Now Very Bad…

Category: Reviews

  • Ready Player One (2018)

    Ready Player One (2018)

    140 Character Movie Review – #140RVW

    Ready Player One (2018)

    Probably a lot better if you haven’t read the excellent source novel, Recognizing Things: The Movie is exactly OK. Curiously non-engaging…

    Ready Player One

    Spoiler-free Movie Review of Ready Player One (2018):

    Meant for this to be a lightning-fast review, as I have other things to do today, but I still wanted to get this out on opening day (not only the film’s opening, but also baseball – starting the season in March? What’s up with that?). I failed miserably, because I have such mixed feelings about the film version of Ready Player One that it took me a long time and a lot of words to not necessarily resolve.

    I wanted to love it. I didn’t hate it. I didn’t even dislike it. I guess I’d say I liked it.

    If that sounds damning with faint praise, I think that’s my point.

    I’m not going to whine that the book was better, because of course it was. I’m not going to pontificate about the obsession with the 1980’s or why nostalgia is culturally stunting, or the backlash against the book and film, or Gamergate, or gamer culture in general, or how The Iron Giant is misrepresented, or the dumb promo posters, or why the remembering things/recognizing things memes are both hysterical and accurate. There are other, better writers out there, writing more detailed thinkpieces. You’ve likely got your own thoughts about all of this and more.

    Here’s what I will say:

    1. My instinct is that if you didn’t read the book, and don’t have a knee-jerk reaction to obsessive geek nostalgia, you will probably enjoy Ready Player One. Spielberg is one of the all time great directors and storytellers and he seldom puts a step too far wrong in his movies, so you’re reasonably likely to enjoy the picture that arrived with your popcorn.
    2. If you did read the book, and are both expectant and ok with the idea that the film version is going to be necessarily radically different, but are just looking to have fun with a movie that more or less echoes the feel and basic plot of the book, you will probably enjoy Ready Player One. The screenplay was written by the author Ernie Cline and veteran Zak Penn and so keeps most of the feel of the source material, which was a great premise for a movie to begin with.
    3. If you did read the book, but are not ok with Spielberg and his ruthless faithlessness to beloved source material, you’re in for a long night…

    Personally, I fall somewhere between 1 and 2. I went in with an open mind and the objective of trying to enjoy myself. I knew it was going to be totally different and just hoped that the adaptation would get the feel right and not do anything atonal. In the end, I guess I can say that it was a success on that score, even if Spielberg’s fast and loose approach bothered me more than I wanted to let it.

    Because while I love so much about the director’s work, I kind of hate it in equal measure. For all of the talk about him being a unique talent and fresh face when he came in with the 1970’s film auteur movement, I’ve always considered him an incredibly traditional filmmaker – a throwback to the autocrats of the studio system. When he goes to adapt something, original story or previously published work, he has an old-school single-mindedness. He takes a quick look at the treatment, grabs the first couple of interesting things that catch his eye, and then proceeds to make whatever picture he’s already decided he wants to make. He wouldn’t have been out of place sitting next to Louis B. Mayer or the hacks who couldn’t be bothered to read the books they were adapting. If you are familiar with the original story he’s set his sights on, you can practically visualize him ripping out pages by the handful.

    This attribute is a strength and weakness in equal measure. After all, you have to make hard choices when taking a story to a different medium and have the discipline to realize what will make for a compelling movie. The cinematic landscape is littered with ponderous adaptations that slavishly tried to reproduce their source material, only to collapse under their own weight. I’ve praised filmmakers who can identify the main threads of a narrative and recognize how to support and enhance that one strand they determine will make for the best picture.

    But you can go very wrong with this approach; you have to have great judgment – and for all of the great filmmaking moments he deserves credit for, I simply do not trust Spielberg’s judgment. His oversimplification, his tendency to always push for “bigger, more, faster”, his adolescent fascination with creepy crawlies and jump-scares – these homogenize his movies at the expense of their stories.

    Ready Player One reminded me of nothing as much as The Lost World: Jurassic Park, which sounds like a bigger dig than it is. If you read my review of that film, you’ll see that this is something of a long-time bone of contention of mine with Spielberg. He just seems to approach these things like a salad bar, picking and choosing whatever strikes his fancy and then throwing in new ideas he hastily comes up with to fill in the gaps he just created. He seems to relish solving problems, but these are problems of his own making. In The Lost World, he created poor new characters to make up for the book characters he cut out of the film. In Ready Player One, he creates huge action scenes in order to introduce dramatic tension that was lost when he cut other, better scenes.

