THE DISPATCHER: TRAVEL BY BULLET - John Scalzi


 John Scalzi's Dispatcher series is a fun, fast-paced, pulp-style scifi adventure series.  The basic premise is that sometime, not too long ago, something happened (no one knows what or why - that's not important) so that 99.9% of the people who are murdered come back to life, naked, in the place they feel most comfortable (typically a bedroom at home, but certainly not always).

This has given rise to the legitimate profession of 'dispatching' wherein someone facing an untimely death (such as a medical procedure or an accident) can be dispatched (ie: murdered) and their life is reset. Our series protagonist is Tony Valdez, a 'dispatcher' who works closely with the police.

Now, with the pandemic in full swing, Tony is working quite regularly at a local hospital, dispatching patients who are likely to succumb to the COVID virus (only after carefully explaining the potential  downsides to the individual and their families) with the hopes that they would be reset without the virus. His work is extremely busy.

He gets called away by one of the only people for whom he would leave his work - a fellow Dispatcher who's asked for his help. Not surprisingly, some have found a way to use the dispatching concept to scheme, steal, and smuggle everything from cash to cryptocurrency and now Tony's caught up in it.

Aside from the concept, which I really like, I greatly appreciate the pulp scifi/noir feel to this series. Tony Valdez is really a different kind of protagonist.  He's a killer ... a legally sanctioned killer. But killing people, even if they should come back to life (and whether they do or don't is not obvious to Tony), can take an emotional toll, which is why a request for help from a fellow Dispatcher is taken seriously.

Don't look for a lot of character development. Valdez is the most fleshed-out character here and even with that we're getting a character who is pretty much the embodiment of all of Scalzi's leading men. The rest of the people appearing in this book...?  They aren't going to stand out - they're there to help bring home the story and not much else.

Considering the killing and mob-like actions, this is actually some pretty light reading. It is pulp fiction, after all - fast-paced, wise-talking protagonist who gets the upper hand over some not-so-bright bad guys.  Sometimes that's just the kind of book you need, and Scalzi delivers it well.

Looking for a good book? The Dispatcher: Travel by Bullet is a short, fast scifi pulp mystery by John Scalzi.  Great for a weekend get-away read (but get-away by car, bus, train, or plane and not by bullet, please).

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars

* * * * * *

Travel by Bullet

author: John Scalzi

series: The Dispatcher #3

publisher: Subterranean Press

ISBN: 9781645240815

hardcover, 224 pages

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

VINYL RESTING PLACE - Olivia Blacke

Image
 Juni Jessup and her two sister, Tansy and Maggie, have gone into business together in their hometown of Cedar River, Texas, opening a combination record store and coffee shop. Vinyl LPs are making a comeback after all, despite critics thinking the medium was dead.  But speaking of 'dead' ... finding a dead body in the supply closet just as they are looking to have a grand opening is not part of the plan.  Juni's life gets more complicated when their uncle, Calvin, already a suspect in the murder, disappears. And the police officer leading the investigation is Juni's EX-boyfriend (who passive-aggressively keeps putting himself back into her life). Convinced that her uncle would never murder anyone, Juni sets out to prove his innocence - which isn't easy since he's making himself look guilty - because Calvin is family and family is EVERYthing to Juni. As readers of my blog know, I'm not a big fan of most cozy mysteries, but the setting caught my eye and my in...
Read more

THE WALLED CITY - Ryan Graudin

Image
  Jin and her sister, Mei Yee, were taken and sold and then sent to the lawless Walled City to serve as prostitutes or slaves to anyone willing to pay. Jin managed to escape her captivity, but not the Walled City and she now lurks about, disguised as a boy and is trying to track down the brothel where her sister is still captive. Jin will work odd delivery jobs to earn a small bit of money and hopefully have a legitimate means of coming in contact with her sister's captors.  This is how she meets up with Dai, a mysterious boy who has somehow managed to avoid running with any of the gangs in the city but he seems to have his own unusual connections, which Jon could desperately use if she has any hope of finding Mei Yee. But Dai has his own desperate needs.  The story is told from the different perspectives of each character and we do bounce around quite a bit as the chapters are generally short. This never bothered me, which is slightly unusual as often I find this techni...
Read more

THE RAVEN THIEF - Gigi Pandian

Image
 With Tempest Raj now a member of the company, Secret Staircase Construction (a company who, as their title suggests, builds mystery-themed, secret rooms inside homes) has finished their first job. Their client now wants to celebrate to kick off her new beginning - new home and new life now that she's divorced from her cheating ex-husband, famous mystery author Corbin Colt. First up, a mock séance to remove any trace of Corbin from the property, led by Tempest's friend, Sanjay.   But during that séance, while all those gathered sat in a dark room holding hands, Corbin's dead body crashes the party, falling across the table in front of everyone. There were eight people in the room, and they were all holding hands, but all the evidence points to one of them being the murderer.  Suspicions point to Ash, Tempest's grandfather, because he was the only one with Corbin's blood on him. Of course, as a doctor, he was also the only one who checked on the body - ...
Read more