expected some of their stories to overlap or mix and they didn’t which was a pleasant surprise. The chapters were a mix of short and long which help break up the stories. This was a spontaneous read, and not my normal style but would recommend to others. My only con is that there were no indications of time, so it was a bit hard to understand how the stories or chapters could relate to another.