    For the main problem I had with Ready Player One isn’t that they made a lot of changes – it’s that I dislike and disagree with the changes. I’d argue that the largely poor choices made by the filmmakers (particularly regarding exposition and explanation of the setting, the changing of storylines, and the diminishing of characters) led to a non-engaging film lacking excitement or emotional investment. That’s really what it all comes down to; there were things I liked, there were things I disliked, but ultimately I didn’t really care too much either way. I was oddly detached throughout the whole movie. I could have been watching one of the joyless, cold DC Comics movies that keep escaping.

    And that is a real problem for me; for while there are certainly valid criticisms of the original novel (obsessions of the author and characters, male-centric focus, objectification and reduction of female characters), IT WAS FUN. I love the novel – I’ve seldom had so much fun reading a book not set in Discworld. I liked it so much I reviewed it twice. As I noted in the review of the book (not to be confused with the audiobook), I had a great time following along the story of the treasure hunt. I guess it played a little more effectively six or seven years ago, before it became obvious how toxic gamer culture was; it felt like more of an escapist lark. But it was truly enjoyable. And that’s what’s missing from the film.

    Above anything else, I think the joy of the hunt for Halliday’s easter egg is lost in the face of the choices made by the filmmakers. I am truly curious to see what people who didn’t read the book think about the film; did you follow it? Was it clear why the hunt was important? Did you understand what the Oasis really was and how omnipresent it was? Did you know who all of the characters were and what they were there for? Because I don’t think it was made at all clear. And with a 200 minute run-time, there really was no reason for the exposition to be so weak.

    I do want very much to re-watch Ready Player One. History has shown that I generally can enjoy these things better for what they are after making peace with what they are not. I’m sure that once the pressure of hoping that things turn out differently passes, I’ll be able to enjoy the gorgeous battles and appreciate the new challenges the film has the characters undertake in order to obtain the keys (even while lamenting how poor they are in comparison to the book).

    I want to enjoy this movie – I always did – and it’s more good than bad, for certain. The fact that Ready Player One represents a missed opportunity to promote virtual reality, create a new Spielberg classic, and capture the excitement of Ernie Cline’s fun read, does not mean that it is a bad film. It’s good-looking, with great music, geeky-fun subject matter, and retains the bones and some of the touches from a great source story. It just could have been so much more…

    Poster:

    Ready Player One

    Trailer:

    Bechdel Test:

    Fail

    The Representation Test Score: C (either 4 or 5 pts – not sure if celebrating geek cultural stereotypes counts as “offensive”)

    (http://therepresentationproject.org/grading-hollywood-the-representation-test/)

    Ready Player One Representation Test

    [schema type=”movie” name=”Ready Player One” description=”In the year 2045, the real world is a harsh place. The only time Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan) truly feels alive is when he escapes to the OASIS, an immersive virtual universe where most of humanity spends their days. In the OASIS, you can go anywhere, do anything, be anyone-the only limits are your own imagination. The OASIS was created by the brilliant and eccentric James Halliday (Mark Rylance), who left his immense fortune and total control of the Oasis to the winner of a three-part contest he designed to find a worthy heir. When Wade conquers the first challenge of the reality-bending treasure hunt, he and his friends-aka the High Five-are hurled into a fantastical universe of discovery and danger to save the OASIS.” director=”Steven Spielberg” ]

  • A Wrinkle in Time (2018)

    A Wrinkle in Time (2018)

    140 Character Movie Review – #140RVW

    A Wrinkle in Time (2018)

    Critics, before prattling on about how simplistic & messy this film is, look at the excited & inspired kid a few rows over. Then shut up…

    A WRINKLE IN TIME

    Spoiler-free Movie Review of A Wrinkle in Time (2018):

    Thursday night (not coincidentally on International Women’s Day) my wife, daughter, and I went to see A Wrinkle in Time. We’ve all been eagerly waiting some time for this adaptation, ever since it was first announced. The trailers and released images looked great, the actors seemed well-chosen, and we were all extremely excited about the amount of representation this project signified. This is the first picture with a nine-digit budget directed by a woman of color. Even if it absolutely stunk, we were going to go see it.

