Aftermath (1998)

An unexpected supernova in the nearby stellar vicinity does very bad things to lots of the Earth.

The USA is one of the less worse off areas, if you want to put it that way, so they are looking to spearhead the recovery effort, especially when they learn more bad news is on the way.

The book, however, opens with the strange sentencing of a serial killer to 'judicial sleep' a sort of combination execution and cheap life sentence - e.g. not actually killing them immediately directly, but presumably lowering the housing the prisoner costs.

A priest comes to him with a deal.

Then in the Aftermath scenario there are Mars mission survivors, some crazies, survivalists and everybody else trying to survive.

Just about a 3.5, and apparently with a sequel that I'd guess might be more interesting.

http://notfreesf.blogspot.com/2009/01/aftermath-charles-sheffield.html ( )

Deeply credible premise, fascinating technical and social projection to the year 2026. Not very engaging, however.

Cast: Astronauts, politicians, genius serial killer, everyman-survivalist
Timeframe: catastrophe through recovery era ( )

Beat it, Lucifer's Hammer. Take a dive, Deep Impact. I have read the one (lost the book somewhere, though!) and own the other (far better -- for those who enjoy SOME science with their fiction -- than the flashier, star-laden Armageddon) but I'll be damned if this doesn't crush them both. First, the scientific premise is beautifully presented: while married to a physicist, I am an English Major - so my understanding is sketchy at best. Sheffield explains all: clearly, cogently, and in words I understand. Then, he uses believable characters to carry the story. SF has long been tarred with the 'minimal characterization' brush - but Sheffield is no more guilty of that than say, Michener, who used the same technique in his sprawling explorations of place and time (see Hawaii, Centennial, or Texas for examples). Sheffield gives a reader enough to feel these folks are real, & have more backstory than a reader ever sees, which is as it should be. He puts them in a page-turner of a plot that is as propulsive as early Clancy, with suspense worthy of LeCarre. The villain is, to my mind, much more frightening than Hannibal Lecter- and drawn much more completely.
A smashing good read - you won't be disappointed! ( )

three books in one converging on a great end. well thought out.