Murder by Other Means

The Dispatcher, Book 2

De: John Scalzi

Narrado por: Zachary Quinto

From Hugo and Audie Award-winning author John Scalzi comes an exciting sequel to the New York Times best-selling, number one Audible hit The Dispatcher, performed by the incomparable Zachary Quinto.

Welcome to the new world, in which murder is all but a thing of the past. Because when someone kills you, 999 times out of 1,000, you instantly come back to life. In this world, there are dispatchers - licensed killers who step in when you’re at risk of a natural or unintentional death. They kill you - so you can live.

Tony Valdez is used to working his job as a dispatcher within the rules of the law and the state. But times are tough, and more and more Tony finds himself riding the line between what’s legal and what will pay his bills. After one of these shady gigs and after being a witness to a crime gone horribly wrong, Tony discovers that people around him are dying, for reasons that make no sense...and which just may implicate him.

Tony is running out of time: to solve the mystery of these deaths, to keep others from dying, and to keep himself from being a victim of what looks like murder, by other means.

©2020 John Scalzi (P)2020 2020 Audible Originals, LLC

Delightful Mystery

When I listened to The Dispatcher in 2016 I was disappointed. I wanted more. A novel would have been nice, but there was no mention of a sequel or even a series of stories. Now out of the blue - the sequel is here! All the pieces come together in another tale of a world where murder isn't usually permanent. I hope rumors of a third story are true.

so so great!

Loved the first one and this one is just as good! The story & performance were both well done in my opinion. I can't wait for the third! ;)

How to commit murder with 0.1% success

Murder by Other Means is the 2nd John Scalzi novella in his dispatcher universe. In this otherwise near future universe some unknown change has occurred where people can still die, but if 'murdered,' they come back, naked and in a safe place 999 of of 1000. As such, the profession of 'dispatcher' has been created where individuals at risk of dying are dispatched or murdered to ironically prevent their dying. Tony is a dispatcher who will sometimes skirt the law. After being in a bank during a robbery attempt, he becomes a suspect. Then when people only tangentially related to the robbery start committing suicide, suspicions are really aroused. What unfolds is a detective tale with some strange behaviors thrown in for good measure.

Scalzi does a credible job crafting a tight tale in a short piece. While the concept is intriguing, the dispatcher notion has some inherent contradictions that a longer story would struggle to deal with. The plot is well designed and executed, moves quickly, and doesn't get hung up on sci-fi details. There is good exploration of the unusual ways this property can be exploited (thrill seeking, evading the law, stopping a suicide, etc.)

The narration is reasonable with adequate character distinction and brisk pacing. This is quick one sitting listen.

The Dispatcher Book #2

Awesome story for book #2 of this series,,,, Welcome to the new world, in which murder is all but a thing of the past. Because when someone kills you, 999 times out of 1,000, you instantly come back to life. In this world, there are dispatchers—licensed killers who step in when you’re at risk of a natural or unintentional death. They kill you—so you can live. Zachary Quinto is great in narrating

Wonderful sequel! Such dark fun!

I loved this book. I'm looking forward to more installments. Please write more dispatcher books. This is so much fun. Also, Zachary Quinto is AWESOME as Tony!

Great mystery with a syfy feeling

Stumbled across the Dispatcher (mostly due to the fact that Quinto was the narrator) and was hoping that this would become a series. I've enjoyed Mr Scalzi's books, but there is just something about this one that I really like. The concept that death seemingly took a holiday and left some guy who created a loop hole for death for 99.99% of the time is very interesting. I hope there will be others that he releases in this series - and I don't have to wait another 4 years for it to happen.

Love It‼️

I love the Dispatcher books.
Are there anymore⁉️⁉️ I am going to check. Thank you.

What fun books!

Short, sweet and different. You just have to read one to understand. These “Dispatcher” books are very good. So different and in a good way. Hope he writes more of these. Will try his novels next, since he has several of them and all get high ratings.

Unexpected

I didn't know what to expect from The Dispatcher and Murder by Other Means, but I was truly enthralled by these short stories. They are very well written by John Scalzi. And Zackary Quinto did an amazing job reading these character, giving them life and depth. If there were more I would definitely not hesitate to listen to them.

Scalzi does it again 4½ Stars

Good book. Well written and easy to follow. I hate over complicated books with so many charaters I need crip notes to keep up. I liked THE DISPATCHER a lot (one of the few book I will listen to again) and this was almost as good, Great short story.
Highly recommend!
I got the bok free but would like to own it EXCEPT the price is far tohigh for a book that'sd only 3.5 hours long.