A great sequel to The Last Policeman. I found the crime itself a little contrived and confusing, but the collapse of society rang true. The question of what we would do in our own countdown to death continues with extra blood and horror. It also continues with Palace's single-minded quest to follow one question to an answer.

The middle dragged a little, but only because Palace's mind was in a very confused place, which brings us to the heart of the book.

It's funny, he's both a reliable narrator and an unreliable during his investigation. You get all the facts, unvarnished and straight because of his overwhelming need to solve his "case" of the missing husband. But when he's confronted by people who ask him why he's trying to find one missing husband among the thousands/millions of missing people who "went bucketlist" he gets confused and you get pieces of information that aren't really relevant to anything.

In his heart he knew that what he was doing was nonsense. He saw everything in front of him clearly. But, he couldn't help wanting to get the answer that no longer mattered. He was getting other people hurt. He was putting people at needless risk, including his incredibly faithful dog, Houdini. (I love that dog way more than Palace.)

He continued his feckless search for the truth til the he got his small answer and saw that it led to the destruction of person's last scrap of hope in the world and their voluntary doom within their own family. His answer wasn't helpful or positive in any way given the situation of the world. It was more than a waste of time that he could have spent with people he cared about and who cared about him in return. That option had already flown away.

The book is brilliantly written but is a little harder to follow than the first. Palace is a more complicated character, the world is more complex.

Did I mention how much I love Houdini? I hope there's a hand-of-god multiverse hole that opens up for good dogs like Houdini and they are saved in the end. I don't think that's going to happen though. It makes me ( )

So, so good. Just all kinds of excellent. I cannot wait for the final book to come out in July. :) ( )

A good follow-up to The Last Policeman, with Hank Palace as enjoyable as the first go-round. Having already been introduced to this dystopic world, this time it didn't seem quite as fresh and intriguing; nevertheless, Winters maintained an atmosphere that kept me hooked. ( )

It took me a while to get back to this trilogy, but I'm glad I finally did. I love the doomsday setting for these mysteries and the noble Hank Palace, stubbornly caring enough to keep solving them.
Looking forward to seeing how it all wraps up. ( )

A great sequel to The Last Policeman. I found the crime itself a little contrived and confusing, but the collapse of society rang true. The question of what we would do in our own countdown to death continues with extra blood and horror. It also continues with Palace's single-minded quest to follow one question to an answer.

The middle dragged a little, but only because Palace's mind was in a very confused place, which brings us to the heart of the book.

It's funny, he's both a reliable narrator and an unreliable during his investigation. You get all the facts, unvarnished and straight because of his overwhelming need to solve his "case" of the missing husband. But when he's confronted by people who ask him why he's trying to find one missing husband among the thousands/millions of missing people who "went bucketlist" he gets confused and you get pieces of information that aren't really relevant to anything.

In his heart he knew that what he was doing was nonsense. He saw everything in front of him clearly. But, he couldn't help wanting to get the answer that no longer mattered. He was getting other people hurt. He was putting people at needless risk, including his incredibly faithful dog, Houdini. (I love that dog way more than Palace.)

He continued his feckless search for the truth til the he got his small answer and saw that it led to the destruction of person's last scrap of hope in the world and their voluntary doom within their own family. His answer wasn't helpful or positive in any way given the situation of the world. It was more than a waste of time that he could have spent with people he cared about and who cared about him in return. That option had already flown away.

The book is brilliantly written but is a little harder to follow than the first. Palace is a more complicated character, the world is more complex.

Did I mention how much I love Houdini? I hope there's a hand-of-god multiverse hole that opens up for good dogs like Houdini and they are saved in the end. I don't think that's going to happen though. It makes me ( )