History Literature / TheDispatcher

* {{Infodump}}: Valdez does this at the beginning, when explaining his job to a police detective, someone who already ought to know about ResurrectiveImmortality, since, you know, it's been a thing for about ''ten years''.

* ResurrectiveImmortality: Anyone who is killed by another person has a 999 out of 1000 chance of coming back to life, with their body restored to its status a few hours before death. Why? How? No one knows. But it works. This doesn't apply to suicide, natural causes, and no-fault accidents, though. The resurrected people reappear naked in their homes ([[spoiler:actually, in a place they feel safe, which is typically their homes, unless they don't feel safe at home]]). Oh, and they remember everything up to the point of brain death, including the pain of said death.

In 2020, Scalzi released a sequel titled ''Murder by Other Means'', continuing the story of Tony Valdez. The sequel picks up [[TimeSkip two years after the first novella]], with Tony hit by hard times thanks to budget cuts by the city of Chicago, with many of his regular gigs drying up. Tony does an off-the-books job for some quick cash and goes to deposit the money to his bank when the bank is robbed.

* ResurrectiveImmortality: Anyone who is killed by another person has a 999 out of 1000 chance of coming back to life, with their body restored to its status a few hours before death. Why? How? No one knows. But it works. This doesn't apply to suicide, natural causes, and no-fault accidents, though. The resurrected people reappear naked in their homes ([[spoiler:actually, in a place they feel safe, which is typically their homes, unless they don't feel safe at home]]). Oh, and they remember everything up to the point of brain death, including the pain of said death.
* YourCheatingHeart: The first recorded resurrection happened because of a woman who had cheated on her husband and didn't feel like having an awkward conversation with him about that, so she opted to push him off a mountain during their vacation. The next thing he knew after impact, he was naked and at home, on the other side of the world. Then he called 911 and reported his own murder.

* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:In the second novella, the bad guys use blackmail and threats of torture against their loved ones to force a number of people to commit suicide, thereby dying for good. This, naturally, arouses interest from the police, who find the string of suicides suspicious. During the climax, Tony is the one who turns the tables on the lawyer Barnes, explaining that his life is pretty much over as his conspiracy has been unraveled by the Chicago police and all manner of federal agencies. He picks up the gun he was previously trying to get Tony to use on himself and pulls the trigger, but the gun clicks on empty, as Tony has secretly removed the only bullet, unwilling to let the bastard get off so easily.]]

* BankRobbery: Early in the second book, Tony witnesses a bank robbery by four masked men. One of them recognizes him and calls him by name. When the cops show up, the robbers have one of them shoot the other three in the head as part of their escape plan before committing SuicideByCop. Three of the four bodies disappear moments later, but one remains dead, specifically the one who recognized Tony.

''The Dispatcher'' is an audio novella, written by Creator/JohnScalzi and narrated by Creator/ZacharyQuinto. The audiobook was released by Audible Studios for free on October 4, 2016, until November 2, 2016. It has since been released in e-book and print formats.

The novella deals with a world, where ResurrectiveImmortality has existed for about a decade now, even though no one knows how or why. The only thing that is known is that anyone (well, ''almost'' anyone) who is intentionally killed by another person vanishes in a puff of air and reappears in their home, naked but alive, their body restored to its state from several hours prior to the death. Anyone who dies of natural causes, suicide, or accidents is dead for good. This has resulted in the creation of government-sanctioned Dispatchers, whose job is to kill (or "dispatch" in their lingo) people near death (e.g., due to a failed hospital treatment) in order to give them another chance at life.

In 2020, Scalzi released a sequel titled ''Murder by Other Means'', continuing the story of Tony Valdez.

* EroticAsphixiation: Clubs like this have become more popular in this world. They prefer to hire dispatchers in order to kill someone who has gone too far, especially if that person has done it himself, which would constitute as suicide otherwise. Tony is firmly against these type of gigs.

