Countdown City: The Last Policeman Book II (The Last Policeman Trilogy)
In a world moving toward catastrophe, former detective Hank Palace follows a missing-person case that forces him to rethink collapse, duty, and what people owe one another.
Work Information
As the asteroid countdown continues, a routine search broadens into a question about civilization itself.
As the time to asteroid impact runs out, a man pushed out of formal detective work takes a personal request and finds himself facing the end of the world. The novel balances puzzle-driven plotting with apocalyptic urgency.
Book Information
- Publisher
- Quirk Books
- Published
- 2013-07-16
- Pages
- 316 pages
- Language
- 英語
- Size
- 13.3 x 2.1 x 20.3 cm
- ISBN-13
- 9781594746260
- ISBN-10
- 1594746265
- Price
- 3331 JPY
- Category
- 洋書/Literature & Fiction/Genre Fiction/Metaphysical
“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 and winner of the 2014 Philip K. Dick Award. 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?
Ben H. Winters is the New York Times best-selling, Edgar Award–winning, and Philip K. Dick Award–winning author of The Quiet Boy, Golden State, Underground Airlines , the Last Policeman trilogy, and the mash-up novel Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters . Ben has also worked extensively in television; he was a writer on the FX cult hit Legion as well as Manhunt on Apple TV+, and he is the creator of the CBS drama Tracker. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, three kids, and one large dog.
Reviews
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Tic toc : l'heure tourne, nos jours sont comptés, c'est notre dernier été
J'ai mis beaucoup de temps à lire ce livre, et pourtant je l'ai beaucoup aimé. Second tome du triptyque "the last policeman" on retrouve ici tous les points forts de "dernier meurtre avant la fin du monde" : une atmosphère de fin du monde très soignée, un héros attachant, une enquête policière à l'ancienne dans un contexte exceptionnel. J'adore cette approche qui consiste à décrire une situation globale au travers de la vie d'un seul individu, de ses certitudes, de ses doutes, de ses obsessions (pour son enquête ou pour une promesse faite à sa soeur il y a longtemps) et ses actes. Ce personnage de Henry Palace (accompagné dans son aventure par son chien Houdini comme Tintin l'est par Milou) est décidément très réussi. L'humour, malgré la situation difficile, est omniprésent. Mon seul regret est d'avoir lu ce livre en anglais : j'ai eu beaucoup de mal avec le style et le vocabulaire de l'auteur, et j'ai souvent piétiné dans des phrases compliquées. Mais je ne regrette pas ma lecture ! Un extrait, dans lequel Henry récupère son chien après l'avoir laissé sous la garde d'inconnues (plutôt hostiles) pendant quelques heures : "Oh hey" she says. "Check it out". She points to my dog. "Sit" He sits "Roll over". He rolls over. "That"s great," I say. "Wow". This is a clear case of canine Stockholm syndrome, and I explain this to Houdini as he reluctantly falls into step beside me...
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Great follow up, looking forward to the next book
Great follow up to book 1. I haven't a clue how the series will finish but I'm looking forward to it.
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Interesting blend: mystery and end of the world
I enjoyed the main character. Well written and believable. The external events and how that impacts regular everyday events was very creative. I'd read the next one just to see what Hank gets up to.
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Perfect sequel
I loved book #1, and this did not disappoint as a sequel. It didn't feel as urgent as #1, but it didn't particularly need to be; the urgency from the first book carried over to the second, which probably says a lot for the author's world-building. (And his/Palace's insight into the human condition and the description thereof... faaaantastic.) It also didn't feel quite as dark as the first book, but I took that to be purposeful. The people who are left are mostly deciding to hang in there until the bitter end, rather than just hanging themselves. Maybe those who have stuck around have a little more hope. But that's not to say there isn't plenty of death and despair, and things are definitely getting worse. There are sad moments, but at least I was already privy to Palace's childhood at this point and didn't cry at any revelations. His promise to his sister is very sweet, but not tear-worthy, and that's fine. I wish we'd seen more of the outside world though. Even though Palace travels to several locations, and it makes sense that he really can't travel very far at this point with the general infrastructure of everything having fallen apart, I still felt stuck in a microcosm while reading, even though the entire world is falling into chaos. And maybe that's the point; Palace, and everyone else, probably feels that way too, cut off from the world at large compared to the recently-ended, hyper-information age. I still hope though that in book #3 we get to see more of what's happening to at least other regions of the country, if not the world. If only for curiosity's sake. Overall, great book, probably good for high school and older.
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Very good.
This is the second book in the last policeman series and although i read the 1st book i was very lukewarm about it. The problem is with the premise being so good i knew i would end up having to get the next one to find out what happens next, and i'm really glad i did as this book is much better. Hank though has got to be the most boring main character of any book i have ever read,ever, but the other characters carry him along until i found myself rooting for him towards the middle of the book when the pace really starts to pick up, hurtling toward a excellent ending. Now the long wait for the next book and earth's destruction....maybe.