    As is my custom, I had avoided the early press, but I did glance quickly at the first few lines of several reviews, just to get some sense of what we were in for. I don’t usually do this, but my girls were really looking forward to the film, and if it was getting absolutely hammered, I’d at least warn them to temper their expectations.

    Despite what the early reviews have suggested, it didn’t stink. For my well-read wife it was a solid picture, not equal to the beloved source material, of course, but a good time. For me, who hadn’t read the book since childhood, it was a really fun picture that left me happy and smiling despite its faults. For my daughter – it was AWESOME!

    wrinkle_in_time

    Look, everyone doesn’t have to get the same things out of every film. It’s hard, but you really have to take the goals of the filmmaker, the demographics of the prospective audience, and the film environment into consideration with your criticism.

    I get what the critics are harping on:

    • it’s more visually appealing than truly substantive;
    • probably overly simplifies the source material in an effort to appeal to all;
    • there’s too much music and a muddy sound mix;
    • many of the performances are over the top;
    • the outlandish costumes and design is polarizing.

    But so what? The fact that this film will miss a lot of people does not mean that it will fail to resonate with a whole lot of other people.

    wrinkle_in_time

    For example, as an adult, there was a complete lack of suspense – I never had any doubt where the story was going or if any of the main characters were in any danger. But it would be myopic and limiting for me to assume that everyone would react the same way. In fact, I found a lot of the scenes quite dark and intense for younger viewers. Don’t tell me that those filmgoers would consider the picture uneventful and slow.

    I’ll be the first to admit that I have a habit of sticking up for films that are getting panned, but the last to admit it as a character flaw. It’s important to stick up for pictures that might miss their chance to be seen in the face of overwhelming criticism.

    wrinkle_in_time

    And I must clarify here that I’m not just sticking up for the underdog here – I truly enjoyed A Wrinkle in Time.

    • I smiled from ear to ear through the whole film. It was genuinely fun.
    • I loved the child actors, led by a very promising Storm Reid as Meg Murry, a heroine I wish my daughter had been exposed to at an even earlier age.
    • I enjoyed all the adult performances, even if I could have done with much more screen-time for the charming Gugu Mbatha-Raw (and a lot less Reese Witherspoon).
    • Despite the rather short run-time, there were several scenes where emotional moments were really allowed to breathe. Too often in tentpole films, when the heroes have actually come face to face with their objective – the raison d’être – it’s just another scene. They don’t take time to actually reflect on what has been accomplished. The actors and characters in A Wrinkle in Time are given the space to actually slow down the pace and experience these moments. It’s lovely, and a credit to director Ava DuVernay.
    • The project was greenlit by Disney in the wake of Tim Burton’s dreadful but ginormously profitable Alice in Wonderland, and while it shares a few of that movie’s criticisms (over-reliance on CGI and lack of subtlety), it is worlds more grounded.

    Because at its heart, A Wrinkle in Time has one – a heart, that is. The film contains a ton of empowering, hopeful, positive messages aimed at an audience that desperately needs power, hope, and positivity. I was proud to sit alongside my wife and daughter and watch a beautiful film filled with representation, diversity, body positivity, hope, respect, and appreciation for intelligence and uniqueness.

    Poster:

    wrinkle_in_time_poster

    Trailer:

    Bechdel Test:

    Pass

    The Representation Test Score: A (14! pts)

    (http://therepresentationproject.org/grading-hollywood-the-representation-test/)

    A Wrinkle in Time Representation Test

    [schema type=”movie” url=”http://movies.disney.com/a-wrinkle-in-time” name=”A Wrinkle in Time” description=”After the disappearance of her scientist father, three peculiar beings send Meg, her brother, and her friend to space in order to find him.” director=”Ava DuVernay” ]

  • Kubrick’s Game (2016)

    Kubrick’s Game (2016)

    Kubrick's Game
    Kubrick’s Game by Derek Taylor Kent
    My rating: 3 of 5 stars

    Kubrick’s Game is the first adult-aimed novel from children’s author Derek Taylor Kent, who writes the Scary School series under the pen name Derek the Ghost. The author reached out to me about reading and reviewing the book, which was a great honor. I’m not sure if he approached me because of the book reviews on my site or the film reviews, but either way would make sense since Kubrick’s Game truly is a book for cinephiles.

    Molded in the fashion of books like Ready Player One and The Da Vinci Code, the story involves an elaborate and mysterious treasure hunt based on clues hidden in the films of Stanley Kubrick.

