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Countdown City The Last Policeman Book II The Last Policeman Trilogy Ben H Winters Books

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Countdown City The Last Policeman Book II The Last Policeman Trilogy Ben H Winters Books

As some other readers have noted, this second installment was perhaps not quite as good as the first in the series. That may be because the novelty of attempting to solve a crime, find a missing person, or any other similar tasks in a policeman's average day is overshadowed--literally--by the imminent arrival of the asteroid, Maia, is not as fresh.

I disagree on that point, however. I still paused every so often to think about how terribly mundane some of the things Henry Palace did, or tried to do, and how pointless it all seemed. But that's the real lure of these books, I think. You can't not think about what you'd do in a similar situation. That's Henry's salient quality--his perseverance in the face of absolutely certain disaster, his humanity remaining when most folks have abandoned theirs, and his ability to still care about someone, or several someones, at his own expense.

This middle book in the trilogy seemed more thoughtful, more nuanced, than the first. I also thought there was enough "action" to keep the tale moving forward at a steady enough pace, though perhaps readers who are fans of the "fast and furious" type of plot might not agree. The complex relationship between Henry and his younger sister, Nico, does not get any less complex, but now we see more of the background between them. The secondary characters, like Martha and her oddly motivated husband, Brett, are also far from one- or even two-dimensional people, which is one of the author's strengths, I think. Nothing and no one in this imaginative pre-apocalyptic world is quite what you believe.

I'm already settling down with the last book in this trilogy.


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Countdown City The Last Policeman Book II The Last Policeman Trilogy Ben H Winters Books Reviews

It is now 77 days to the End of the World. Detective Henry Palace, recently retired from the Concord Police Department, is waiting out the arrival of asteroid Maya with his dog, Houdini, when he is approached by his former babysitter, Martha Milano nee Cavitone, about the disappearance of her husband, Brett. Brett is described by everyone as a good guy, so why would he abandon his wife and go "bucket list." Henry agrees to take on the case for Martha to find her husband and ask him to come home.

Thereafter, Henry is on his mission with single-minded fixation, even though it takes him to the crazy, rapidly-emerging anarchic world of virtual governmental collapse. We travel with Henry to the headquarters of Homeland Security in Concord to the "Free Republic" of New Hampshire University and back to Concord. The story is pulled along as Henry follows the clues to the ultimate conclusion.

All along, of course, we are kept reminded of the imminent end of the world. What that means, or how total it will be, are still ambiguous, but the sense of hopelessness and a terminal event are felt as the survivors grow increasingly desperate. A recurrent theme is the question of why Henry is trying to solve a mystery which will never result in any criminal charges or improve anyone's happiness. The story offers some opportunities to explore some deep issues. For example

"Among my regrets about what has just unfolded is that Brett never did ask me why I had come to find him, why I cared. I had my answer all figured out. Because a promise is a promise, Officer Cavatone, and civilization is just a bunch of promises, that’s all it is. A mortgage, a wedding vow, a promise to obey the law, a pledge to enforce it. And now the world is falling apart, the whole rickety world, and every broken promise is a small rock tossed at the wooden side of its tumbling form."

I think I liked this story better than the first. Henry is growing on me with his simple dedication and decency. I am also enjoying the development of this world of the end of days and the question of what would a person do in the face of utter meaninglessness. Winters pens some nice thoughts

"“You are a married man,” I say. I’m pressing my luck. He stares back at me in silence, impassive as a mountainside. “Your wife is confused. You’ve left her terrified and alone. You can’t just abandon your promises because the world is over.”

And then there is this

“Where’s Brett, Henry?” says poor Martha, and I just tell her, I say, “He’s dead,” and she collapses to the ground on her knees, buries her face in her hands and wails, one long keening senseless syllable. That’s the end of the world right there for Martha Milano."

The end of the world comes for all of us, just a bit differently for each of us.
This is the second in a trilogy by Ben H. Winters about a policeman in Concord, NH after it has been learned that an asteroid will strike the earth, and probably lead to end of the human race. The first book was pretty good, describing Detective Henry Palace’s time as a detective for the Concord Police Department. In this story, Palace has taken early retirement from the police force and tries to find the husband of an ex-girlfriend. He also enlists the aid of his radical younger sister, and that leads to additional adventures. During his investigations, he gets himself shot with a staple gun, and with a sniper rifle. Miraculously, he survives and, ultimately, solves he his cases. All but one, which is left dangling at the end of the book.

The story is very dystopian. All of human civilization is degenerating into chaos, but Henry Palace tries to keep a toehold on reality and civilized behavior. The descriptions are easy to believe, knowing what we already know about the human condition. The author did deal with it, however, by having one of his former-detective friends deal with it.

The first half of the story drags a bit, but becomes more gripping as the story progresses. The ending was a bit surprising, and it left me mildly unsatisfied. This book was not as good as the first of the series, The Last Policeman, but it still was a pretty good effort. Good enough for an award of three stars, at any rate.
As some other readers have noted, this second installment was perhaps not quite as good as the first in the series. That may be because the novelty of attempting to solve a crime, find a missing person, or any other similar tasks in a policeman's average day is overshadowed--literally--by the imminent arrival of the asteroid, Maia, is not as fresh.

I disagree on that point, however. I still paused every so often to think about how terribly mundane some of the things Henry Palace did, or tried to do, and how pointless it all seemed. But that's the real lure of these books, I think. You can't not think about what you'd do in a similar situation. That's Henry's salient quality--his perseverance in the face of absolutely certain disaster, his humanity remaining when most folks have abandoned theirs, and his ability to still care about someone, or several someones, at his own expense.

This middle book in the trilogy seemed more thoughtful, more nuanced, than the first. I also thought there was enough "action" to keep the tale moving forward at a steady enough pace, though perhaps readers who are fans of the "fast and furious" type of plot might not agree. The complex relationship between Henry and his younger sister, Nico, does not get any less complex, but now we see more of the background between them. The secondary characters, like Martha and her oddly motivated husband, Brett, are also far from one- or even two-dimensional people, which is one of the author's strengths, I think. Nothing and no one in this imaginative pre-apocalyptic world is quite what you believe.

I'm already settling down with the last book in this trilogy.