* ResurrectiveImmortality: Anyone who is killed by another person has a 999 out of 1000 chance of coming back to life. Why? How? No one knows. But it works. The trope doesn't apply to suicide and no-fault accidents, though. Also, since the resurrected person's body is restored to a version only a few hours prior, it does nothing to prevent death of natural causes. The resurrected people reappear naked in their homes ([[spoiler:actually, in a place they feel safe, which is typically their homes, unless they don't feel safe at home]]). Oh, and they remember everything up to the point of brain death, including the pain of said death.
* YourCheatingHeart: The first recorded resurrection happened because of a woman, who had cheated on her husband and didn't feel like having an awkward conversation with him about that, so she opted to push him off a mountain during their vacation. The next thing he knew after impact, he was naked and at home, on the other side of the world. Then he called 911 and reported his own murder.

* UsefulNotes/{{Dice}}: Every Dispatcher carries a set of three ten-sided dice in order to explain his job to others. They are used to illustrate the odds of a failed "dispatch" (1 in 1000).

* DeniedFoodAsPunishment: It's not uncommon for a person someone else wants dead to be tied up and left in a secluded location for days with no food or water. Eventually, the person dies. Since this counts as murder, the person comes back... but still near death, typically beyond even modern medicine's capabilities for recovery (if he or she even has the strength to reach a phone and call 911, that is). The next death is considered natural, so no resurrection occurs.

The novella deals with a world, where ResurrectiveImmortality has existed for about a decade now, even though no one knows how or why. The only thing that is known is that anyone who is intentionally killed by another person vanishes in a puff of air and reappears in their home, naked but alive, their body restored to its state from several hours prior to the death. This has resulted in the creation of government-sanctioned Dispatchers, whose job is to kill (or "dispatch" in their lingo) people near death in order to give them another chance at life. Also, a suicide doesn't count as murder, so anyone who kills themself is dead for good. The same applies to fatal accidents, where no one is at fault.

The novella deals with a world, where ResurrectiveImmortality has existed for about a decade now, even though no one knows how or why. The only thing that is known is that anyone who is intentionally killed by another person vanishes in a puff of air and reappears in their home, naked but alive, their body restored to its state from several hours prior to the death. This has resulted in the creation of government-sanctioned Dispatchers, whose job is to kill (or "dispatch" in their lingo) people near death in order to give them another chance at life, although it does nothing to people who are about to die of natural causes anyway. Also, a suicide doesn't count as murder, so anyone who kills him- or herself is dead for good. The same applies to fatal accidents, where no one is at fault. It has also resulted in things like war and crime to change radically.

The novella deals with a world, where ResurrectiveImmortality has existed for about a decade now, even though no one knows how or why. The only thing that is known is that anyone, who is killed by another person, whether intentionally or not, vanishes in a puff of air and reappears in his or her home, naked but alive, his or her body restored to its state from several hours prior to the death. This has resulted in the creation of government-sanctioned Dispatchers, whose job is to kill (or "dispatch" in their lingo) people near death in order to give them another chance at life, although it does nothing to people who are about to die of natural causes anyway. Also, a suicide doesn't count as murder, so anyone who kills him- or herself is dead for good. The same applies to fatal accidents, where no one is at fault. It has also resulted in things like war and crime to change radically.

''The Dispatcher'' is an audio-exclusive novella, written by Creator/JohnScalzi and narrated by Creator/ZacharyQuinto. The audiobook was released by Audible Studios for free on October 4, 2016, until November 2, 2016.

The novella deals with a world, where ResurrectiveImmortality has existed for about a decade now, even though no one knows how or why. The only thing that is known is that anyone, who is killed by another person, whether intentionally or not, vanishes in a puff of air and reappears in his or her home, naked but alive, his or her body restored to its state from several hours prior to the death. This has resulted in the creation of government-sanctioned Dispatchers, whose job is to kill (or "dispatch" in their lingo) people near death in order to give them another chance at life, although it does nothing to people, who are about to die of natural causes anyway. Also, a suicide doesn't count as murder, so anyone who kills him- or herself is dead for good. The same applies to fatal accidents, where no one is at fault. It has also resulted in things like war and crime to change radically.