    When I recently described the book I was currently reading to my family, they said “that’s perfect for you”. And that’s mostly true. Except…

    I am not the world’s biggest Kubrick fan. I have nothing but respect for the undeniable talent of the man and extremely little patience for his method of filmmaking. He was a master of shot composition and a visionary. I acknowledge without hesitation the indelible impact of his films; they are gorgeous, wholly unique and are completely stuffed with content ripe for analysis. But I never really went in for film analysis. I find much of his work slow, dull and pretentious. The absurdly methodical “film fifty takes and see what happens” approach with ambling, overlong shots badly in need of editing defined a generation of filmmakers and is directly responsible for the “director as auteur” nonsense that we are still stuck with.

    I do not know if part of the author’s intent with Kubrick’s Game was to cultivate love of the filmmaker, but the book absolutely sent me back to the oeuvre to see if I hadn’t misjudged them. (Jury’s still out on that – I’ll let you know.)

    The story is jam-packed with facts about filmmaking in general and Kubrick in particular, a sure sign that the author has put in time in La-La Land. I found the story most engaging during these moments, with film restoration specialists and aspiring directors discussing the craft.

    The protagonist of Kubrick’s Game is Shawn Hagan, a promising film student who becomes central to a complicated game that the legendary filmmaker has engineered to take place some years after his death. Hagan is an introverted and talented young man, somewhere on the Autism spectrum, and it’s his journey that I found a little wanting. Possibly because the author is trying to convey Shawn’s difficulty with reading people, some of the plot points are delivered forcefully, without any subtlety. Other characters in the story act with transparent motives, but the story takes a long time to bring the main character up to speed. Again, I believe this is done for effect, an intentional representation of Shawn’s struggles to digest social clues, but this style of leaving obvious hints and spelling things out very slowly is also a hallmark of writing to a younger audience, and I can’t help but wonder if that is a carryover from Kent’s main writing experience.

    The only way in which the book suffers from this deliberate writing style is in the length; as engaging as the story was, I thought it could use a sizable haircut. But again, perhaps this is an homage to Kubrick…

    Lest my criticism of the feel of the story give you the wrong impression, let me be clear – I really enjoyed Kubrick’s Game. It is a well-thought out and unique story, brimming with details sure to spur the imagination and interest of fans of the director and possibly create some new devotees. While I did find the writing style somewhat exposition heavy, that sort of comes with the territory, and doesn’t detract from the imaginative hunt that drives the tale.

    Possibly more interesting to fans of Kubrick, conspiracy theorists and codebreakers, the quality of the story is engaging for all and make Kubrick’s Game easy to recommend…

    Oh, and there’s a game based on the book – a real life treasure hunt! DerekTaylorKent.com/the-game Very cool…

    [schema type=”book” url=”http://www.derektaylorkent.com/work/#/kubricksgame/” name=”Kubrick’s Game” description=”Shawn Hagan, a college film student obsessed with legendary filmmaker Stanley Kubrick, discovers hidden clues in his movies which lead him on a harrowing quest toward a mysterious treasure that Kubrick left behind. Endangered by sinister groups on the same quest, Shawn has no choice but to claim the prize first because in the wrong hands … “It has the power to change the course of history.”” author=”Derek Taylor Kent” publisher=”Evolved Publishing” pubdate=”2016-09-24″ isbn=”1622534522″ ebook=”yes” paperback=”yes” hardcover=”yes” ]

  • Empire of Imagination: Gary Gygax and the Birth of Dungeons & Dragons

    Empire of Imagination: Gary Gygax and the Birth of Dungeons & Dragons

    Empire of Imagination: Gary Gygax and the Birth of Dungeons & Dragons
    Empire of Imagination: Gary Gygax and the Birth of Dungeons & Dragons by Michael Witwer
    My rating: 4 of 5 stars

    Empire of Imagination: Gary Gygax and the Birth of Dungeons & Dragons is a fantastic biography of Dungeons & Dragons creator Gary Gygax. Written by author Michael Witwer as part of a masters’ thesis it nevertheless does not read at all like an academic work.

    Empire of Imagination is written in some ways more like an adventure story than a biography. This suits me fine, as biography is not my favorite genre. More importantly, Witwer has found the perfect tone and setting for a tale of a man who spent his life telling stories.

