The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters (Book Review)

"I'm staring at the insurance man and he's staring at me, two cold gray eyes behind old-fashioned tortoiseshell frames, and I'm having this awful and inspiring feeling, like holy moly this is real, and I don't know if I'm ready, I really don't."

Review: An asteroid is headed to Earth and no one can stop it. Oh, there are plans from just about every country and government, but it is impossible. You'd think with the end coming, slowly, but quickly, all at once, solving a murder would be the LAST thing on ANYONE'S mind? Think again, because Detective Hank Palace doesn't just stop doing his job because there are bigger destinies at play. There's been a string of deaths where his co-workers see suicides at an all time high, maybe because they're scared of the impending doom so they are projecting what they cannot do themselves on the dead they encounter? Regardless of the circumstances Detective Palace does not believe these deaths are suicide. He believes they are being murdered and their deaths are staged to appear like suicide.

I found, as I was reading this book that the dialog as well as the first person narrative reads best out loud. I'd start reading it silently in my head, but then I found myself starting to say the sentences out loud because it sounds almost like a comic strip. A detective comic strip. Filled with the innermost thoughts of a detective torn between the people he loves around him and the work he feels he must do.

In short, this whole, end of the world thing is something the United States government did anticipate. It is rumored, and believed, by many, that the government has put in place a plan to remove certain high ranking and intelligent people off planet Earth and relocate them to the moon, if ever a disaster should occur where that was the only solution. Sounds crazy? Well it does to Detective Hank Palace who just will not believe that it's possible. He believes, and I would be inclined to agree, that it sounds like some freakish Twilight Zone episode. Live on the moon? Seriously?

If you like classic Noir detective stories, but with a post apocalyptic feel to it, then you'll love this book. Winters is able to seamlessly mix mystery, impossibility, suspense, romance, and doubt into this first book of a trilogy. It started off slow by by the middle I just could not put it down. It's not cheesy at all like I thought it might be and I actually found myself understanding Detective Hank Palace. Just because the world is ending doesn't mean he should stop doing his job, or care less about it. So while he's not exactly the last policeman, he is the only one willing to solve the murders, even if it means uncovering a truth he refuses to believe.

By the end I found myself wondering, what would I do if I knew the exact date and time the world would end? Would I still live my life as I am now, or would I throw caution to the wind and behave recklessly? Am I Detective Hank Palace or his sister Nico? If I admit the truth to myself I'm probably Nico. Read the book and tell me who you relate to most?

Synopsis: Winner of the 2013 Edgar® Award Winner for Best Paperback Original!

What’s the point in solving murders if we’re all going to die soon, anyway?

Detective Hank Palace has faced this question ever since asteroid 2011GV1 hovered into view. There’s no chance left. No hope. Just six precious months until impact.

The Last Policeman presents a fascinating portrait of a pre-apocalyptic United States. The economy spirals downward while crops rot in the fields. Churches and synagogues are packed. People all over the world are walking off the job—but not Hank Palace. He’s investigating a death by hanging in a city that sees a dozen suicides every week—except this one feels suspicious, and Palace is the only cop who cares. 

The first in a trilogy, The Last Policeman offers a mystery set on the brink of an apocalypse. As Palace’s investigation plays out under the shadow of 2011GV1, we’re confronted by hard questions way beyond “whodunit.” What basis does civilization rest upon? What is life worth? What would any of us do, what would we really do, if our days were numbered?

The Last Policeman #1 (Trilogy)

by Ben H. Winters

318 pages

Quirk Books, 2013

Fiction

Finished in 5 days

Rating: ★★★★★

Amazon | BN

Read of the Town: The Last Policeman Series

Quirk Books is probably one of my favorite Publishing houses. They are responsible for some really great reads. Like Pride & Prejudice & Zombies or Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Slayer, among a whole hosts of others. I suggest taking a moment to visit their site in the link above. For now, I feel I must discuss a trilogy that will come to a close this July. I want to discuss this trilogy, not so much because of their content or popularity (there is plenty of both by the way). But because Quirk Books has been doing something I think many other publishing companies will begin to do as well.

