World of Trouble (The Last Policeman, #3)

by Ben H Winters

Peter Berkrot (Narrator)

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

Nominated for the 2015 Edgar® Award for Best Paperback Original

Critically acclaimed author Ben H. Winters delivers this explosive final installment in the Edgar® Award winning Last Policeman series. 

With the doomsday asteroid looming, Detective Hank Palace has found sanctuary in the woods of New England, secure in a well-stocked safe house with other onetime members of the Concord police force. But with time ticking away before the asteroid makes landfall, Hank’s safety is only relative, and his only relative—his sister Nico—isn’t safe. Soon, it’s clear that there’s more than one earth-shattering revelation on the horizon, and it’s up to Hank to solve the puzzle before time runs out...for everyone.

• ISBN10: 1469226472
• ISBN13: 9781469226477
• Publish Date: 1 July 2015 (first published 1 January 2014)
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Brilliance Audio
• Edition: Unabridged
• Format: Audiobook (MP3)
• Duration: 8 hours and 10 minutes
• Language: English

Reviews

[sarahjay]

So very underwhelmed by this trilogy, which annoys me because I'd wanted to read it for such a long time. The first one is good. The second one is less good and the third one is pretty mediocre. Cool premise, good writing style that does make me interested in reading more by this author someday, but the mystery plots are just not very strong or interesting. By the third one I couldn't make myself even pretend to care.

[inlibrisveritas]

World of Trouble closes out the Last Policeman trilogy and it was such a fantastic series ending! Let me take a moment to marvel that I started and finished a series in the same year…that NEVER happens! Take that as a sign of how much i enjoyed the series as a whole.

The third novels picks up a short time after the second one ends, and Detective Hank Palace is once again on the trail of a missing person. However this time it’s his sister, Nico, as well as her odd group of friends who are in search of a way to take out the asteroid before it does the same to them. When the book starts there isn’t much time left and Hank is desperate to find her before the end. I am still in love with the whole idea of a pre-apocalyptic book, and I need more! It’s so fascinating to read about how people handle knowing about the apocalypse before it happens. It brings something unique to the table. You not only get to see what the idea of a apocalypse does to a human, but the path it takes to get to that point. People don’t just become killers or fiercely protective for nothing, I loved seeing how as the books progressed to this point the people he encountered slowly became more difficult to deal with and to find. Society has degraded completely and human nature has reverted back to a point where a stranger could be spell the end and there are no chances taken. It’s gritty, scary, and totally plausible making this book (and the series) top-notch

Hank’s character development has also been phenomenal. When he starts out in The last Policeman he’s very much the rookie with his heart in the right place. He’s not the best at his job, but he’s the only one truly attempting. By the end of the series he’s grown into a more wary person, but also a person who wants to help out whenever he can. I love that he never lost that caring strike of his, and that despite knowing the shadier pasts of some people he gives them the benefit of the doubt. It’s a truly reckless way to live in the end of times,but it says something about how good of a person he is. His detective skills have gotten much better and it becomes something of a dependency for him and how he copes.

Overall it’s a fantastic series and I highly recommend it! It has the right amount of thrill, suspense, and mystery to keep you on the edge of your seat and hooked on the pages.

[lovelybookshelf]

Just as in the first two books, this conclusion to the trilogy addressed moral and ethical questions that arise when people know there's no longer any hope. The previous books addressed these issues with a bit more finesse, but it's still a major theme here. When I started World of Trouble, I couldn't imagine a convincing ending that I'd be okay with, but Winters surprised me once again. Read my full review of this title at A Lovely Bookshelf on the Wall.