World of Trouble by Ben H. Winters

First Line: "Are you here about the dust?"

There's one week left until the huge asteroid hits and ends life as we know it on planet Earth. Hank Palace has only one thing on his to-do list: find his sister Nico. The last he heard, she was hooked up with a group of people who had some sort of plan to save the world, so he leaves the well-stocked safe house in the woods and travels through a bleak landscape in order to find her. At any other time Hank's task would be a simple one, but with the clock ticking, one obstacle after another is put in his path.

Ben H. Winters' Last Policeman trilogy began with a built-in expiration date, and World of Trouble ends it in style. There may be a week before the end of the world, but the landscape Hank Palace travels through looks as though it's already happened. Technology died a long time ago. Cities are blackened and abandoned ruins. Bicycles are the most advanced mode of transportation. People have turned into hoarders and scroungers. Very few have the courage or the desire to show kindness to strangers, so Hank and his dog Houdini have no one to rely on but themselves.

While the first two books in the trilogy were pre-apocalyptic mysteries (The Last Policeman and Countdown City), this final book begins as a straightforward tale of a brother going to be with his sister at the end of days. But Hank Palace is a young man who has always done his best to do the right thing, so it should be no surprise that he manages to find a puzzle or two that need solving before time runs out.

Anyone who wanted a more explosive ending to the trilogy may not like this rather quiet, somber book. I didn't know what to expect and was content to let the story unfold. I was not disappointed.  Hank Palace is a character that will live on in my memory as will the author's vision of the end of the world. I'm sad that the trilogy has come to an end; however, Winters appears to have followed the advice of P.T. Barnum: Always leave them wanting more. I'm looking forward to what Winters' imagination has in store for us next.

World of Trouble by Ben H. Winters

ISBN:  9781594746857

Quirk Books © 2014

Paperback, 350 pages

Police Procedural, #3 Last Policeman

Rating: A

Source: publicist 

Countdown City by Ben H. Winters

First Line: "It's just that he promised," says Martha Milano, pale eyes flashing, cheeks flushed with anxiety.

Detective Hank Palace was out of a job until Martha Milano, a woman from Hank's past, asks him to do something. With the Concord, New Hampshire police force being directed by the U.S. Justice Department, solving crime is a thing of the past. With only 77 days until a gigantic asteroid collides with Earth and ends life as we know it, what officers are left on the force are patrolling the streets in an attempt to keep a lid on any potential rioting and violence. No cell phones, no computers, no electricity... and now Martha Milano wants Hank to find the husband who deserted her. Piecing together what clues he can find, Hank visits a college campus run by anarchists, and then makes his way to the coast-- where anti-immigrant militia members are kept busy fighting off the hordes of refugees headed to the U.S.

The first book in the Last Policeman trilogy deservedly won the 2013 Edgar Award for Best Paperback Original. Countdown City follows closely in The Last Policeman's footsteps. While the mystery is a good one-- full of twists, turns, and misdirection-- there are two things that lift Countdown City well above the run-of-the-mill whodunit: Ben H. Winters' vision of a world in its last days, and our vision of one lone man refusing to bow down to the inevitable catastrophe.

Hank Palace is no fool. He knows what's going to happen in 77 days. But he's still going to be the best person he can be. He's still going to try to protect those closest to him. He's still going to keep any promises that he's made. He's made sure that he's got enough dog food left to last his adopted stray, Houdini, through to the end, and since he has such fond memories of his childhood babysitter, he agrees to search for her husband. Hank's the type of guy you want on your side. Not that he's John Wayne or Clint Eastwood, or Arnold Schwarzenegger-- he's not. But he's a good guy who'll always give 110% (and you don't have to worry about him stealing your last bottle of water when you turn your back).

