Reviews

The Dispatcher by John Scalzi

I recently picked up a couple short stories on Audible that were interesting enough to write about.

The first is The Dispatcher by John Scalzi. This story sets us in the future when people who have been murdered start reappearing in their beds alive and well. After years of this phenomenon existing, a new career is created called the dispatcher. These people, for example, sit in on risky surgeries and if things turn for the worse they shoot the patient, call a hotline, and make sure the patient ends up back in their home with no lasting injuries from the murder. But what happens when, inevitably these dispatchers start taking side jobs that lay a bit more in the grey area of ethics?

I wasn’t aware that this was a short story when I first downloaded it. I think I would have gone in to listening with a different expectation; after finishing the book I felt there was something left unsaid. The storyline is so interesting that I really think this could have been a full length novel. I thought the lack of character development was due to the length of the story, but unfortunately for this author, I quickly picked up another short story and that one proved that characters can be developed quickly enough to be satisfying. So overall, I would say great plotline but it fell flat in the writing.

Malia's Pizza Rating

Pizza Poppers

Evil Eye by Madhuri Shekar

The second book I picked up was called Evil Eye by Madhuri Shekar. An Indian mother is constantly on her daughter’s case about being in her late 20’s and not having a husband already. She tried to arrange marriages, but her independent American daughter resists all persuasions. It would seem like a dream come true, then, when her daughter begins to date a wealthy Indian man right? But there is something that doesn’t sit right with this mother, and it’s something mystical and terrifying as her past is brought to the surface after many years since burying it.

This was also a short story, but it was so very wonderfully written. The characters are gripping and the way Shekar writes is creative. All conversations are held over a series of phone calls; it’s a new take that I quite liked. I would highly recommend this story for a quick edge of your seat kind of read.

Malia's Pizza Rating

The Evil Eye – which is what I give you if you ask for a slice of my pizza.