nglofile's review against another edition
4.0
Just as smart and intriguing as the first.
re-read (audio): Sept. 2013
audiobook note: In my mind, Peter Berkrot is the voice of Hank Palace, which is why I didn't feel I'd fully experienced the book until I had listened to his reading. Did not disappoint.
re-read (audio): Sept. 2013
audiobook note: In my mind, Peter Berkrot is the voice of Hank Palace, which is why I didn't feel I'd fully experienced the book until I had listened to his reading. Did not disappoint.
crackdog's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
thebradking's review against another edition
4.0
I came to The Last Policeman trilogy as I prepared to interview Ben H. Winters for The Downtown Writers Podcast, a show I host in Indianapolis, where both Ben and I live. Generally, I neither drawn to fiction nor detective novels, but I was pleasantly surprised by the series.
And since I read all three books in the course of a week, I thought I'd write one review for all three books.
The trilogy’s premise is this: An asteroid is set to collide with Earth in less than a year, and the world is slowly descending into chaos as the apocalypse nears. As the world falls apart, one man deals with the situation by continuing to focus on his job as a detective.
While the books have a hard science fiction backdrop — an apocalyptic asteroid on a collision course with Earth — there’s not much science to the fiction. At its heart, the series is a noir detective novel. Henry Palace follows a series of loosely-connected (and sometimes disconnected) events through the three novels, piecing together clues when he can and trying to bring some sense of order to his increasingly shrinking world.
As you might expect from a writer early in his fiction career, the series gets stronger throughout. The first book, [b:The Last Policeman|13330370|The Last Policeman (The Last Policeman, #1)|Ben H. Winters|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1344370646s/13330370.jpg|18538006], felt small a times, an insular story about a single character who bounced off a tiny number of people in a single town. Rather than giving me a sense of dramatic claustrophobia, the novel at times felt as if the author was simply working out the mechanics of the story.
This isn’t to say the book wasn’t enjoyable. I read it in one sitting. The story simply felt as if the author wasn’t quite sure of his ability to handle a larger, more complex set of characters.
That changed in the second book, [b:Countdown City|16046748|Countdown City (The Last Policeman, #2)|Ben H. Winters|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1366897800s/16046748.jpg|21826110], and the third book, [b:World of Trouble|18691070|World of Trouble (The Last Policeman, #3)|Ben H. Winters|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1395621795s/18691070.jpg|26537421]. The story began to take root in the larger world, the characters became a bit more complex, and their interactions more enjoyable. Understandably, the story then shed some of the basic detective novel tropes, and began to feel more fluid.
As I began the third book, I wasn’t sure what I considered a satisfying end to the trilogy. Nevermind that, though, as the last third of World of Trouble caught me entirely off guard, veering the story in a direction I hadn’t expected. By the end, I couldn’t imagine the story ending any other way.
Of course, the grand simplicity of the third book reinforced how small the first book began, which retroactively made for an enjoyable overall experience. In other words, The Last Policeman is much better once it sits contextually within the trilogy.
If you’re looking for a quick, enjoyable read, The Last Policeman trilogy is a good place to look.
And since I read all three books in the course of a week, I thought I'd write one review for all three books.
The trilogy’s premise is this: An asteroid is set to collide with Earth in less than a year, and the world is slowly descending into chaos as the apocalypse nears. As the world falls apart, one man deals with the situation by continuing to focus on his job as a detective.
While the books have a hard science fiction backdrop — an apocalyptic asteroid on a collision course with Earth — there’s not much science to the fiction. At its heart, the series is a noir detective novel. Henry Palace follows a series of loosely-connected (and sometimes disconnected) events through the three novels, piecing together clues when he can and trying to bring some sense of order to his increasingly shrinking world.
As you might expect from a writer early in his fiction career, the series gets stronger throughout. The first book, [b:The Last Policeman|13330370|The Last Policeman (The Last Policeman, #1)|Ben H. Winters|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1344370646s/13330370.jpg|18538006], felt small a times, an insular story about a single character who bounced off a tiny number of people in a single town. Rather than giving me a sense of dramatic claustrophobia, the novel at times felt as if the author was simply working out the mechanics of the story.
This isn’t to say the book wasn’t enjoyable. I read it in one sitting. The story simply felt as if the author wasn’t quite sure of his ability to handle a larger, more complex set of characters.
That changed in the second book, [b:Countdown City|16046748|Countdown City (The Last Policeman, #2)|Ben H. Winters|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1366897800s/16046748.jpg|21826110], and the third book, [b:World of Trouble|18691070|World of Trouble (The Last Policeman, #3)|Ben H. Winters|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1395621795s/18691070.jpg|26537421]. The story began to take root in the larger world, the characters became a bit more complex, and their interactions more enjoyable. Understandably, the story then shed some of the basic detective novel tropes, and began to feel more fluid.
As I began the third book, I wasn’t sure what I considered a satisfying end to the trilogy. Nevermind that, though, as the last third of World of Trouble caught me entirely off guard, veering the story in a direction I hadn’t expected. By the end, I couldn’t imagine the story ending any other way.
Of course, the grand simplicity of the third book reinforced how small the first book began, which retroactively made for an enjoyable overall experience. In other words, The Last Policeman is much better once it sits contextually within the trilogy.
If you’re looking for a quick, enjoyable read, The Last Policeman trilogy is a good place to look.
rcthomas's review against another edition
5.0
There is something about this series where I find it nearly impossible to put down once I start reading. The background/setting is just so interesting and the investigations are written in a way where you're just compelled to keep going.
docpacey's review against another edition
3.0
To what degree could, or even should, a person hold on to the fragments of a normal existence in a world where an apocalypse is a certainty? That is the central and most compelling question of this trilogy. I am less interested in the mystery, or the solution to the mystery that Winters presents, than I am in his handling of this central conceit.
Winters is a good storyteller. His narrative is lively, his dialogues, both internal and external are snappy and move the plot along, but it's the world that he builds, a world that is unraveling in as many ways as there are people to inhabit it, that make Countdown City interesting. I love a book that makes me think of how i would respond to its situations, makes me, in turn, believe in why the characters respond to those situations and never once relies on overt stupidity in those characters to advance the plot. I might have a quibble with one of the plot devices, but all in all this never feels like a middle book because its story is self contained.
I definitely liked it enough to immediately start book 3.
Q: 3
E: 4
I: 3
15
Winters is a good storyteller. His narrative is lively, his dialogues, both internal and external are snappy and move the plot along, but it's the world that he builds, a world that is unraveling in as many ways as there are people to inhabit it, that make Countdown City interesting. I love a book that makes me think of how i would respond to its situations, makes me, in turn, believe in why the characters respond to those situations and never once relies on overt stupidity in those characters to advance the plot. I might have a quibble with one of the plot devices, but all in all this never feels like a middle book because its story is self contained.
I definitely liked it enough to immediately start book 3.
Q: 3
E: 4
I: 3
15
pshotts's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
kami5's review against another edition
4.0
Better than the first and the author really opens up the world for others to see what it's like.
davidpascuzzo's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5