The Dispatcher or Murder By Other Means by John Scalzi(2nd in the Dispatcher Series)- This story takes place in today's Chicago, but with a definite twist. For twelve years now no one in the world has died of murder. If someone kills them, they leave their clothes behind and reappear in their home or someplace safe. Tony Valdez is a Dispatcher, a licensed killer, who helps people who are about to die from an illness, or accident, come back in a completely recovered way. He takes pride in his work and even consults with the police on occasion. Now he's being targeted by two different groups over something he obviously did but didn't fully understand the consequences. Scalzi does a very good job with the detective parts of the book, very smooth. He also explains the pitfalls of this "not dying when you're suppose to" very well. The story is tense, funny, and hard to put down. Grab it if this sounds good to you.

I would like to thank the publisher and author for kindly providing an electronic review copy of this book. So here it goes, "Thank you Subterranean Press! Thank you John Scalzi!"

"The Dispatcher: Murder by Other Means" by the Hugo award winning John Scalzi has a thought provoking premise. What happens if people who are murdered are mysteriously transformed back to life in a place they feel safe at? How would this affect society, criminals, the average person, etc? This sounds like an absolutely good thing, but in this detective style story, Scalzi shows that there is are unavoidable and somewhat thought provoking problems with this mixed blessing. The story progresses rapidly, has a body count, includes international crime, and has lots of entertaining dry wit in the dialogue. I enjoyed this book, and look forward to reading my next Scalzi book!

I always enjoy reading Scalzi, as he is a whip-smart Gen Xer who doesn't sacrifice story for satire. The jokes are very well timed (I loved the part about the existential nature of pizza toppings, for example) and I like that there are larger questions which the author leaves unanswered.

Short novel in Scalzi’s universe where almost anyone who is murdered immediately revives, safe and whole at home, except for the one in a thousand who don’t. The protagonist is a Dispatcher—licensed to kill people in certain very specific circumstances, where it will increase their chances of survival (e.g., they were severely injured in an accident, which doesn’t trigger resurrection). He has a noir adventure when someone asks him to kill a person outside those very specific circumstances; you will like it if you like this sort of thing.

How would one commit murder if murder victims don't permanently die? For reasons no one can explain, murder victims now vanish out of their clothes and wake up, unharmed, at home. At least, 999 times out of 1000, they do. In the wake of this startling development, an industry of dispatchers has sprung up, committing legal murders so that people who are in imminent danger of death will actually survive. Tony Valdez is a dispatcher, one who has been taking more and more shady gigs lately because times are tough. After he witnesses a bank robbery gone wrong and people start dying around him in apparent suicides for reasons that don't add up, he finds himself as a person of interest in the criminal investigation. Now, Tony has to figure out what's really going on before more people die.

I enjoyed the hardboiled detective stylings and Scalzi's trademark quippy humor, which kept the tone from getting too dark. The central mystery is a good one, beginning with what looks like a poorly planned bank robbery and a string of strange deaths. Scalzi doesn't dive all that deeply into the full implications of his world building conceit, but the parts he does include are fascinating. All in all, it's a fun, short (novella-length) sci-fi mystery.

While this is the second in a series, following the same protagonist as the first book, it could be read as a standalone. It's a completely new story arc and Scalzi explains enough of the world and past events that new readers wouldn't be confused. If you're interested in a weird mystery with a wisecracking, down-on-his-luck protagonist, I highly recommend this one.

2021
Book Review
The Dispatcher: Murder By Other Means
John Scalzi
reviewed by Lou Jacobs

readersremains.com | Goodreads

The Dispatcher: Murder by Other Means is a perfect jumping-off point to enter the world of master storyteller, John Scalzi. While the story is told with a hardboiled detective motif utilizing a futuristic element, Scalzi writes across all genres in an equally enduring and compelling manner.
The timeline is the near future. Inexplicably, murder is now a “dying” art: when you kill people these days, nine hundred and ninety-nine times out of thousand, they came back, reappearing at their homes or a safe place, naked and confused, no matter where in the world they were killed. But, that one time in a thousand is a bummer.
This small percentage real deathrate gives rise to a new profession called dispatchers, who are licensed, bonded, and insured. The dispatchers give people who were about to die of natural causes—or die accidentally—a chance to come back and live. How? They save people by killing them.
Once in a while, they stretch the rules, pushing “thrill seekers” off a water tower, say. And if they landed on the ground and didn’t disappear? A bullet to the head.
Everyone has to make a living!
The most acceptable job is “dispatching” someone near the edge of a natural death, since a dispatcher can lose a license through nefarious acts.
For Tony Valdez, a professional dispatcher, times are tough. No longer employed full-time, sometimes his freelance work is questionably legal, and definitely nefarious.
Suddenly, a rash of people tangentially connected to Tony start actually dying by suicide without a motive. This necessitates a deep dive investigation by Tony and his police detective friend, Nona Langdon. At one time, Tony was a consultant for the police, but had unceremoniously been dumped due to an austerity budget. Most people wanted to talk to Tony about death, like he was a priest. The investigative process is mucked up when one of the investigating detectives suddenly commits suicide. An inordinate number of coincidences arise. Tony soon learns about loyalty and its consequences—you’re either an asset or a liability.
In The Dispatcher: Murder by Other Means Scalzi weaves a byzantine plot involving bank robbers, international crime, crime bosses, thugs, and even gender dysphoria that escalates with multiple unexpected reveals and an explosive denouement. His pacing and dialogue is propulsive, leading to a page-turner. His multi-layered characters are endearing and demand further tales. Even though this novella is the second in a series, it stands alone. Excuse me, while I go and download the first tale.
Thanks to NetGalley and Subterranean Press for providing an Uncorrected Proof in exchange for an honest review.

Five years later in the real world and two years later in the fictional one and Tony Valdez is back. Just like the murdered individuals in this world of Scalzi’s imagination that for some inexplicable reason continue to return to life. Apparently, this new take on the (pardon the pun) beaten to death undead genre was just too fun to leave at one and done, so Scalzi, no stranger to serials, serialized it.
Is it necessary? No, not really. It is fun? Yeah, definitely. I’d say overall it’s somewhat inferior to its predecessor, while also longer and considerably more convoluted when it comes to the murder mystery Tony finds himself embroiled in. Legit gigs have been tougher and tougher to come by and the less than legit opportunities are fraught with dangers. It’s a lot for a guy who just wants to do his job and lead a simple life, though to his credit, Tony maintains his composure admirably, especially since there’s a certain lady cop to impress.
To be fair, this is probably meant to be enjoyed as an audiobook. GR has three listings for it, all in audio, Quinto’s back doing it and I’m sure it’s excellent once again. And I read it, because that’s what was available on Netgalley. Given options, I’d definitely let Quinto narrate this one for me. But as is it was a quick fun read. Not Scalzi at his best, but entertaining all the same. Thanks Netgalley.

Everything I’ve come to enjoy from Scalzi’s work. Snappy dialogue, clever plot, fun SF conceit that’s used to explore the world it’s set in. Scalzi does a good job explaining the conceit quickly (murder victims disappear upon death, and wake up at home), but you’ll still need to have read or listened to the first novella to enjoy this one fully, as it expects you to know some of the interpersonal relationships. I’m curious about where he’s going next.