MINI REVIEW: TRAVEL BY BULLET

The fastest way to travel...

I had such a good experience with the second novella with this series and also had a little time to spare before the release of WIND AND TRUTH, so I decided to dive right into the third entry in Scalzi's supernatural crime thriller procedural. 

HOW I RATED IT 

4/5 TRAVEL BY BULLET offers another fascinating and fast paced mystery that builds upon prior instalments brilliantly and finishes with a satisfying bang. 

CONTENT

We rejoin our favorite Dispatcher, Tony Valdez (a guy who kills people so that they don't actually die ... most of the time) who has been able to find legitimate work again at his local hospitals in Chicago. A lot has changed since we last saw him as it seems a pandemic has led to there being a much greater need for the Dispatcher profession. Coupled with that is a law that's been put into place which was supposed to grant families a means to compassionately treat their sick or dying loved ones, but in actuality can cause more harm than good. It was interesting to kick off with Tony trying to dissuade a family from using his professional services and I enjoyed delving into how the bizarre laws of death in this universe have crept into their political system. What I enjoyed a little less was the vague references to a pandemic and the continued practice of wearing masks while out in public. I don't know exactly when this story came out, but it felt strangely topical to the events of 2020-2022. Had I listened to this during that time frame, it may not have bothered me, but this strange sort of "pandemic-fiction" just felt like something that didn't age super well (in the sense that I don't think anyone really likes to dwell on that time) and was also confusing since Tony very clearly lives in an alternate version of our world, so bringing in mirrored events didn't really feel needed even though this event did play a role in the setup of this particular story. This aside, the story that unfolds here is a ton of fun. Tony is quickly tugged back into the shady side of Chicago when one of his old Dispatcher pals turns up at the hospital in critical condition and asks for him by name. In his efforts to help a friend, Tony gets himself tangled up in the elite criminal underbelly of the city and engages in a complicated dance of trust with his friend, Detective Nona as well as an agent from the FBI. The stakes have never felt higher and I was thoroughly engaged by the interactions that Tony had with characters on both sides of the law. He's a fascinating individual that is a good man at his core, but he walks a very thin moral line in the interest of doing what he thinks is best and that can make him both frustrating and endearing in a deeply human way. As with the previous installments, this isn't a story that is particularly complex or profound, but Scalzi has a real gift for delivering something that is solidly entertaining, fun to think about, and makes the most out of every single scene. I will also say that this installment had a little bit more going on in terms of the layers to the mystery that unfolds with even more twists than usual, which I greatly enjoyed. At the time of writing this review, I don't know if this is the end of the series or not. Each of the prior novellas concluded in a satisfying way, but still left the door open for more and this is no exception. If this is the grand finale, then I think it is a fitting one. If there's more on the way, then I very much look forward to seeing how Scalzi can outdo himself with a new case for Tony. 

AUDIOBOOK

Though the narrator remains the same as the past two books, he sounded slightly different to me this time around. It's not really a good or a bad thing, it just took me some time to adjust and I likely only noticed because I listened to the second and third novellas back to back. Outside of this, the performance is as solid as ever even if some of the lines of dialogue still felt a little odd or inconsistent for certain characters even though others were exceptionally handled. Quinto has sort of a dry, sarcastic narration style that will definitely work for you if you enjoyed it in the first two novellas. If you didn't love it in those, I don't think it will land any better for you here (but that's just sort of the nature of a narrator at the end of the day). 

CONCLUSION

If you've enjoyed this series so far, then you absolutely have to make it a priority to squeeze this one into your listening schedule. It's the best of the three novellas and I hope to see more people give this series a chance in general. 

(+) Tony interactions with all of the side characters had me on the edge of my seat. 

(+) The laws of death are revisited while also being explored in a some delightful new ways.

(+) A fast-paced mystery that has even more layers packed into it those of the previous installments.

(+) Another solid audio performance. 

(+) This story felt like a brilliant culmination of everything that's come before while still brining new ideas to the table.

(-) Not all the voice work is amazing and slight differences to past performances threw me off initially.

(-) The references to a pandemic felt bizarre even if that event factored somewhat into the setup for the story.