Countdown City

The Last Policeman, Book 2

By: Ben H. Winters

Narrated by: Peter Berkrot

Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

“A genre-defying blend of crime writing and science fiction.”—Alexandra Alter, The New York Times

Detective 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?

©2013 Ben H. Winters (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Extraordinary - as well as brilliant, surprising, and, considering the circumstances, oddly uplifting." ( Mystery Scene Magazine)

Good (not great) sequel

A good sequel to the first story. Doesn't require reading the first but you should still start there.

Less of a police procedural than the first so I preferred the first volume.

A little slow at times but overall a good story.

Fun, Fun, Fun.

The sequel to "The Last Policeman" is more of the same. Funtime in Concord. Det. Palace is unlike any protaganist i have encountered. A vulnerable charachter that you just want to climb into the book and hug. And i can't give enough kudos to the brilliant performance by Berkrot as narrator. Now off to the finale.

Great book.

I enjoyed the story and the main character is relatable and endearing. I recommend this trilogy.

Decent second installment

This is a good second book in the series about the end of the world, but I was getting a little annoyed by the end about the ridiculousness of a person in a world headed toward apocalypse to be so hell-bent on solving a meaningless case. But overall the story was good, and performance was good.

Societal Denial & Obsessive Compulsive Protagonist

The protagonist is fairly annoying in this sequel. He is more or less in denial about the apocalypse, has made nearly no plans, and is obsessively following "leads" in a ridiculous "case" and endangering others by refusing to let it the f@$k go. The rest of society is more or less in the same denial, which is even more incredible and somewhat annoying. The books overall have a very interesting premise, but the details seem unlikely to be realistic. It seems much more likely that people would start preparing and organizing as soon as a major planet-level disaster became a certainty, particularly if they had something more than a year to plan. The obsessive protagonist who is in denial may be realistic, but he is still annoying.

Masterful Storytelling

Ben Winters weaves stories that are thoroughly engaging, psychologically astute, and deeply compassionate. The further we proceed into the world of The Last Policeman, the more beautifully and complexly true this becomes. I cannot wait to read the final installment.

Don't bother buying a new watch battery

Would you listen to Countdown City again? Why?

I dont' generally listen to books more than once.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Yes, very much so. This series is highly compelling, and this addition is certainly no exception. Our proantagonist is a wonderfully complex character, living in wildly stressful times and situations.

This is a very unique storyline, namely pursuing pretty standard day to day policing situations under the loom of the end of days. It would be easy to write yet another doomsday scenario story, but Winters choses to bring us along with the mundane daily aspects of life, and that further escalates the sense of foreboding.

Well done in all regards.

What does Peter Berkrot bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Wow, where do I start. Berkrot owns this book. RIght up there with Hiil, Guidall and Brick. This book is listenable simply due to him , let alone the story. Colour, nuance and tone are all there in spades, and he leaves enough space for us to add our own piece to this story.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The scenes in the police station, and in the diner with detectives, are very genuine, honest and believable. Enjoyable to say the very least.

Any additional comments?

This series has me locked in. Definitely not your typical "end times" concept, ( although falls into that genre without a doubt ). Worth spending credits for , and recommend you do it in the correct order.
Highly recommended, and I can't wait for the next episode!

Sets Up Well for the Series Finale

After reading The Last Policeman earlier this year I'd been interested in continuing the series but not rushing to it. I love the concept. A young policeman at the end of the world. An asteroid is only months away from making impact and destroying the world, and yet Hank Palace still wants to bring justice to a crumbling society. My biggest problem with the first book and continued in Countdown City is that Hank Palace doesn't feel real. He's like an ideal that everyone should strive to be like but you know that no one in that situation would.

In Countdown City he takes on the case of his child-hood babysitter who can't find her husband. Like any good detective novel Hank goes after this seemingly straightforward case that turns out to be anything but. As the book describes they're only months away from the extinction of humans, a lot of people are going missing, so finding one man is no easy feat. The best parts of Countdown City are describing the ways in which people are coping. Some hang on religion, others form militias, and others retreat to even more primitive means.

Its an interesting concept and a decent detective novel. It's a shame that both areas can't shine throughout the entire novel. There are just far to many head-scratching decisions that keep this series from being great. Countdown City is a short solid read but not all that memorable.

New England is not the south

I’m enjoying the trilogy pretty well — it’s not Winter’s best — that would be Underground Airlines — but one detail keeps irking me: the reader isn’t doing a very good job of concealing his southern accent. It’s jarring in a story that takes place in southern New Hampshire. It’s hard to replicate that New Hampshire Yankee accent but it shouldn’t be hard to be careful with those long “I” sounds.

Excellent read!

Love this trilogy. Countdown City as good, if not better than The Last Policeman. Can't wait to start last one.