Book Review: World of Trouble by Ben H. Winters
World of Trouble by Ben H. Winters
Genre: Science Fiction, Mystery
Series: Book 3 of The Last Policeman
Publisher: Quirk (July 15, 2014)
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Mogsy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars
The Last Policeman series is simply awesome and underrated. And now the trilogy has come to a close.
Technically, these books would probably fit more comfortably in the Crime & Mystery/Police Procedural category. But there’s a twist. Imagine that for the past year, everyone has known that a giant killer asteroid is hurtling towards earth, set to impact in just a matter of days. On Boomsday, tsunamis will wipe out the coasts, atmospheric dust will black out the sun, and life as we know it would cease to exist.
Over time, society has degraded by degrees. As the probability of a direct hit gradually inched towards 100%, people abandoned jobs by droves to go bucket list or to reconnect with old friends and loved ones. Others sought religion. Some chose suicide. Everyone seemed to have their own way of dealing with the end of the world. Protagonist Hank Palace has even developed a color-coded system for categorizing towns based on their populations’ reactions – “Blue-Towns” look abandoned, but are actually filled with scared, stricken people. “Green-Towns” are where residents have chosen to continue with a life of normalcy, or at least put up a good attempt. And “Red-Towns” are places where all hell has broken loose.
Hank used to be among the small minority who has decided to go on business as usual. But as a reader who has had the pleasure of following his character over the last couple of books, it’s interesting to see how his motivations have changed since the first installment. In The Last Policeman, I could see how his doggedness to solve a suicide-maybe-murder could be attributed to a dedication to his job as a small town detective, asteroid be damned. In Countdown City, the missing persons case he is hired to solve involved a close friend, so you could possibly chalk it up to loyalty. In World of Trouble, he sets off on a journey to track down his sister, whom we last saw was part of an underground initiative with plans to destroy the incoming asteroid with high-tech weaponry.
However, at this point Hank has become such an unreliable narrator, it’s hard to tell whether he’s driven purely out of love for his sister, or that he has thrown himself into an obsession due to his innate need for order, logic and rationality in this world of chaos. After all, some people can fall apart without any outward indications, and we’re back to the argument that everyone handles stress in a different way. Hank’s seems to be his tunnel vision about finding answers. Yet, even as I’m wondering at his mental state, his determination is contagious. Hank’s desperation becomes the reader’s desperation, and the result is a suspenseful page-turner. And don’t forget, all this time the minutes are also tick-tick-ticking away on the Boomsday timer.
I’ve never read a more unique series of mystery novels – or apocalyptic novels, for that matter. What makes this scenario different is that the story first begins when the asteroid’s landfall is still so far off, and so society doesn’t implode so much as it starts to slowly crumble away. In each book, Hank’s investigation takes center stage, but it’s all set against this backdrop of a nation slowly losing hope, and I like the author’s speculation of what might happen.
So yeah, for three books we’ve read about this asteroid. The Last Policeman: half a year until impact. Countdown City: still three months out. But with World of Trouble, it’s finally on earth’s doorstep. Everything finally comes to a head in this book, and I’m not going to spoil what happens. No way. You’ll just have to pick up this series and find out for yourself. Believe me, it’s worth the read.
A review copy of this book was provided to me by the publisher via LibraryThing in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to Quirk Books!
The BiblioSanctum 
Sounds like it’s in that shadowy zone of techno thrillers. Sounds really cool! The second book won the Philip K. Dick Award last year.
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Not exactly a techno thriller, but definitely in that shadowy zone between genres! I loved the mix.
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Can’t read your review in full–I’m finishing up The Last Policeman now. But definitely looking forward to the next two in the series.
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And they just get better and better! Enjoy 🙂
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New one to me. But if I read all these and that asteroid doesn’t hit? Oh I am so mad.
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*zips my lips* You’ll just have to wait to find out…I won’t say what happens, though I will say it seems most reviews I see were happy with the way things ended.
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I do need to get started on this series, I’ve really been reading some awesome reviews. Plus I’m having a hard time imagining how this is going to wrap up, what with the asteroid hitting and all, so that in itself is enough to get me going!
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Yeah, the ticking clock was one of my main motivations to finish this series…when I got the third book I could hardly wait to devour it and it was hard not flipping to the last page just to see what happens. I resisted 🙂
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Quirk Books always comes out with great stuff, but you’re right – they’re just so underrated. Haven’t read this one yet, but since police procedurals are one of my guilty pleasures I may need to find time to do so…
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It’s true! I admit I should be reading more from Quirk – most of their fantasy/sci-fi offerings look great, but so far this is the only series I’ve read from them!
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Oh it’s nice to have a great series like that, I don’t think I knew this one. You know I’m always so anxious about last book so when I see that one is really great, it’s perfect!
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I think you might enjoy this one, since I know you like your occasional mystery novel/police procedural 🙂
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Sure, maybe a book for me
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Give it a shot! I find that book 1 is always an ebook deal at retailers.
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I just one-clicked book 1. *sing songs* It’s on sale for like two bucks right now, FYI 😉
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I know, it’s awesome! I think I grabbed book 1 a couple years ago when it was a monthly deal as well…I see it go on sale periodically from like $2-3 and it’s so worth it.
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Hmm…. Sounds good, especially with the unreliable narrator, but I don’t always do well with mysteries.
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Me neither, to tell the truth. But I did enjoy the author’s interpretation of a world slowly marching towards complete destruction and it was pretty genius the way he worked in the mystery elements!
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Wow it just sounds fascinating – like a study on humanity and how it will react to crisis. Or impending crisis. I don’t know if I’d want to read them though because I’m usually more of an action now rather than later. I like the idea of how you gradually begin to wander if you can trust Hank as a reliable narrator.
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Yeah, if you like the action up front, this series is more like a slow burn with much of the desperation involving the asteroid in the third book. But I loved the build up, and the first two books have great suspense as well.
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