Puzzle Doctor

World Of Trouble – The Last Policeman Book III by Ben H Winters

World Of TroubleDoomsday minus 14 days. The world is going to end, the asteroid 2011GV1, otherwise known as Maia is going to hit the Earth and then everything will end. And Detective Hank Palace has one last case to solve – he’s going to find his sister Nico.

Nico was last seen with a group of radicals who have a plan to save everything – a nuclear missile that will deflect Maia – and, despite believing that her cause is doomed, he needs to find her before the end. But he’s going to find more than he expects – as the doomsday clock ticks down, Palace finds that he has a brutal murder to solve. But needless to say, the clock is ticking…

First off, go and read The Last Policeman and Countdown City, the first two books in this trilogy. They are outstanding examples of how the crime genre can still produce something fresh and surprising after all these years. Now the story comes to a close… but trilogies can be tricky things.

Toy Story – that’s about the only trilogy that works for me. You could make a case for the Indiana Jones films but they’re just three (OK, four now) films with the same character as the lead. The Lord Of The Rings comes close, but for the infinite epilogues. Scream wasn’t bad, if you want a murder mystery example, and at least there weren’t Ewoks in part three.

I suppose structurally, this trilogy has vaguely resembled the Star Wars structure. Part one stands alone whereas parts two and three, while having individual plots, have an overarching story linking the two books. And what a story.

I’m not going to discuss the plot in any detail, in case it gives away too much about the earlier books. It’s well thought out and although part of the resolution is guessable, that doesn’t detract from a complex plot that is full of surprises.

Ben H Winters continues to provide us with a well-constructed pre-apocalyptic world with everyone dealing with the approach of Maia in different ways, from the re-united lovers with their chicken rations to the closeted Amish community. Palace is struggling to deal with things too, as there are times where you begin to doubt his sanity. At least he looks after the star of the book, Houdini the dog.

I said Toy Story was the only trilogy that really worked for me. Well, now there are two. This is an outstanding novel, a clever mystery, an absorbing adventure and a brilliant end to the story. I simply cannot praise it highly enough. The only reason you could have not to read this book is if you haven’t read the first two. So either a) read this NOW or b) read the entire trilogy NOW. Highly Highly Recommended.

My thanks to Quirk Books for my review copy.

 

13 comments

  1. I really enjoyed the first two in the series, more than many people because I spent the first 60 some odd years of my life in NH. I am looking forward to the last one. Thanks for the review.

    Like

    Reply

  2. I am sure there are no spoilers here, but I just skimmed because I don’t want to know a thing. I just finished Countdown City and loved it, so I am really looking forward to this one. And glad to hear you liked it. My husband bought this series, so I will probably wait until he reads it first.

    Like

    Reply

  3. Well, if you insist … 🙂 As for trilogies, well, I would also recommend the ‘Apu’ trilogy’ by Satyajit Ray, Krzysztof Kieslowski’s ‘three colours’ trilogy and Sergio Leone’s three ‘Dollars’ films,

    Like

    Reply

  4. I thought this was the most successful of the books and enjoyed it the most. I thought the second one was the weakest — more of a screenplay than a novel. Winters sometimes in can be indulgent in his writing. I dislike his frequent use of metaphoric tautology and his tendency to write florid prose in some passages describing characters’ emotions. He’s a creative writing teacher at Butler University and I only hope he isn’t encouraging his students to be as unnatural and old-fashioned in their writing. But overall, the characters — especially the hedonistic couple who live in the RV, blasting classic rock and eating roast chicken, as well as the poignantly rendered Amish farmer — and plotting were top notch in this book.

    Like

    Reply

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.