World of Trouble
Ratings54
Average rating3.8
Please give a helpful vote to my Amazon review - https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R1K5PBDXTKF9OQ?ref=pf_ov_at_pdctrvw_srp
This is the third installment of Ben Winters' The Last Policeman Trilogy.
The trilogy opened with Henry Palace serving as a police detective in Concord, New Hampshire. The world has learned that a meteor may soon slam into the Earth, ending all life. The background of the first book was the slow unraveling of society while some, including our protagonist, Henry Palace, insist on staying at their job, keeping things running while they can.
The second book set up the possibility of a conspiracy to stop the meteor. Society is almost over. Henry has been “retired” and people are trying to find a way to scrape through the final months as they wait for the meteor that they now know will strike the Earth in October. However, the plot involves a very serviceable mystery story where Palace searches for a missing person and solves a murder.
Both stories, and the third, as well, are noteworthy for the fact that while society is collapsing and humanity is facing extinction, Henry insists on focusing on what are fairly prosaic mysteries. It seems clear to me that Henry is using his devotion to solving mysteries as a coping mechanism, a distraction from the end of meaning.
This book takes Henry and Cortez, the hoarder from Book 2, to Rotary, Ohio, in search of Henry's sister. What he finds is an attempted murder and a mystery that he doggedly sets out to solve during the last seven days of human existence.
The writing is excellent. The characters and the mystery captivate. We journey with Henry as he witnesses the end of days.
More than that, I will not share lest I give away spoilers.
For me, this series should have stopped after book 1.
I did not need a conclusion. I certainly did not need the 500 pages of books 2 and 3, which merely detracted from the freshness of book 1.
For the reason why I'm re-reading this series, see my review on the first book in the trilogy - "The Last Policeman." For me this was the most fully formed and engaging of the trilogy. The countdown to the arrival of the asteroid is at just two weeks when the novel begins. The narrow window of time and the focus of the mystery (where's the main character's wayward sister?) gives a focus and urgency to the plot not as present in the first two novels. There's more twists plus some authentic suspense in the final third. I particularly appreciated the arc of the encounter with the Amish patriarch and his large family. His answer to the main theme of the stories - how should we live with impending, catastrophic doom - is a thought-provoking and different response than what we witness elsewhere. A highly recommended - and quick to read series - especially as we in the US wait for the "asteroid" of the Nov 5th election day to arrive.
More tightly plotted than the previous book. Hank Palace is an enjoyable character.
As a mystery it was good. I enjoyed the ride to the surprising conclusion. I admit–I solved it! Ha! About two sentences before the reveal. I guess that doesn't count.
But of more importance than the mystery, of course, is the whole trilogy's question, “What would you do, really do, if the world were about to end?” (Perhaps we can translate that into “What would you do if you were going to die some day?”) I like Palace's answer.