A sputtering start (two protagonists introduced and killed off inside 50p) gives way to a servicable, somewhat (absurdly) humourous 'friller that will at least keep the pages turning. Some of it is surprising, some of it predictable and the exposition could be handled better, but if you liked Redshirts or Fuzzt Nation you'll probably get along well enough with this. He's written better and worse.

Okay, maybe not objectively 5 stars, but this book was just exactly what I needed right now. It's a little silly on the surface, but the goofy premise and light humor and bantering dialogue camouflage some serious themes, one of which surprise-smacked me in the face towards the end. Because it was there all along, I just didn't notice because I was laughing. 

Audiobook, via Audible, and Wil Wheaton's performance was as perfect as always. 

Thanks for the rec, Char. You never steer me wrong. 

I took my Christmas book credit and spent a tiny bit of it on a Christmas book. In part, because I really like Scalzi and I enjoy rereading him. And also in part because I couldn't get at my other Christmas books this year, which I think left me rather lacking in seasonal cheer. It has been a season of pneumonia (the Spouse) and lethargy with a side of struggle.

For example, after quite a few years of use and storage (more than six, less than fourteen), after carefully cleaning them and reinserting the points that had dropped out, and frankly, after marveling that they had survived so well for so long, this year I managed to break the frames of both of my Moravian stars.

But now is the time of recovery and rest and lying about with a fully stocked refrigerator and many delicious baked goods (ummm, breakfast cake!) and nothing to do for an entire week but eat and read since the university shuts down our whole department from the 23rd through the 2nd.

Yes, so a bunch of short humorous pieces and one absolute tear jerker. It's a good mix. With pictures, too. More books should have pictures.

Usually I don't mark a book Beloved until I've read it at least twice and was delighted both times. In this case I had read all but the three new pieces previously, so I decided to go on and count that.

Personal copy 

This was a fantastic sequel to Lock In.  Crime, mystery, suspense, humor and a little scifi.  Scalzi is an incredible story teller.  I really like the characters and the story held my attention.

Two favorite parts: 1) Wheaton is a phenomenal narrator.  I would listen to most things he narrated.  2) A large part of this story takes place in my hometown, Philly.  Scalzi was spot on with his representation. He got the mannerism,  the streets, sections of town all down perfectly.  It felt like he was a Philly native, which I appreciated so much!

This was a really fun story and I hope he continues with the series.  I really enjoy going on adventures with Agents Shane and Van!

This was an odd one, but not in a bad way.  Zachary Quinto narrated this (almost) chilling tale about death by murder not being permanent.  Somehow someone stumbled upon this fact.  Death by suicide, accident,  natural causes are normal deaths.  If a person is murdered, 99% of the time their murdered body disintegrates and they materialize in the place they are safest/happiest, e.g. home.

So of course with this new twist on death there comes a revenue stream and a new occupation.  Dispatchers are basically licensed murderers.   They work with the government and insurance companies.  Dispatching a person who is in a surgery gone wrong saves the hospital and insurance company tons of money because the person is "dispatched" by a appointed  dispatcher and they materialize back at home (in most cases) in the state they were in some hours prior to surgery.  They still need the surgery, but now they have the added bonus of knowing what went wrong the first time and not making the same mistake twice.

So of course there is a private sector for rich people.  And of course there always the chance of something going wrong, which happens in this tale.  A dispatch goes wrong and then the dispatcher mysteriously goes missing.  Now it's up to a fellow dispatcher and police officer to find out what happened and save the missing person before they die for real.

This was hella creepy and Quinto did a good job telling Scalzi's story.