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 … 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?
Ebook contains an excerpt from the anticipated second book in the trilogy, Countdown City.
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Meh. This was an okay book. I was far more interested in the Maia, the asteroid that is due to slam into the earth in 6 months, than I was with the murder of Peter Zell. Detective Hank Palace is a very dry character and one who is very difficult to like. He’s so serious and analytical. The asteroid seems to have no impact on his day-to-day life, …
Why solve a murder if life on the earth will soon end in a devastating collision with an asteroid? Offbeat futuristic novel is a change of pace from most mystery/thrillers.
Ben Winters is a fantastic writer with a subtle flare for character that sticks with you. The Last Policeman is a thrilling novel of mystery and who you choose to become at the end of the world. Highly recommended!
Great book– superb style. Will keep you riveted.
The entire trilogy was terrific. This book is good. Book 2 & 3 are even better.
All is not as it appears, right from the start of this novel. It looks like a suicide, and yet rookie Detective Hank Palace isn’t sure of that. Still, he wonders what the point is to investigate further. It’s only a feeling he has that it could be murder, and what will it matter when the world is certain to end in six months. That’s right, the …
Set during the pending asteroid hit….he ponders what is worthy of service? Something we all wonder about during these trying times. Great characters.
It wasn’t good thgat I would read the others in the series
The world will be struck by an asteroid in six months. The protagonist, a newly promoted detective plods on with a murder case. Not only are the world’s systems falling apart, as the story progresses you realize everyone is affected and dealing with imminent death or unlikely survival in their own unique way. Very enjoyable and thought-provoking.
The Last Policeman by Ben Winters is wonderfully absurd. Basically, the asteroid 2011GV1 is on a collision course with Earth and people are literally taking their own lives into their hands. Or with their hands. Among the plethora of suicides, however, one stands out. Newly promoted detective, Hank Palace, thinks it’s a murder. But with the end of …
A newly-promoted detective attempts to prove that a suicide was really a murder in Concord, New Hampshire… with eight months left until an asteroid ploughs into the earth and wipes out all life. Detective stories make up the framework of this excellent trilogy (this is the first book) but the real drawcard is Winters’ brilliant portrayal of …
This book had realistic characters, a mystery and an end of the world theme. The main character was an unconventional hero. I prefer flawed heroes as they are more interesting than generic perfect heroes; and this book did not disappoint. The end of the world theme was done well and it made me think about how people might live and act if they …
Great genre-bending premise of a detective who wants to solve a murder even though the world is about to end. Two sequels are recommended, too, though the book can be read as a standalone.