The vision Ben H. Winters has of this nightmare world can chill the blood because so much of it has the ring of truth. In a world where it's rapidly becoming every man for himself, self-proclaimed militia groups would protect "what's ours" by fending off the hundreds and thousands of boats filled with "impact zone" refugees (people who live where the asteroid is going to hit) that are arriving every day. Food, water, drugs, shoes, clothing, even toilet paper would be hoarded and killed for. Millions of people around the world would drop out to accomplish items on their bucket lists. Others would turn to religion, or stick their heads in the sand by joining anti-asteroid conspiracy groups. I'd love to say that Winters has got it wrong, but I've seen too many tweets, too many Facebook status updates, and too much of what passes for news on the internet. Winters doesn't have it wrong.

It would be oh-so-easy for the author's canvas to be two-dimensional, but Winters refuses. He refuses by creating a main character like Hank, and he refuses by adding brushstrokes of light and warmth like this one:

The main branch of the Concord Public Library is open twenty-four hours a day at this point, kept clean and lit by a skeleton crew of librarians and a cadre of volunteers.

A genuinely good man as hero, a mystery in which many of the people aren't whom they seem to be, a fast pace and plenty of action, refreshing flashes of humor, and a spine-chilling vision of a world fast approaching Armageddon. Ben H. Winters has hit it out of the park again.

Countdown City by Ben H. Winters

ISBN: 9781594746260

Quirk Books © 2013

Paperback, 320 pages

Police Procedural, Science Fiction, #2 in The Last Policeman trilogy

Rating: A

Source: the publicist 

The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters

First Line: I'm staring at the insurance man and he's staring at me, two cold gray eyes behind old-fashioned tortoiseshell frames, and I'm having this awful and inspiring feeling, like holy moly this is real, and I don't know if I'm ready, I really don't.

Young Henry Palace has wanted to be a police detective for as long as he can remember, and this is his first homicide case. He's in charge, but he's the only person in "Hanger Town" who believes Peter Zell was murdered. He's going to have a hard time getting people to believe him, not only because it's his first case, but because he's moved up the promotion ladder very quickly due to several senior officers going bucket.

You see, there's this asteroid called Maia that's about 7 kilometers in diameter, and on October 3, it's going to put an end to this world as we know it. When scientists finally agreed that October 3 was The Date, people began acting very strangely. Millions got religion. Millions "go bucket [list]"-- abandoning their jobs with no warning and taking off to do something they've always wanted to do. Millions of others are committing suicide, and each city seems to have its own preferred method. In Concord, New Hampshire, it's suicide by hanging, which leads to the city being called "Hanger Town." 

Watching this young man piece things together in a society that's falling apart is one of the best reading experiences I've had this year. Most people's attitude towards his behavior is "What's the point in solving murders if we're all going to die soon, anyway?" Those people may have a point, but there's something to Palace's insistence on doing the best job possible, on justice, on doing what's right and good that's downright endearing. He never thought finding a murderer was going to be quite so hard, though: "It's exhausting. People hiding behind the asteroid, like it's an excuse for poor conduct, for miserable and desperate and selfish behavior, everybody ducking in its comet-tail like children in mommy's skirts."

I've been a fan of pre- and post-apocalyptic fiction for years. I love to envision how the author pictures the world unraveling... or how it tries to put itself back together after unbelievable calamity. The best and the worst of human behavior, all within the covers of a book. I can now say that I've read my very first pre-apocalyptic police procedural, and I love it!

I love Ben Winters' vision of the world coming to an end. Of how people behave, of how civilization starts breaking down before the end is even looming in our headlights. But as riveting as the author's vision is, it's the character of young Henry Palace that's the heart and soul of the book. Watching him stumble through his first investigation. Seeing his anguish when he fails to follow his intuition or to put the clues together in time. As I read, I just knew that this young man would be one of the best homicide detectives ever... if it weren't for October 3. All this, and poignancy, too.

I am so glad that this is the first book in a trilogy because I am simply not prepared to let loose of Henry Palace. The next book in this series cannot come soon enough!

The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters

ISBN: 9781594745768

Quirk Books  ©2012

Paperback, 316 pages

Genre: Police Procedural, Science Fiction, #1 in a trilogy

Rating: A+

Source: Amazon Vine