Countdown City

The Last Policeman Book II

By: Ben H. Winters

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Paperback | 16 July 2013 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Paperback
320 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
3.2 x 13.5 x 20.1

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"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?

Industry Reviews

"I always appreciate novels that have new and interesting approaches to traditional genres, and Ben H. Winters' two novels featuring Hank Palace fill the bill."--Nancy Pearl, NPR

"Winters is brilliant in conveying the ways in which people look for their best impulses but often end up as the victims of other people's most base instincts."--Toronto Star

"Don't miss this series!"--Sci Fi Magazine

"Winters is a deft storyteller who moves his novel effortlessly from its intriguing setup to a thrilling, shattering conclusion."--Los Angeles Review of Books

"One of the best mysteries I've read in such a long time."--Nancy Pearl, KUOW

"Winters's work shines."--Locus

"The 'don't lose hope' ending is slam bang, setting us up for the 'final-final' installment."--Florida Times-Union

"A precise, calendar-driven doom casts a shadow over the series, a planet-killer asteroid that the Earth can't duck, making this an existential policier."--The Sunbreak

"A thrilling and contagious read."--Fayetteville Flyer

"Gripping."--The Free Lance-Star

"Highly imaginative and also very plausible--it's easy to think that the impending end of the world might feel very much like this. Genre mash-up master Winters is at it again."--Booklist

"Through it all Palace remains a likeable hero for end times."--PublishersWeekly.com

Praise for The Last Policeman
Winner of the 2013 Edgar(R) Award Winner for Best Paperback Original
One of Slate's Best Books of 2012

"[The] weird, beautiful, unapologetically apocalyptic Last Policeman trilogy is one of my favorite mystery series."--John Green, author of The Fault in Our Stars and Paper Towns

"Winters's apocalyptic detective story contains an earth-shattering element of science fiction that lifts it beyond a typical procedural."--New York Times Book Review

"An appealing hybrid of the best of science fiction and crime fiction."--The Washington Post

"In his acclaimed Last Policeman trilogy, Winters showed off his mastery of edgy, sardonic wit -- there's nothing like an asteroid speeding toward Earth to bring out the black humor in people."--Newsday

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