John Scalzi

One day, not long from now, it becomes almost impossible to murder anyone - 999 times out of a thousand, anyone who is intentionally killed comes back. How? We don't know. But it changes everything: war, crime, daily life. Tony Valdez is a Dispatcher - a licensed, bonded professional whose job is to humanely dispatch those whose circumstances put them in death's crosshairs, so they can have a second chance to avoid the reaper. But when a fellow Dispatcher and former friend is apparently kidnapped, Tony learns that there are some things that are worse than death, and that some people are ready to do almost anything to avenge what they see as a wrong. It's a race against time for Valdez to find his friend before it's too late...before not even a Dispatcher can save him.

The Dispatcher

exciting and original short story that has an overarching high concept but doesn’t dwell on the specifics of that plot device in a great way. has me excited to dive into the next two continuations

Adam Goehrig-Bawany

Simon Lund Larsen

Ryan LaFerney

I really enjoy speculative fiction when it is merged with other genres. I especially enjoy sci-fi, near future crime/detective stories. I really enjoyed Scalzi's take on near future crime/detective stories in the Lock In series so I thought I would try out The Dispatcher which seemed to have similar vibes. The Dispatcher is an odd work from Scalzi. First off, it was written primarily to be an audiobook (and therefore reads more as a transcription of a radio play). And it's strange because Scalzi's walking around in a sub-genre that's not his usual neighborhood. He does space opera, mostly. Military spec-fic. He also deals with the near-future. But The Dispatcher is, sort of urban fantasy. Sort of. It is still near future sci-fi but set in the most urban of settings: Chicago (which many scifi/fantasy relate to The Dresden Files - another series that mashes up speculative fiction with the mystery genre). The Dispatcher has all the outward characteristics (rain, crisp dialog, a missing person, cop-and-consultant dialectics) of a gumshoe detective story but with that near future twist - that "Dispatchers" exist.

The Dispatcher in book form exists as a novella and tells the story of a dispatcher named Tony Valdez, who in near future Chicago, is a licensed professional whose job it is to humanely (?) dispatch (kill, retire, reboot?) individuals in the cross-hairs of death, so they can have a second chance to avoid death. He just has to dispatch them and they (pop!) disappear from their scene of death and arrive naked in their homes after the moment of their death. There is always that one that doesn't, though. However, enter in the shady and the not-so-shady people who take advantage of this little universal loophole. Dangerous operations in hospitals can be reset for a couple of hours. Horrible accidents on the street can be erased, assuming that the person gets murdered in time. And bloodsports victims can survive beatings.

There's always consequences, of course, and Tony soon realizes that some people are ready to do almost anything to avenge what they see as wrong.

This had a great twist ending and was written in overly accessible prose that read as if it was made for an audiobook (surprise!). Scalzi's writing is always accessible but here more so but don't let that distract you. It's a quick, fast-paced novella for speculative fiction fans, and fans of mysteries and thrillers.

Janice Hopper

Excellent performance by Zachary Quinto. I often have mixed feelings about Scalzi's writing, but this was ok.

Todd Luallen

Short and spectacular. Gripping from the first page.

Natasha Musa

Short but really good. Zachary Quinto narrates this so well.

Book Frisson

This was sooo interesting. I enjoyed this little crime journey. I would love to see it turned into a tv show or something.

Nickie Mohler

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.

This was really good! The best written of the Audible originals I have gotten yet.

I loved the sci fi vibe of the Dispatchers. It reminds me of Logan's Run, Total Recall, and there's a movie that has to do with organs and the black market.

Anyways, it was the tough, gritty kind of mystery that I didn't know I wanted. It used its short time of 2 hours to pack in everything to leave yoh with a completed story, and the hope for even more. I'll be checking out Scalzi for more work.

Jay Carter

An interesting concept but I could have used a little more metaphysical discussion. (What's in the novella is pretty good.) The story suffers from too much telling, not enough showing. Zachary Quinto did a great job.

The Dispatcher

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