This was easily one of the best book of short stories I've read by a single author. I especially like how Ely was able to construct stories that are provocative, suspenseful, bold, and in most cases disturbing. He somehow maintained a subtlety for making his points throughout the text but was still able to peel back the thin glossy coating of society facades to show many of its ills. I initially was drawn to reading Ely's book Seconds after seeing the movie (which was a great book) and I have since read his novels The Tour and A Journal of the Flood Year, which were interesting concepts but didn't word for me; however, I'm now interested to finish the rest of his relatively short list of works. I would say the highlights of this collection are the title story, "Countdown" and "The Glory of G. O'D." but with that being said all fifteen stories are intriguing and have enough in the subtext to keep a person thinking well after finishing the last page.