Review: "Countdown City" by Ben H. Winters

Book two of The Last Policeman trilogy, Countdown City, by Ben H. Winters brings the pre-apocalyptic world steadily closer to the impending doom of the asteroid destined for Earth. There are a few nods to the previous book, but it is not vital to have read it before this one.

Detective Hank Palace, though no longer technically an employed detective, has found himself another case.  He attacks this case with the same ardor and unfortunately, with the same questionable motivations.  Palace is propelled through impossible and dangerous situations simply to keep his word.  It seems to be a way for him to maintain order in a world gone mad.

The mystery of this book was in essence a missing person search, though more developed as the story progressed. The case is based upon a web of lies and many secondary characters that make the story line hard to keep up with.  The amount of randomness in the book is also hard to ignore.  It seems that even in the most dire situations, someone will just happen to show up to save Palace, even if there is no apparent reason for them to show up at all.

I still love the premise of the book: police mystery meets end of the world drama.  I enjoyed the parts of the book that showed how other people were handling the end of the world by hoarding up supplies or going to fulfill bucket list dreams.  I'm excited to read the final book in the trilogy, I just hope it has more definitive character motivations and that the asteroid actually hits during the book.

FTC Disclosure: I received this book for free from Quirk Books for this review.  The opinion in this review is unbiased and reflects my honest judgment of the product.