They have been borrowing a page from Netflix, in that they are releasing Trilogies in a much quicker succession than many of us have become accustomed to. Instead of having to wait as long as a full year, Quirk Books has managed to release an entire trilogy in the course of one year! I'm still debating on whether or not I like the idea, at the moment I think I prefer the 12 month wait over getting it all at once. How do you feel about it?




For this Trilogy, written by Ben H. Winters, the second and third book (not yet released) are coming out fairly close to each other. So instead of feeling like you have a full year to read a book (and possibly discover some other great authors/books while you wait) you might only have 3 - 6 months. I can't say I'm too keen on the idea. I like giving myself time to digest a book, trying something different in the meantime, then going back to read the next in the series. Sometimes I pity that person who hasn't read Harry Potter yet and now might be feeling overwhelmed looking at all 7 books staring them in the face, begging to be read! Such pressure!

In any event, here you have a trilogy that promises to be thrilling, chilling, and equally as mysterious. Just from the titles alone and the cover art I can guess they are a bit dystopian. Having only one policeman for an entire town or world I'd think it pretty bleak to say the least!

I received the first two books last week from the publisher to read and review (without bias of course) and will probably receive the third as an ARC. Since it is scheduled to be released in July there is a bit of pressure for me to read the first two rather quickly. They aren't very long so I think that can be managed. While you all wait for my reviews to come, below is a short description (from Amazon) of each book:

The Last Policeman
Winner of the 2013 Edgar® Award Winner for Best Paperback Original!
What’s the point in solving murders if we’re all going to die soon, anyway?

Detective Hank Palace has faced this question ever since asteroid 2011GV1 hovered into view. There’s no chance left. No hope. Just six precious months until impact.

The Last Policeman presents a fascinating portrait of a pre-apocalyptic United States. The economy spirals downward while crops rot in the fields. Churches and synagogues are packed. People all over the world are walking off the job—but not Hank Palace. He’s investigating a death by hanging in a city that sees a dozen suicides every week—except this one feels suspicious, and Palace is the only cop who cares. 

The first in a trilogy, The Last Policeman offers a mystery set on the brink of an apocalypse. As Palace’s investigation plays out under the shadow of 2011GV1, we’re confronted by hard questions way beyond “whodunit.” What basis does civilization rest upon? What is life worth? What would any of us do, what would we really do, if our days were numbered?

Countdown City
Now Detective Hank Palace returns in Countdown City, the second volume of the Last Policeman trilogy. There are just 77 days before a deadly asteroid collides with Earth, and Detective Palace is out of a job. With the Concord police force operating under the auspices of the U.S. Justice Department, Hank's days of solving crimes are over...until a woman from his past begs for help finding her missing husband.

Brett Cavatone disappeared without a trace—an easy feat in a world with no phones, no cars, and no way to tell whether someone’s gone “bucket list” or just gone. With society falling to shambles, Hank pieces together what few clues he can, on a search that leads him from a college-campus-turned-anarchist-encampment to a crumbling coastal landscape where anti-immigrant militia fend off “impact zone” refugees.

Countdown City presents another fascinating mystery set on brink of an apocalypse--and once again, Hank Palace confronts questions way beyond "whodunit." What do we as human beings owe to one another? And what does it mean to be civilized when civilization is collapsing all around you?

World of Trouble
Critically acclaimed author Ben H. Winters delivers this explosive final installment in the Edgar Award winning Last Policeman series. With the doomsday asteroid looming, Detective Hank Palace has found sanctuary in the woods of New England, secure in a well-stocked safe house with other onetime members of the Concord police force. But with time ticking away before the asteroid makes landfall, Hank’s safety is only relative, and his only relative—his sister Nico—isn’t safe. Soon, it’s clear that there’s more than one earth-shattering revelation on the horizon, and it’s up to Hank to solve the puzzle before time runs out . . . for everyone.