    Witwer very wisely chose to structure Empire of Imagination in short chapters somewhat like anecdotes. These short recollections of events lend themselves very well to the adventure style presentation. It’s an inspired touch, with the author structuring the entire work as a series of levels (broken up into +1 chapters) united into a loose narrative with vignettes of a Dungeon Master leading a player through a far-reaching quest. The result is a tale told much as though a group of friends was gathered around a game table sharing stories. Which is of course the point…

    Empire of Imagination is neither a particularly quick or long read but I found myself reading it in spurts. Partially this is due to the aforementioned breaking up of the tale into serialized pieces that you can jump in and out of. But I think largely it is because the tale is bittersweet. As much as I was enjoying the book I found myself putting it down and not returning for a bit because I didn’t want to have tales of the creation of the beloved game and all of the wonderful memories it reanimated to stop or to be sullied by the inevitable fall from grace that always accompanies these stories. While it makes for good drama it is more than a little sad to see everything that Gary Gygax created come apart in predictable fashion. It is at this time that the book falls into a bit of the typical biography mold. But then, so too did Gygax’s story…

    The book is clearly written with the input and/or approval of the Gygax estate, so I’m sure Gary gets the benefit of the doubt in all of the discussions of legal squabbles and the provenance of his works. But to this admittedly non-expert reader it comes off even-handed. No efforts are taken to whitewash the story or cover up Gygax’s foibles and failings. Others more familiar with all the details may well take exception to the handling of collaborators like Dave Arneson. The detailing of Arneson’s input and lack of involvement seems a bit one-sided, but I really have no first-hand knowledge to suggest this is not a fair telling. It’s quite possible we will never really know how accurate any accounting is regarding the creation of such a detailed game system especially considering the success that followed.

    One of the most enjoyable parts about reading the book was that I was frequently reminded of products, games, books and stories that were so integral to my childhood and teen years. There were a host of stories that I had entirely forgotten about such as the Choose Your Own Adventure-style Endless Quest book series. I’m going to have to hunt in the attic to see if I can find any of my old copies!

    I really loved reading Empire of Imagination, although to be fair I mostly listened to it. I purchased the ebook and audiobook at the same time, frequently listening and reading simultaneously. The narration for the audiobook is performed by the author’s brother, actor Sam Witwer and a better choice could not possibly have been found. His voice is deep and expressive and an excellent fit. I sincerely hope to hear more audio performances by Sam, and for that matter more stories told by Michael. The author notes in the acknowledgments that brother Sam was the Dungeon Master in their group. Hearing his narration as Empire of Imagination’s Dungeon Master in the interludes makes me wish I could sit down at the table with the brothers. Because the greatest takeaway from the book is a reminder of the spirit and desire that drove Gary Gygax; to get together with companions and play…

    [schema type=”book” url=”http://www.empireofimagination.com/” name=”Empire of Imagination: Gary Gygax and the Birth of Dungeons & Dragons” description=”The life story of Gary Gygax, godfather of all fantasy adventure games, has been told only in bits and pieces. Michael Witwer has written a dynamic, dramatized biography of Gygax from his childhood in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin to his untimely death in 2008. Gygax’s magnum opus, Dungeons & Dragons, would explode in popularity throughout the 1970s and ’80s and irreversibly alter the world of gaming. D&D is the best-known, best-selling role-playing game of all time, and it boasts an elite class of alumni–Stephen Colbert, Robin Williams, and Junot Diaz all have spoken openly about their experience with the game as teenagers, and some credit it as the workshop where their nascent imaginations were fostered. Gygax’s involvement in the industry lasted long after his dramatic and involuntary departure from D&D’s parent company, TSR, and his footprint can be seen in the genre he is largely responsible for creating. But as Witwer shows, perhaps the most compelling facet of his life and work was his unwavering commitment to the power of creativity in the face of myriad sources of adversity, whether cultural, economic, or personal. Through his creation of the role-playing genre, Gygax gave two generations of gamers the tools to invent characters and entire worlds in their minds. Told in narrative-driven and dramatic fashion, Witwer has written an engaging chronicle of the life and legacy of this emperor of the imagination.” author=”Michael Witwer” publisher=”Bloomsbury USA” pubdate=”2015-10-06″ isbn=”1632862794″ ebook=”yes” paperback=”yes” hardcover=”yes” ]

  • The Dispatcher (2016)

    The Dispatcher (2016)

