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meganmarie1212's review against another edition
3.0
When people are murdered, they come back. Or when a dispatcher kills them. Tony is a dispatcher enlisted by the police to help with the disappearance of his coworker. Coworker allowed a rich, old guy's wife to die when she was ready instead of bringing her back over and over. He was found and Tony may go work for the cops full time.
phedrebelle's review against another edition
5.0
This has been sitting in my queue for awhile and I finally decided to give it a shot. I really enjoyed it and would like a longer version with more stories and cases.
crystalstarrlight's review against another edition
4.0
Bullet Review:
I feel like this is science fiction in the vein of Isaac Asimov and the "Robot" series - let's start with a premise (People when "murdered" no longer permanently die) and let's create a scenario and see what happens. I happen to have enjoyed Scalzi in the past (okay, I liked "Red Shirts", haven't gotten around to reading anything else yet), so when I chose this Audible selection, I was fairly certain I would enjoy - and I did. My goal these days is to read things I actually enjoy instead of following what other reviewers say I will enjoy (and 9 times out of 10 I don't), and this is another on the stack of things I really enjoyed.
Also, Zachary Quinto is a great audiobook narrator.
I feel like this is science fiction in the vein of Isaac Asimov and the "Robot" series - let's start with a premise (People when "murdered" no longer permanently die) and let's create a scenario and see what happens. I happen to have enjoyed Scalzi in the past (okay, I liked "Red Shirts", haven't gotten around to reading anything else yet), so when I chose this Audible selection, I was fairly certain I would enjoy - and I did. My goal these days is to read things I actually enjoy instead of following what other reviewers say I will enjoy (and 9 times out of 10 I don't), and this is another on the stack of things I really enjoyed.
Also, Zachary Quinto is a great audiobook narrator.
heathergstl's review against another edition
5.0
Totally loved this book!! I loved the premise of murdered people being able to come back to life, I loved the characters, the story line, and I LOVED that is was narrated by Zachary Quinto!! I only wish it were the start of a whole series!!
yaakovakiva's review against another edition
4.0
This was great, and the narration really excellent. Great free tidbit from Audible... would love to see this story go further. (Hint for Scalzi!)
bookchik15's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
timinbc's review against another edition
3.0
I think the novella is sometimes what an author does with an interesting idea that isn't strong enough to support a novel. If you accept that, you are agreeing to examine it differently. For me, the idea doesn't need to stand up to intense scrutiny, to the various "use cases" that a novel would have time to examine. So, as a novella, this works; as a novel, it wouldn't and I think - I hope - Scalzi knew that.
Scalzi delivers a competent protagonist, a competent cop, and some gangsters of the elegant "Ah, Mr. Bond, so glad you could stop by" variety. None are memorable, nor should they be because we are supposed to be looking at the "what would happen if ..." aspect. There has to be a whodunit aspect, and that's provided so that everything fits together.
There's just enough examination of what WOULD happen, although many reviews here note that even this short, quick story leads us to quite a few "yes, but what about ...?" areas. I think I prefer having those left to the reader. Maybe in this case it's because the "what if" premise is, well, seriously unlikely.
Indeed, returning to the length again, there are some issues that would have had to be explored in a novel, but would not have been interesting. There would have been a religion subplot, no doubt involving a moderate and a fanatic. There would have been a military subplot, exploring how we can use this to stop the communists from stealing our precious bodily fluids. And a legal one, with long philosophical expositions.
You still want a novel? What about a fantasy book, say perhaps with orcs that can't be killed for long because of a mechanism like the one here? Let's explore the logistics of having thousands of naked warriors waking up miles away going, "Ow, that hurt!" and having to get ready to go in again. Oh, wait, that is way too much like Joe Haldeman's Forever War and several others.
Yep. It's a good novella. Let's leave it and move on to a new idea.
Scalzi delivers a competent protagonist, a competent cop, and some gangsters of the elegant "Ah, Mr. Bond, so glad you could stop by" variety. None are memorable, nor should they be because we are supposed to be looking at the "what would happen if ..." aspect. There has to be a whodunit aspect, and that's provided so that everything fits together.
There's just enough examination of what WOULD happen, although many reviews here note that even this short, quick story leads us to quite a few "yes, but what about ...?" areas. I think I prefer having those left to the reader. Maybe in this case it's because the "what if" premise is, well, seriously unlikely.
Indeed, returning to the length again, there are some issues that would have had to be explored in a novel, but would not have been interesting. There would have been a religion subplot, no doubt involving a moderate and a fanatic. There would have been a military subplot, exploring how we can use this to stop the communists from stealing our precious bodily fluids. And a legal one, with long philosophical expositions.
You still want a novel? What about a fantasy book, say perhaps with orcs that can't be killed for long because of a mechanism like the one here? Let's explore the logistics of having thousands of naked warriors waking up miles away going, "Ow, that hurt!" and having to get ready to go in again. Oh, wait, that is way too much like Joe Haldeman's Forever War and several others.
Yep. It's a good novella. Let's leave it and move on to a new idea.
vishwesh's review against another edition
3.0
This book essentially must be written to be heard. Audiobook is fantastically narrated with good sense of humour. I liked Scalzi’s character building and highly recommend to try the audiobook, it’s under 3 hours.
writermaguire's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
trish_smith's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75