Monday, July 7, 2014

World of Trouble

Title: World of Trouble
Author: Ben H. Winters
Published: July 15th 2014 by Quirk Books
Format: Paperback; Pgs 320
Genre: Suspense
Source: Amazon Vine
Series: Last Policeman #3

I was not prepared for the visceral reaction that I had to the end of this series. Even though you were preparing from the very first book for this, it still hit me hard.

I connected with Hank Palace, I connected with his journey, but I did not have enough time to connect with Ruthie. Her last acts of bravery and compassion tore me open. Tears still come to my eyes when I think about it.

The World of Trouble jumps right into the story of Detective Palace assuming that the reader remembers where book two left off. There is not a lot of rehashing and the reader will have to hit the ground running. I will admit, I could not remember certain players and for the first chapter I felt I was playing catch up.

The Last Policeman series revolves around Detective Hank Palace who at once is trying to bring order to his last days on earth as an asteroid is heading for earth and finding his sister Nico who is a bit of a radical and is rumored to be with a group of extremists that have their own plan on how to save humanity. With Book III there are only fourteen days left and chaos reigns.

Hank has tracked Nico to a rural police station, when he arrives, it appears abandoned but there are signs that Nico has been there. Signs that only Hank recognizes and the reader is left wondering what is real and what is hope.

When Hank follows a bloody trail he finds Lily, but what Lily leads him to is the beginning of the end for Hank. He has one final murder to solve. One final quest to pursue.

It is the compassion of an Amish man that brings peace to Hank’s final day. A farm and a family that will meet its end without the fear and trepidation that the rest of the world has been facing.

There is very dry humor in these books, at times, as the world is coming to an end, you find yourself laughing out loud, but you cannot help it. Sometimes your pathetic reality is funny.

This is a phenomenal series that I suggest be read straight through. Ben Winter’s does not add in a bunch of fluff. The reader is told the story that they need to know. Not too much is on the periphery. There is no time for that. An asteroid is heading to earth and there will be no survivors.

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