The Dispatcher

A fun novella with an interesting ‘superpower' concept. Death is over, as long as death is done by means of murder. If you are intentionally killed by someone else you reappear where you were a few hours before, back in the same state that you were at that time. With that in mind a new type of agent is created to ‘dispatch' those on the brink of dying and so therefore allow them to reappear and survive.

An intriguing concept that is played through with a detective noir style in this story, where one of these agents tries to find out what has gone wrong with an attempted dispatch which did not work. The whole thing works really well in it novella format and I can see Scalzi has written at least one sequel that I will have to investigate. The writing is fun and engaging, the murky world is interesting and the characters well written. The reasoning behind this deathlessness is never really fully explained, but that lack of explanation is played with in the text itself. It is an interesting concept, if a bit silly, but taking the whole thing on faith leaves an interesting noir drama with a twist.

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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Last year, when he was in Boise, I heard John Scalzi read the first chapter of this book and I've been waiting for this ever since.

It's an Urban Fantasy set in a world where natural or accidental death is possible, but if you're murdered there's an almost 100% possibility that you'll come back to life. Huh? Yeah – heckuva hook, right? There's no explanation for this, it just started – and it may just end at some point. But in the meantime people are taking full advantage of this.

Tony Valdez is a dispatcher – insurance companies and individuals have started hiring dispatchers to “dispatch” someone just before they die, so there's a good chance – a fantastic chance, really – that they'll survive. One of Tony's coworkers has disappeared and a Chicago police detective has drafted him to help her track down his colleague. To find him, they have to look into the dark side of the dispatcher trade and the desperate lengths some will go through to extend the lives of their loved ones or themselves.

It was a fun book to listen to, a story that drew you in and drug you along to the gripping end. But once it was over, and I started thinking about it, all sorts of questions came to mind, not really plot holes, just things that weren't adequately addressed. I think a lot of it was length, if this had been a novel, some of them wouldn't have come up. The more I thought of it, it was almost like this novella was Scalzi's attempt to prove a point/win a bet that, yes, he can write UF. A strongly written, convincing story that entertained from beginning to end – but there was just no heart to it, it just seemed like a writing exercise.

Quinto did a bang-up job – I think I only thought of him as the actor once or twice – he nailed every bit of this. If that whole movie star thing doesn't work out for him, he could have a future doing this sort of thing. I should probably give this an extra star just for his work.

Very entertaining, a great experience – just don't think about it too terribly much.

Imagine a world where people only die of natural causes and suicides. Murder victims wake up at home in their beds. Dispatchers hang out at hospitals in case an operation goes south so they can “dispatch” the patient back to life. Tony Valdez is a Dispatcher. When one of his colleagues goes missing, the cops start asking him about side jobs and the darker aspect of his line of work. This was a pretty interesting short. It was a very quick read. I received a copy of this book from Net Galley.

Really fun story, which moves at a brisk pace, and presents a mystery that does not cheat. Should Scalzi write another story in this world, I'd definitely check it out, and should it get optioned for a film, I'd certainly see it in theaters.

which is also available for free from Audible this month, giving all the more reason to check it out now.

Executive Summary: A fun short story, and this from someone who doesn't normally like short stories very much. And hey, you can't beat the price!Audiobook: I was familiar with Zachary Quinto the actor, but this is the first time I've listened to an audio book read by him. He does a good job, adding a bit extra to the story I thought. If Mr. Scalzi does more of these, I hope they are able to get Mr. Quinto to read them too.Full ReviewI picked this one up several months back because: 1) I like [a:John Scalzi 4763 John Scalzi https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1407277112p2/4763.jpg]2) Can't beat the price (free!)I kept meaning to get to it, and kept having other group or buddy reads to listen to instead. I finally managed to sneak it in between some other stuff.The core idea was pretty cool. What happens if anyone whose murdered suddenly comes back to life? Well most of the time at least. Enter the dispatchers. Paid professionals whose job it is to “save” your life by murdering you. There is no way that would ever get abused, right?The book is written as a mystery/detective novel of sorts. It's probably more urban fantasy than science fiction. There wasn't anything ground breaking here really, but I really enjoyed the idea behind the story, and since it's a short story, it was over quick.I'll probably pick up the next one (if there is a next one) depending on the price, but I'd be content if this was just a one-off too.

A 3.5-star. The premise is intriguing: people who are murdered get to come back to life again, hence dispatchers are employed by the state to kill those who are dying from.accidents to enable them to live again. Within this setting, John Scalzi has created a plausible missing persons (and possible homicide) case involving a billionaires wife and a missing dispatcher. Interested enough to follow through on the sequels within the series.

I won't lie. I got this because of [a:Zachary Quinto 2888302 Zachary Quinto https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] and the length. I like short ABs for commuting etc. It didn't disappoint.The gist of the story is that in a non-too-distant future outright murder becomes virtually impossible. Murder victims started reappearing naked as jaybirds at home shortly after the deed was committed. The reason or the how of this phenomenon is never explained but that didn't bother me. It's only been about 10 years since the reincarnations started and these explanations take time. (See The Leftovers, Lost, Les revenants.) However plucky humans have been quick to benefit from the murder loophole creating the profession of Dispatcher. Yes. It's exactly what it sounds like. When someone is in a near death situation a Dispatcher legally “murders” them so that they can go back to where there life/body was a few hours or days before. Dispatchers are licensed and regulated like an EMT worker, but sometimes also move around in less wholesome environments. And the question remains: how do you kill someone when murder has become, in a sense, obsolete? I enjoyed this short novella. In many ways it reminded of the [b:Among the Living 5603414 Among the Living (PsyCop, #1) Jordan Castillo Price https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1375991614s/5603414.jpg 5774782] universe: utterly familiar but entirely different from our reality. Also it takes place in Chicago. I liked that the author made the principals diverse without shouting from the rafters. I like how he got around the “telling” by making the MC have to reasonably explain his profession and the different twists and turns to a police sergeant in the course of an investigation. Overall I freakin' loved Zachary Quinto's narration; not too showy or performed. Just right. I'd absolutely recommend this little morsel to anyone but particularly to the mystery/suspense fans. Its a treat.

I had finished my audiobook for the week, so I decided to get this (free!) short one to entertain myself. The story is quite interesting, if not fleshed out to its fullest, and enjoyable enough, but nothing quite more than that. I definitely wouldn't be against reading more books from this world though.

Essentially it's a mystery set in a world where people can't be murdered... technically. You come back from the dead only if you've been killed and your body is reset to a few hours before your death. Dispatchers are people who are hired to effectively “end people's lives” so they can easily come back if they've, for example, just broken their neck.
Tony Valdez is our main character who starts assisting the police when a fellow Dispatcher disappears.

The Dispatcher is currently free on Audible, so if you're interested, go get it!

The Dispatcher by John Scalzi is a fantastic audio novella. Imagine if (almost) every murder victim came back. Call it a miracle or weird science, no one knows why. But a new profession emerges, the dispatcher, who kills the dying to ensure they will get to return. Scalzi has created a truly fascinating and original concept in which he then builds an effective thriller. While this book was mostly bereft of the humor I normally anticipate finding in a Scalzi story, I found this work to be highly compelling nonetheless. Quinto's narration was outstanding. Overall this is a wonderful book! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ #bookstagram #thedispatcher #johnscalzi #bookreview #audible