“The Dispatcher is a deceptively complex world,” actor—and audiobook narrator—Zachary Quinto says in a recent video released by Audible to promote The Dispatcher, their forthcoming sci-fi thriller novella from John Scalzi. “It presents itself in one way, and then as you get into it, it reveals much more depth and much more complexity among these characters and what motivates them. I feel like it’s one of those worlds that you can get lost in, and while you think you know what’s happening, I feel like it takes you to exciting and unexpected territory. It does it with characters that are colorful and dynamic, and certainly a lot of fun to play.”
Audible has released a two-minute excerpt from the novella, which will be available October 4.
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 a supposed 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.
Quinto narrates a short scene from the point of view of Valdez, revealing the kind of grisly acts of good will he performs as a Dispatcher. You can listen to it here.