* ProfessionalKiller: An interesting variation. Dispatchers are licensed professionals, whose job involves "dispatching" people, who are about to die, in order for them to be resurrected. Typically, they use a special tool that injects a tiny explosive device into the brain, which can be then detonated either directly through the tool or remotely with a phone app. This ensures immediately brain death. The novella beings with Tony Valdez being present at a heart surgery, where the doctor is unable to save the patient, forcing Tony to step in and do his job. Otherwise, the patient would have died permanently, since the surgeon wouldn't be considered his killer by whatever force performs these resurrections. All police are required to surrender their sidearms to Dispatchers upon request, if an emergency "dispatch" has to be performed and no tool is available. All Dispatchers are trained to shoot targets in the head in such a manner as to ensure immediate brain death. Also, most surgeons hate having Dispatchers present when they're working, since they believe that it's an insult to their skills. However, [=HMOs=] demand that a Dispatcher be on hand during high-risk surgeries, so hospitals don't have a choice.
* ResurrectiveImmortality: Anyone, who is killed by another person has a 999 out of 1000 chance of coming back to life. Why? How? No one knows. But it works. The trope doesn't apply to suicide and no-fault accidents, though. Also, since the resurrected person's body is restored to a version only a few hours prior, it does nothing to prevent death of natural causes. The resurrected people reappear naked in their homes ([[spoiler:actually, in a place they feel safe, which is typically their homes, unless they don't feel safe at home]]). Oh, and they remember everything up to the point of brain death, including the pain of said death.

* UsefulNotes/{{Dice}}: Every Dispatcher carries a set of three six-sided dice in order to explain his job to others. They are used to illustrate the odds of a failed "dispatch" (1 in 1000).

* ProfessionalKiller: An interesting variation. Dispatchers are licensed professionals, whose job involves "dispatching" people, who are about to die, in order for them to be resurrected. Typically, they use a special tool that injects a tiny explosive device into the brain, which can be then detonated either directly through the tool or remotely with a phone app. This ensures immediately brain death. The novella beings with Tony Valdez being present at a heart surgery, where the doctor is unable to save the patient, forcing Tony to step in and do his job. Otherwise, the patient would have died permanently, since the surgeon wouldn't be considered his killer by whatever force performs these resurrections. All police are required to surrender their sidearms to Dispatchers upon request, if an emergency "dispatch" has to be performed and no tool is available. All Dispatchers are trained to shoot targets in the head in such a manner as to ensure immediate brain death.

* TheMafia: At one point, Valdez is "invited" to come with a bunch of shady characters in a limo at the point of a gun. After meeting their boss, he is told that the guy has spent a lot of effort in moving away from his company's less than legal origins and is trying to go fully legit. However, some habits are hard to lose, such as kidnapping people at gunpoint and taking them to a construction site for a talk.

* ResurrectiveImmortality: Anyone, who is killed by another person has a 999 out of 1000 chance of coming back to life. Why? How? No one knows. But it works. The trope doesn't apply to suicide and no-fault accidents, though. Also, since the resurrected person's body is restored to a version only a few hours prior, it does nothing to prevent death of natural causes. The resurrected people reappear naked in their homes ([[spoiler:actually, in a place they feel safe, which is typically their homes, unless they don't feel safe at home]]).

* ResurrectiveImmortality: Anyone, who is killed by another person has a 999 out of 1000 chance of coming back to life. Why? How? No one knows. But it works. The trope doesn't apply to suicide and no-fault accidents, though. Also, since the resurrected person's body is restored to a version only a few hours prior, it does nothing to prevent death of natural causes.