The Last Policeman

Enjoyed this one quite a bit, though it is a little weird reading about the coming apocalypse (in the form of a comet) when we've got an actual coming apocalypse!

I've been on a Ben H. Winters journey lately ("Underground Airlines" and "Golden State") I'm re-reading this trilogy to keep with the journey, but more significantly - to explore a story world where doom is on the horizon and the fundamental question all the characters must ask is "So, then how should we live?" The Nov 5th U.S. election isnt literally an asteroid rushing to hit earth. Yet it is a date when another time will begin - and one I'm not feeling hopeful about its arrival. For me, the plots in this trilogy are secondary to the first-person main character and how he chooses to, even as the police force is crumbling around him, continues to pursue the solution of a suspicious suicide. There's suspense, a few twists, a handful of endearing characters, but for me the book and series are a way to ask myself "How would I live in the story world of coming, existential calamity?" And far more essentially: "How will I choose to live in the just over three months until Nov 5th and its yet unknown aftermath?"

Very entertaining and well-written. I'll be reading the other books in this series.

I really like this pre-apocalypse look at society. What happens when we actually know we're doomed? While we are currently doomed by climate change and not doing anything about it, too many of us are in denial so we're not actually acting like anything bad is going to happen. Though I suspect even with Maya a lot of folks would remain in denial.

Wow! Great story. A detective investigates a suspicious suicide in a deteriorating world. An asteroid is hitting earth in a few months and nearly everyone has recalibrated their behavior accordingly. Bucket lists, suicides, criminal behavior, a lot of people aren't holding down the jobs that made society run anymore. But if you're a criminal who gets caught, even six months is a life sentence. A great police procedural in a world with a new set of rules.

Pre-apocolyptic is not something you find very often but this was really interesting. Who commits murder when the world is about to end? That's a compelling question and a great premise for a solid story.

Hot death from the sky
he has more pressing concerns 
suicide, or not.

I'm not a big reader of mysteries, which seem to me to be pretty much the same: Somebody is killed, but whodunit? That storyline is here, of course, but with the added premise that an asteroid is hurtling toward earth and so who cares about solving a murder case? Especially a murder case that looks like it is probably a suicide, just one more suicide among an epidemic of them. So in that regard, this was a refreshing and entertaining read. (Also, I listened to the audio version and the performance was good.)

Probably 3.5. Nicely paced. I enjoyed it enough to tempt me to acquire the second in the series.

I enjoyed this book, a mystery wrapped in the apocalypse.

Fun mix of noir and sci-fi. I'll read the next one when I'm traveling and need something light.

Short Review: The setting is great. The world is going to end in six months when an asteroid is going to hit the earth. But Dec Palace has a murder to solve. The concept was better than the execution but it was good enough to read the second book.

my full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/last-policeman/

I liked the concept of this novel. The story itself didn't quite live up to what I imagined it would be. It was still a good story, but perhaps a little dry. Maybe the next book in the series will delve more deeply into how society reacts to their impending doom.

A very interesting story, very well told. Highly recommend this book.

Entirely flat and forgettable. A huge shame, because it's a waste of a great premise.

I wanted to like this book, I really did. It was not meant to be. I could not get the past that I did not like Hank Palace, and because I did not like him I could not get behind his cause (to continue to solve crimes in a world where humans know an asteroid will hit in a few months and we will all die). I probably could have overlooked not liking Palace if I cared about the case. I did not. There was nothing to drive Palace into this obsession to solve the murder except to say he solved a case. Honestly, maybe it was my mood, but considering it took me two weeks to read it that's probably a stretch. Also, the sister. I didn't get Nico at all.

Ben Winter's end-of-the-world police procedural is fascinating on two levels. Recently promoted Detective Hank Palace is a thoughtful and dogged police officer in spite of the “unbearable immanence” of an asteroid on a collision course with the Earth. In spite of everything falling apart around him, he worries about the victim, his sister, and his colleagues, but gets the job done. Meanwhile, I couldn't help thinking how I would deal with this scenario the entire time I was reading the novel. There aren't too many books that entertain and make you think. This is one of them. Highly recommended.