Ben H. Winters. Looking very relaxed for a man who brought about the end of the world

 Here at ReadItDaddy we've loved Ben H. Winters' "The Last Policeman" books (and you can check out our reviews of Book 1 and Book 2 here). So we were delighted when the man himself agreed to an interview.

ReaditDaddy: Hi Ben and congratulations on the success of "The Last Policeman" and on the publication of the next book in the trilogy "Countdown City" - Tell us a little bit about yourself and your books.

Ben H. Winters: A little bit about myself: I’m your basic bassist-turned comedian-turned-journalist-turned-playwright-turned-novelist. I’ve lived all over the United States (and, during college, in Oxford, England, for a year) and have landed for now in Indianapolis, Indiana. My wife is a law professor, and we’ve got three small kids.
Ben H. Winters: I always wish I had a more interesting answer to this question, and I think the problem is I’m just not that interesting of a person—I mean, hopefully my work is interesting, but I have no secret desire to do daredevil tricks or fight a polar bear. If I was suddenly on this limited time frame, I think I would hunker down with my family, probably keep some sort of diary and then go bury it in the yard before the big day, on the off chance that humanity survives (which it probably would not), I can have contributed in some way to the slow rebuilding of the species.

ReaditDaddy: Fantastic stuff, and thank you very much for a fascinating interview and insight into what you do. We absolutely cannot wait for Book 3 :)

Update: Massive congratulations to Ben for his recent Edgar win for 'The Last Policeman' - Well done and great acceptance speech! 

Waiting for a star to fall?

We've previously reviewed the utterly fantastic "The Last Policeman" here at ReadItDaddy and we were delighted when Mat Archer got in touch to offer us the chance to take a look at Book II.

Ben H. Winters has obviously been a very busy man, polishing off the trilogy and various other writing in progress.

So "What did Hank Palace Do Next?"

We'll try to avoid specific spoilers for this book and "TLP" simply because we want you to get the maximum enjoyment out of Ben H. Winters' fantastic works. Here though the relatively normal and somewhat calm world of "TLP" gives way to the eroding of society, the slow drip-feed of inevitability as once again the world quivers in anticipation of a massive meteorite strike.

In "Countdown City" Ben H. Winters continues to chip away at all the things we hold dear and take for granted. In Hank Palace's world, people have gone "Bucket List" - their way of coping with impending doom is to go off and do crazy stuff. Anything but deal with the here and now, and the thought that as our various frameworks and infrastructures break down and dissipate, people show their true colours and either cope or give in.

Hank Palace, forcibly retired from the Police Force, still assumes the role of investigator and what at first seems like a fairly obvious missing persons case develops into something more far-reaching and sinister.

Hank doggedly pursues his lines of inquiry as the rest of the world either slowly rolls over and plays dead, or digs in with gritty determination that somehow there will be survivors of the impact. The more you read about Hank Palace, the more you realise that his single-mindedness is yet another form of human madness - albeit a more subtle one, one that's perhaps equally as sinister as the bucketlisters or the folk who abandon family and friends to quietly go insane elsewhere.

As Hank's latest case unfolds, we learn how he copes with grief (particularly events that unfolded in "The Last Policeman" and carry through into "Countdown City" as quiet sub-plots intertwined with the main grist of the storyline).

Above all though, the novel is utterly addictive and compelling - in some ways for the same reasons the original book was (for the questions it raises in your own mind - what WOULD you do if this happened?) but in other ways because it delves further into our own concept of civilisation and what happens when something puts a giant size 10 boot through everything we rely on and hold dear. Simple things like the availability of coffee (I think for me, this was probably one of the most harrowing messages conveyed in "Countdown City" - that a cataclysmic event such as the meteorite strike would pretty much scupper your ability to grab your daily caffeine fix!)

The plot this time round is darker, more disturbing - and though we still think of Hank Palace as a heroic and solid character who seems to be a lone voice of calm rationality in a world rapidly going to hell, in truth he's anything but. We also get to see first hand his fragility in the face of characters who truly have nothing to lose. As "Countdown City" draws to a fairly quiet close with little over a month and a half left before the meteorite strike, there are many plot threads left untied, and the overall sense that Hank still has his own inner demons to slay.

With book 3, we really cannot wait to see how Winters ties together the loose ends, and presents us with what should be a fantastic, cataclysmic finale. I wouldn't want to be under the sort of pressure he must be feeling right now, to deliver a conclusion that both satisfies and is on a grand enough scale to end a trilogy that has rocked my world, and so many other people's worlds too.

The Last Policeman (Cover)

As you have probably noticed, Daddy hijacks the blog now and again to post reviews of books that are distinctly grown up.

Ever since I first heard about "The Last Policeman" it joined the teetering wishlist of books. Thanks to Mat Archer and Quirk Books, I've now read my early birthday present and it's every bit as brilliant as I hoped it would be.

The "book hook" here is just too enticing to pass up, and sets a billion questions churning in the mind of the reader even before they read the first chapter.

"The world is ending. No get out clause. No reprieve. What would you do?"

The world in "The Last Policeman" is an astonishingly unfamiliar place, a world with the Sword of Damocles (or in this case, Asteroid 2011GV1) hanging over its head.

Hank Palace, a detective, chooses to handle the world's premature death sentence by going to work.

Investigating a suicide, Palace soon becomes entwined in a case with the darkest of hidden depths and complexities that threaten to pull in and destroy those he holds dear. Hitting dead ends and a whole world of apathy, it's up to Palace to prove that the seemingly clear-cut suicide case is anything but.

Ben H. Winter's pre-apocalyptic world piques your curiosity at every page turn, and forces the reader to answer those questions. What would we do? How would we react if we knew that our death day was tangible? How strong could we be in a situation where life is reduced to survival and instinct instead of comfortable existence? It's a fascinating glimpse of how even the mightiest companies and networks completely crumble and fall apart as their most valuable resource - humans to flip the burgers, flick the switches - or indeed investigate murders - stop caring and await the inevitable.

My initial fear that knowing the fate of the world right off the bat would mean this novel had nowhere else to go was thankfully unfounded. This is a book that keeps you guessing, and keeps you gripped throughout. Hank Palace is no action-packed superhero detective with a witty quip to suit every situation. If anything, he's one of the most humbling and human characters I've seen in a novel for quite some time. Someone who carries on when everything is utterly hopeless. I just couldn't put this down and am seriously contemplating sacking off the rest of the reading list to start it all over again.

This is the first book in a trilogy. Brilliant stuff, more please soon Ben!