Review: Countdown City by Ben H Winters

**This review is for the SECOND book in The Last Policeman Trilogy. The review for the first book in the series is located here**

The Premise: The story picks up immediately after the first book with Hank Palace still reeling from the ending events of the previous book. He is now no longer a detective, but begins a mystery again when an old friend of his contacts him about her missing husband. He cannot make promises and does not have the power he previously had, but he attempts to ask questions and try to locate him. Instead of the question of "whodunnit?", this book takes the turn for the "wheredidhego?" question. The mystery element is still present and the days are only getting shorter with the end of the world quickly approaching on the characters. Along with that, there is the storyline of his connection with his sister. Since the last novel, he has not made contact with her, regardless of her being his family, but in this novel, he may just have to ask for her help, especially in the case. The book also asks the question again, of what is worth solving, what is worth pursuing when the end is so near?

My Overall Thoughts and Review? I really liked that this picked up right where the first one left off. It still explained what happened in the previous book, but it was more of speaking on the affects as opposed to simply reiterating. The case did not intrigue me as much as the case from the previous book, but again, the twists and turns definitely surprised me. It is so fascinating to witness Palace's deduction process and then see how the mystery all unravels. I am really curious for the final book in the series if there will be another case, or will it simply focus on him and his sister with it being the final book and the end imminent. All in all, I really enjoyed it. It was a fantastic sequel and actually reminded me of a Sherlock Holmes case more this time with all the twists and turns and series of deductions. I am really looking forward to the next book in the series!

Rating of the book: 4/5 stars.

For more information on Ben H Winters and the series, you can read his website http://benhwinters.com/  or on his twitter at https://twitter.com/benhwinters!

Disclaimer: This book was sent to me from Quirk for consideration/review. All opinions are my own.