If you knew the world was going to end, that you and everyone else had only 74 days left to live, what would you do? Would you hunker down, hoard what you could and hope for the best? Abandon everything you knew and run for the nearest beach? Or perhaps set up residence at a library and read as fast and furiously as possible, pausing only to sleep on the floor next to the pile of books you’d never got around to reading?
For Hank Winters, still a cop in his heart long after the dissolution of the force, his driving purpose is the hunt of the case. Assisting his childhood babysitter by finding her missing husband, we see how he chooses to cope, while also watching society resetting itself around him.
The detective story is solid, but it’s not the priority of the novel. It’s all but impossible to not look within oneself and ponder what would you do? Are your loyalties to others, or to yourself? Does what you do at the end really count?
The middle novel of a planned trilogy, I have a feeling that the next installation is going to be a lot rougher. The utopian societies and “bucket lists” are quickly hitting their peak, as the inevitable difficulties of no utilities, no government, no hope take their toll.
Nominated for the Phillip K Dick awards: (http://www.philipkdickaward.org/)
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.