The Dispatcher
Registered by 
GoryDetails
of Nashua, New Hampshire USA on 12/11/2020
This Book is Currently in the Wild!
GoryDetails of Nashua, New Hampshire USA on 12/11/2020 This Book is Currently in the Wild!
1 journaler for this copy...
I enjoyed the audiobook via Audible.com, and decided to buy an MP3-CD copy to release. It's narrated very well by Zachary Quinto.
The story itself has an intriguing - if nonsensical! - premise: it's set in modern times, but in a world where some years back people who died by murder would - 99 times out of a hundred - vanish only to reappear in their homes (or some other place they considered a safe haven), nude but alive and restored to whatever their state of health was a few hours before their deaths. (The mystical healing-and-teleportation combo is weird enough; the fact that it only kicks in for murders, and even then doesn't ALWAYS work, is even more bizarre. But it's the premise we're given.)
So. Within these parameters, the world has adjusted in interesting ways - among them, the training and licensing of "Dispatchers", authorized to kill people who are on the point of dying by illness or accident, so that the murder-clause will kick in and they'll (probably) pop back to life again. Legal complications, religious issues, personal concerns all get tangled up in this - as do illegal "dispatchers" hired to kill people under circumstances other than those sanctioned by law. Part of the fun is in seeing the ways people have reacted to the new reality; some have found ways to weaponize the situation, others to turn it into a game, still others to make a profit...
Protagonist Tony Valdez is snarky and principled, but does have to deal with shades-of-grey situations here and there - not to mention conflicting loyalties. An entertaining tale indeed!
[There's a TV Tropes page on the series, with some entertaining tidbits. And there's a sequel, Murder By Other Means.]
The story itself has an intriguing - if nonsensical! - premise: it's set in modern times, but in a world where some years back people who died by murder would - 99 times out of a hundred - vanish only to reappear in their homes (or some other place they considered a safe haven), nude but alive and restored to whatever their state of health was a few hours before their deaths. (The mystical healing-and-teleportation combo is weird enough; the fact that it only kicks in for murders, and even then doesn't ALWAYS work, is even more bizarre. But it's the premise we're given.)
So. Within these parameters, the world has adjusted in interesting ways - among them, the training and licensing of "Dispatchers", authorized to kill people who are on the point of dying by illness or accident, so that the murder-clause will kick in and they'll (probably) pop back to life again. Legal complications, religious issues, personal concerns all get tangled up in this - as do illegal "dispatchers" hired to kill people under circumstances other than those sanctioned by law. Part of the fun is in seeing the ways people have reacted to the new reality; some have found ways to weaponize the situation, others to turn it into a game, still others to make a profit...
Protagonist Tony Valdez is snarky and principled, but does have to deal with shades-of-grey situations here and there - not to mention conflicting loyalties. An entertaining tale indeed!
[There's a TV Tropes page on the series, with some entertaining tidbits. And there's a sequel, Murder By Other Means.]
Journal Entry 2 by GoryDetails at Little Free Library - CYAA - 27 Raymond Rd. in Candia, New Hampshire USA on Sunday, December 27, 2020
GoryDetails at Little Free Library - CYAA - 27 Raymond Rd. in Candia, New Hampshire USA on Sunday, December 27, 2020
Released 3 yrs ago (12/27/2020 UTC) at Little Free Library - CYAA - 27 Raymond Rd. in Candia, New Hampshire USA
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
Guidelines for safely visiting and stocking Little Free Libraries during the COVID-19 pandemic, from the LFL site here.I left this audiobook in the Little Free Library inside the CYAA entrance - I thought a sheltered spot might be best for the media, which might not stand up to being frozen solid in an outdoor LFL. Hope someone enjoys it!
[See other recent releases in NH here.]
*** Released for the 2020 D for December challenge. ***
*** Released for the 2020 What's in a Name challenge, for the embedded "Pat" in the title. ***
