World of Trouble is the third book in the Last Policeman trilogy, following The Last Policeman and Countdown City. We're now just two weeks away from the asteroid hitting the planet. Hank Palace's police department has long since been shut down, but he still can't help but search for justice, even though it's about to stop mattering permanently. This time, while searching for his sister and her band of radicals who believe they can save the world, he finds another young woman, her throat cut and near death.
The meaning and significance of life or the lack thereof has long been a theme of detective fiction, and this series has brought a SF twist to the subject with the imminent destruction of life as we know it. Hank has coded the towns he passes through according to how people are dealing with the end: red towns, where civilization has already been abandoned; green towns, which are keeping up the pretense of life as normal, and blue towns, which appear abandoned but aren't. But he still goes on, searching for his sister and for answers, even while there's no protecting anybody and the answers won't make a difference.
There are no surprises here, either in regards to the ending we've been promised since the first book or in the case of what happened with Hank's sister and the woman with her throat cut, which I saw coming long in advance. But the ending is exactly what this series needed all the same. This quietly philosophical series is perfect for fans of detective stories with a twist or apocalyptic settings.
Overall: A
World of Trouble will be available on July 15.