Where to Start with Ben H. Winters
Ben H. Winters is famous for his ability to mash up genres, combining detective mysteries, apocalyptic sci-fi, horror, parodies, and alternate histories. Because his bibliography covers so many different styles, your perfect starting point depends on what you like to read:
- For Mystery and Sci-Fi Fans: Start with The Last Policeman (2012). This Edgar Award-winning novel is the first book in his pre-apocalyptic trilogy. It is widely considered his masterpiece and the absolute best introduction to his clever plotting and character work.
- For Fans of Dark Alternate History: Start with Underground Airlines (2016). It is a standalone thriller set in a chilling modern America where the Civil War never happened and slavery still exists in four states.
- For Lovers of Quirky Parodies: Start with Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters (2009), his hilarious, bestselling mash-up of Jane Austen's classic with tentacled monsters.
The Last Policeman Trilogy Reading Order
This is Winters' most famous work. The series follows detective Hank Palace as he tries to solve crimes while the Earth counts down to an unavoidable collision with a massive asteroid. Because of the ticking-clock overarching narrative, you must read this trilogy in strict publication order:
- The Last Policeman (2012) - Detective Hank Palace investigates a suspicious suicide that everyone else dismisses, as the world has only six months left before the impact.
- Countdown City (2013) - With only 77 days left and the police force disbanded, Hank takes on a missing person case in a rapidly collapsing society.
- World of Trouble (2014) - The final days are here. Hank goes on a quest to find his missing sister, searching for answers as the end of the world looms.
Literally Disturbed Series
In addition to his adult fiction, Winters wrote a spooky, rhymed poetry series for younger readers, which was illustrated by Adam F. Watkins. These collections are perfect for fans of dark humor and creepy tales:
- Literally Disturbed: Tales to Keep You Up at Night (2013)
- Literally Disturbed #2: More Tales to Keep You Up at Night (2014)
- Romantically Disturbed: Love Poems to Rip Your Heart Out (2014)
Standalone Novels (Chronological Order)
If you want to read his standalone novels, they can be read in any order. The following is their chronological publication order:
- The Secret Life of Ms. Finkleman (2009) - A charming middle-grade mystery about a girl who exposes her boring music teacher's secret past.
- Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters (2009) - A literary parody mashing Austen's characters with giant lobsters and sea serpents.
- Android Karenina (2010) - A sci-fi parody of Tolstoy's classic, set in a retro-futuristic Russia filled with robots and space travel.
- Bedbugs (2011) - A slow-burn psychological horror novel about a family who moves into a Brooklyn apartment infested with something much worse than bugs. Note: This book was re-released in 2023 under the title The Bonus Room.
- The Mystery of the Missing Everything (2011) - Another fun middle-grade detective story set in a middle school.
- Underground Airlines (2016) - A thought-provoking alternate history following a black bounty hunter who works for the U.S. Marshals to track down escaped slaves.
- Golden State (2019) - A dystopian detective novel set in an alternate California where lying is the ultimate crime, and reality is protected by a team of objective truth-enforcers.
- The Quiet Boy (2021) - A complex legal thriller and supernatural mystery about a boy who falls into a bizarre, catatonic state after a medical incident.
- Self Help (2022) - Originally released as an Audible Original, this darkly comedic thriller features a struggling actor whose self-help audiobook starts talking back to him.
- Big Time (2024) - A fast-paced speculative thriller that explores a world where time is a physical commodity that can be harvested from some people and given to others.
The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbooks
Ben H. Winters collaborated with the franchise creators Joshua Piven and David Borgenicht on several installments of these iconic survival guides. He co-authored or contributed to handbooks ranging from Middle School to Man Skills, and even the Apocalypse edition. These are structured as humorous reference guides and can be picked up in any order.
Plays and Short Stories
Winters' storytelling also extends to the stage and audio format. He wrote theatrical works like A Fairy Tale (2008), The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere (2010), Uncle Pirate (2011), and the audio play Q&A (2021). His award-nominated short crime story, Test Drive (2017), is published in the anthology The Highway Kind: Tales of Fast Cars, Desperate Drivers, and Dark Roads.