    The Dispatcher
    The Dispatcher by John Scalzi
    My rating: 5 of 5 stars

     

    Gotta love John Scalzi. He really excels at the “big idea” stories, which practically is its own genre in science fiction. Nearly all of his works (or at least all of the ones I’ve read) feature some interesting concept made possible through imagined technology, then spend the rest of the time impressing you with the reality involved. It’s really remarkable – it’s as though his books are straightforward fiction that simply require you to make one leap of faith at the outset. Works every time…

    The premise needs to be really good in order to make the whole thing gel, of course. That leap of faith needs to stick the landing. But I haven’t been disappointed with the “big idea” yet. So then it’s merely a matter of delivering the rest of the story, and Scalzi is best in class in dialogue and interactions.

    In this audio-only short story, the execution works perhaps a little better than some of the full-length novels I’ve read. That’s because I really have only one criticism of his books, one that I didn’t really pick up on until I’d read several. Stated simply, the protagonists seem to have it all their own way. While they are always put in difficult and extreme situations, they all seem to roll with the punches with a somewhat unbelievable grace.

    Though I haven’t yet reviewed them, I’ve recently read Agent to the Stars and Fuzzy Nation. These followed the pattern I noted in Lock In and Redshirts. I haven’t touched the Old Man’s War yet, having no appetite for starting a huge series, so it may prove entirely different, but thus far the only flaw I’ve found in these novels is lack of suspense. The main characters don’t seem all that fallible. They make assumptions that prove to be right nearly all the time and there’s never any real concern that they won’t end up on top.

    Despite the aforementioned inevitability of success, the tale of Dispatcher Tony Valdez is a great one. The “big idea” in The Dispatcher is that for completely unknown reasons, at some point in our near future, humans who are murdered suddenly find themselves safely returned to life back in their homes. Most of the time. And there are rules, but they aren’t readily known. And only murder victims need apply…

    What I’ve written here is not a spoiler – I’ve gone into less detail than the publisher’s blurb, even. But I feel wrong saying too much here. True, when Audible announced the novella, they included the set-up and I read it when I placed my pre-order. But that was a few months ago, and I didn’t even refresh my memory as to what the story was about before pressing play. And I’m very glad for that.

    It can be so refreshing to just start a book without any preconceived notions about what you’re about to read. You have to learn something about books before deciding to read them, of course, but it seems a shame in many ways. I used to love going to a record store and selecting albums from groups I’d never heard, but solely based on the art or the titles. I had some idea of the style of music, of course, but little else. The main difference here being that with an album I could know within an hour at most whether my choice was wise. I can’t afford to start grabbing books at random, certainly not at the speed I read…

    So I’m not going to tell you any more about The Dispatcher, only that it was a fantastic tale. Similar in style to Lock In, it’s a brisk read (listen) and very enjoyable. The narration by Zachary Quinto was perfect for the story. All of the previous audiobooks I’ve heard from the author have been performed by Wil Wheaton, but I like the choice of Quinto here. He has an entirely different style and conveys emotions that match the feel of The Dispatcher. I eagerly look forward to more audio performances from him.

    Oh, and The Dispatcher is free until November 2, 2016, so get on that train…

    audible.com/dispatcher

    [schema type=”book” url=”http://www.audible.com/dispatcher” name=”The Dispatcher” description=”Zachary Quinto – best known for his role as the Nimoy-approved Spock in the recent Star Trek reboot and the menacing, power-stealing serial killer, Sylar, in Heroes – brings his well-earned sci-fi credentials and simmering intensity to this audio-exclusive novella from master storyteller John Scalzi. One day, not long from now, it becomes almost impossible to murder anyone – 999 times out of a thousand, anyone who is intentionally killed comes back. How? We don’t know. But it changes everything: war, crime, daily life. Tony Valdez is a Dispatcher – a licensed, bonded professional whose job is to humanely dispatch those whose circumstances put them in death’s crosshairs, so they can have a second chance to avoid the reaper. But when a fellow Dispatcher and former friend is apparently kidnapped, Tony learns that there are some things that are worse than death and that some people are ready to do almost anything to avenge a supposed wrong. It’s a race against time for Valdez to find his friend before it’s too late…before not even a Dispatcher can save him.” author=”John Scalzi” publisher=”Audible Audio” pubdate=”2016-10-04″ isbn=”B01KKPH1NI” ]