World of Trouble: The Last Policeman Book III
The concluding volume of the Last Policeman trilogy takes place the week before an asteroid will slam into Earth. Hank Palace, who used to be a police officer before society started tearing itself apart, has one thing he needs to accomplish before the asteroid hits: find out what has happened to his sister, Nico, who (as recounted in the previous books in the trilogy) had hooked up with a group of people who claimed to have a plan to save the world. Where the first two books (The Last Policeman, 2012, and Countdown City, 2013) were preapocalyptic mysteries, this one, while still set before the cataclysm, reads like a post-­apocalyptic story: society has almost completely fallen apart, cities are deserted ruins, people are scrounging for food, technology is all but dead. The series has had a built-in expiration date from the very beginning, so readers shouldn’t be upset that it’s ending now, but—and this is an indication of Winters’ abundant gifts as a storyteller—we really, really wish he could find a way to keep it going. A fine conclusion to a unique and compelling trilogy. --David Pitt