Book Review: World of Trouble - Ben H. Winters

World of Trouble - Ben H. Winters

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.

4/5 stars (really liked it)

By far my favorite book in the series.  I think this was a great conclusion to the book series and I'm a little sad that there really won't be a possibility of more.  Although I would love to read a book about Hank Palace when he joined the police force before an asteroid was headed to earth.  I love how Hank never gave up on being a good person and finding out where his sister ended up.  I also like how we met some new characters who were interesting.  I especially love the dog and Hank's description of him.  The ending of the book was my favorite and I'm glad the author ended the book where he did.

Book Review: Countdown City – Ben H. Winters

Countdown City – BenH. Winters

There is just 74 days to go before a deadly asteroid collides with Earth, and Detective Hank Palace is out of a job.  With the Concord police force operating under 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 college-campus-turned-anarchist-encampment to a crumbling coastal landscape where anti-immigrant militia fend off “impact zone” refugees.

The second novel in the critically acclaimed Last Policeman trilogy, Coundown City  presents a fascinating mystery set on the brink of an apocalypse—and once again, Hank Palace confronts questions 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 us?

Book will be released 07/16/13

4/5 stars (really liked it)

I enjoyed this book a lot more than the first one.  This books starts out with a  missing person, Brett Cavatone but it turns into so much more.  With the asteroid getting closer and closer people are doing some strange things.  There are people out there that believe they can stop it, others who believe in government conspiracies.  I really enjoyed getting to know Hank’s dog, Houdini, which he acquired in the last book.  Also getting to know his sister Nico and a little bit about Hank’s childhood.  In a world where a lot of people have given up or have just said “screw it”, Hank finds himself still caring about right and wrong.  This book had me guessing on so many things and gave me a few surprises.  I can’t wait to see where the next book will conclude and whether or not the asteroid will really hit Earth.

Book Review: The Last policeman - Ben Winters

The Last Policeman - Ben Winters

Hank Palace, a homicide detective in Concord, New Hampshire, asks this question every day.

Most people have stopped doing whatever it is they did before the asteroid 2011L47J hovered into view. Stopped selling real estate; stopped working at hospitals; stopped slinging hash or driving cabs or trading high-yield securities. A lot of folks spend their days on bended knee, praying to Jesus or Allah or whoever they think might save them. Others have gone the other way, roaming the streets, enjoying what pleasures they can before the grand finale. Government services are beginning to slip into disarray, crops are left to rot.

When it first appeared, 2011L47J was just a speck, somewhere beyond Jupiter's orbit. By mid-October it revealed itself to be seven kilometers in diameter, and on a crash course with the Earth. Now it's March, and sometime in September, 2011L47J will slam into our planet and kill half the population immediately, and most of the rest in the miserable decades that follow.

All of humanity now, every person in the world--we're like a bunch of little kids, in deep, deep trouble, just waiting till our dad gets home. So what do I do while I wait? I work.

Today, Hank Palace is working the case of Peter Zell, an insurance man who has comitted suicide. To his fellow police officers, it's just one more death-by-hanging in a city that sees a dozen of suicides every week. But Palace senses something wrong. There's something odd about the crime scene. Something off. Palace becomes convinced that it's murder. And he's the only one who cares.

What's the difference, Palace? We're all gonna die soon, anyway.

As Palace digs deeper, we are drawn into his world. We meet his sister Nico and her screwup boyfriend, Derek, who are trying to beam S.O.S messages into outer space; we meet Erik Littlejohn, a "spiritual advisor" helping his clients through these difficult times. Palace's investigation plays out under the long shadow of 2011L47J, forcing everyone in the book -- and those reading it-- to confront hard questions way beyond "whodunnit." What basis does civilization rest upon? What is life worth? What would any of us do, what would we really do, if our days were numbered?

Book is released July 10th, 2012
3/5 stars (liked it)
I like the idea of a book about the end of the world (basically) where everyone knows the end is coming months in advance.  Everyone will react differently and as the asteroid nears Earth, people will change their reaction to it.  This book focuses on Hank Palace, a detective who is still determined to find justice.  He investigates the hanging of Peter Zell, an apparent suicide but Hank believes he was murdered.  Through his investigation, which he pretty much has to do on his own since the other cops just believe it was a suicide, he meets several people that had contact with Peter.  The person that I had guessed was the killer was not in fact even part of it.  The killer game me a surprise and I like how the author built up the suspense in the reveal of the killer.  I also like how Hank changed in the course of the book.  I would love to read a follow up book especially when it gets closer to when the Asteroid collides with Earth.

 

Review - Bedbugs by Ben H. Winters

 

Paperback, 256 pages

Published September 6th 2011 by Quirk Publishing

ISBN 1594745234 (ISBN13: 9781594745232)

From Goodreads:

FOR RENT: Top two floors of beautifully renovated brownstone, 1300 sq. ft., 2BR 2BA, eat-in kitchen, one block to parks and playgrounds. No broker’s fee.
Susan and Alex Wendt have found their dream apartment.
Sure, the landlady is a little eccentric. And the elderly handyman drops some cryptic remarks about the basement. But the rent is so low, it’s too good to pass up.
Big mistake. Susan soon discovers that her new home is crawling with bedbugs . . . or is it? She awakens every morning with fresh bites, but neither Alex nor their daughter Emma has a single welt. An exterminator searches the property and turns up nothing. The landlady insists her building is clean. Susan fears she’s going mad—until a more sinister explanation presents itself: she may literally be confronting the bedbug problem from Hell.

I thought it was a good story.  Made me feel like I had bugs on me while reading it.  I liked the first 2/3 of it and then I felt like the last 1/3 was rushed.  I liked Alex & Emma but actually did not care for the main character Susan.  I didn’t like her at all and when these things were happening to her I wasn’t too sympathetic to her.  I thought she was a bit selfish and did not care about her daughter or husband. 

I did however like the nanny and thought she wasn’t in it enough.  I also really liked the exterminator and she was not in it enough either. 

Overall I thought the book could have been longer, at 256 pages I felt it could have had 100 more pages to explain more things.  I did not expect the supernatural twist to it.  I thought it had a good ending.