Countdown City
Books | Fiction / Science Fiction / Apocalyptic & Post-Apocalyptic
4
Ben H. Winters
“A genre-defying blend of crime writing and science fiction.”—Alexandra Alter, The New York TimesDetective Hank Palace returns in the second in the speculative mystery trilogy set on the brink of the apocalypse. There are just 77 days before a deadly asteroid collides with Earth, and Detective Palace is out of a job. With the Concord police force operating under the auspices of the U.S. Justice Department, Hank's days of solving crimes are over...until a woman from his past begs for help finding her missing husband. Brett Cavatone disappeared without a trace—an easy feat in a world with no phones, no cars, and no way to tell whether someone’s gone “bucket list” or just gone. With society falling to shambles, Hank pieces together what few clues he can, on a search that leads him from a college-campus-turned-anarchist-encampment to a crumbling coastal landscape where anti-immigrant militia fend off “impact zone” refugees. Countdown City presents another fascinating mystery set on brink of an apocalypse--and once again, Hank Palace confronts questions way beyond "whodunit." What do we as human beings owe to one another? And what does it mean to be civilized when civilization is collapsing all around you?
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Author
Ben H. Winters
Pages
320
Publisher
Quirk Books
Published Date
2013-07-16
ISBN
1594746265 9781594746260
Community ReviewsSee all
"I continue to be fascinated by this author and these books. Winters has created a microcosm of postmodern reality: Humanity thrashing out its existence under the constant threat of imminent doom - all nestled within a noir style murder mystery. The main character is actually likeable - a hard-to-find quality in postmodern fiction. He is also a little bit crazy, coping with nihilism in his own desperate way. But it's a way that we can get behind, that we can root for, all while asking the question: What does it mean to fight for something worthwhile, something good, in a world that has gone completely insane?"
Crimson Sparrow
"I liked the first Last Policeman book enough to add the second to my reading list, but apparently not enough to remember the first one very well. Some time has gone by, both in the book and in my life, and Hank is doing things I don't recall in the first. Maybe was, or maybe the world has gone a few steps closer to ****. This book was even better than the first! More chaos on Earth, and more desperation. That makes everything better."
Andrew Greene