Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

The Last Policeman (Last Policeman #1)

by Ben H. Winters (Goodreads Author)

3.72 of 5 stars 3.72 · rating details · 2,750 ratings · 582 reviews

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 t...more

Paperback, 316 pages

Published July 10th 2012 by Quirk Books

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers

Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris

Hunter/Laura Book Club

1st out of 30 books — 3 voters

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce

Amazon's Books of the Year: Top 100 Picks for 2012

85th out of 100 books — 118 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Feb 06, 2013 Kemper rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013, 5-0, apocalypse-now, crime-mystery

Three men are playing cards when someone runs up and tells them that the world is ending. The first man says, “I’m going to go pray.” The second man says, “I’m going to get drunk and sleep with six whores. The third man says, “I will finish the game.”

I learned that little parable from Young Guns 2, and I kept thinking about it while reading this. It seems like you’d want to be the kind of person who would finish the game, but what if that meant everyone else has to keep going too so that they ge...more Three men are playing cards when someone runs up and tells them that the world is ending. The first man says, “I’m going to go pray.” The second man says, “I’m going to get drunk and sleep with six whores. The third man says, “I will finish the game.”

I learned that little parable from Young Guns 2, and I kept thinking about it while reading this. It seems like you’d want to be the kind of person who would finish the game, but what if that meant everyone else has to keep going too so that they get stuck spending their last moments playing cards? Then that guy is kind of an asshole, and that’s the way I felt about Detective Hank Palace.

A giant asteroid named Maya is going to hit the Earth in about six months, and no one will survive either the initial impact or the global after effects. Law and order still prevail, but the cracks are starting to show as cell phone networks are getting spotty and the Internet is failing. One of the biggest problems is that many people have ‘gone bucket list’ and are walking away from jobs to live out their dreams.

Hank Palace benefits from this because the numerous openings in the police department of Concord New Hampshire get him moved from a patrol officer with a year’s experience to detective which is what he’s always wanted to be. Unfortunately for him, the other cops in his squad have mentally checked out and most of the police work consists of cutting down the people who have hung themselves. When Hank is working what looks like another routine case of suicide in a fast food joint's restroom, he sees some oddities that make him think it’s a homicide, but no one except him seems to care.

This is a helluva an intriguing concept. I particularly liked how the fabric of society is portrayed as starting to fray at the edges. Most people who are working are doing so only because they need money to live until Maya hits so motivations levels are pretty low. One especially clever touch is that the US government has enacted emergency laws that allows citizens to be jailed without trial for minor offenses, and this means that getting arrested is essentially a death sentence since you’ll be held in a cell until the big boom. So while there is some black market stuff going on, the criminals are terrified of getting caught, and this has kept a lid on illegal activity.

The thing that dragged this story down for me was the character of Hank. He’s an earnest rule abider and eager young detective at a point where the rules don’t matter much and nobody really wants to investigate anything. He’s determined to finish the game, and that should make him admirable. The problem is that Hank’s dream was always to be a detective which means that he is living out his personal bucket list instead of seeming noble by carrying on with his duty. It’s also his way of avoiding dealing with the impending doom, and he never sees the irony when he repeatedly says, “A man is dead.” as a justification for his insistence on pushing the investigation when no one else cares.

And I gotta say, I’m kind of on the side of the other people in this book. Hank doesn’t seem to care what kind of impact his investigation has on anyone else. When he demands an autopsy, the coroner coldly tells him that she’s missing her daughter’s music recital to do it, and ask him if he knows how many more recitals she’ll get to see. But Hank doesn’t care. A man is dead slightly ahead of the rest of the human race, and he’s determined to find out who did it even if he wastes the precious time of other people. To me, the cost was too high. (view spoiler)

This could have been interesting if Hank was played up as more of an obsessive jerk, and while there are a few moments like that, it still feels like the author was trying to say that Hank is the hero while everyone else is letting a little thing like the coming apocalypse turn them into a bunch of slackers

This was a great concept with an interesting angle on an end of the world story, but my dislike of the main character soured me quite a bit. I’m on the fence as to whether I’ll read the rest of the trilogy.

Also posted at Shelf Inflicted.(less)

like 33 likes · see review

Nov 20, 2012 Emma rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery, auckland-library, law-enforcement, not-mm

I did enjoy this, and I will read the sequels. The length was perfect: I was just beginning to be a bit over when it wrapped up. Going on for longer would have decreased my rating. I liked the writing, and the MC's voice.

Do I sound a little underwhelmed? It was good, but not as good as I hoped.

I think one of the disappointments for me was the depiction of a pre-apocalyptic United States. For other readers this might be more compelling.

I grew up in the 70s and early 80s. True story: when I was 1...more

like 12 likes · see review

Oct 08, 2012 Judi rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Guy Savage

Shelves: read-in-2012

A police procedural, with a noir bent, set in NH (my home state)... Detective Henry Palace is a new Detective with the Concord NH Police Department. He is called to a scene at a McDonald's bathroom in which a man has hung himself by tying a belt around his neck and leaning forward, a method commonly used these days. The world is positively ending in October when an asteroid is due to hit earth, 7 months away.

"People in the main are simply muddling along. Go to work, sit at your desk, hope the c...more

like 5 likes · see review

May 17, 2013 Julie Davis rated it 4 of 5 stars

The date that everybody knows is October 3, six months and eleven days from today, when a 6.5-kilometer-diameter ball of carbon and silicates will collide with Earth.

Reading this book, I mused that perhaps all this science is not the best thing for us. Surely the dinosaurs were just living life as usual right up to the last moment before that meteor hit. I'd rather have that be the case than have horrific scenes of doom from outer space hanging over my head for months.

As one might predict, some...more

like 2 likes · see review

May 19, 2013 Matt rated it 4 of 5 stars

There is so much sadness in this book.

That Last Policeman is set in near-future Concord, New Hampshire, soon after the world has learned that an enormous asteroid is 100 percent certain to hit Earth in a few months. Beyond that fantastic set-up, the book is a straightforward mystery -- and a good one at that -- but setting the novel in the midst of a society that is coming apart at the seams elevates this book to greatness.

How do you choose to continue living when you know you've got just six...more

like · see review

Apr 27, 2013 Jean rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery

If the world was going to be destroyed by a comet in six months, would you care about finding a murderer? Great premise for a mystery, and Ben Winters does it well. The newest detective in Concord, New Hampshire, is Hank Palace. He is sent to the site of an apparent suicide (lots of those in these end times) but he has doubts and starts investigating the death as a homicide. The dead guy is in insurance, which I thought was a nice touch. The other detectives laugh at him but he persists.
The sto...more

like · see review

Apr 26, 2013 Jason Butz rated it 5 of 5 stars

A man is dead.

They found him hung by a belt in a stall of a McDonald's on a cold snowy winter morning, but nobody cares.

Why should they? He obviously committed suicide, just like countless others when confronted with the fate of humanity: In six months a kilometers-wide asteroid is going to smash into the earth and end life as we know it, and there's nothing we can do to stop it.

What possible motivation could there be in this world to commit a murder? What possible motivation could there be in t...more A man is dead.

They found him hung by a belt in a stall of a McDonald's on a cold snowy winter morning, but nobody cares.

Why should they? He obviously committed suicide, just like countless others when confronted with the fate of humanity: In six months a kilometers-wide asteroid is going to smash into the earth and end life as we know it, and there's nothing we can do to stop it.

What possible motivation could there be in this world to commit a murder? What possible motivation could there be in this world to solve a murder? Ever since scientists first discovered 2011GV1 and began tracking its progress, ever since the probability of impact first started climbing upward, peoples' motivations changed. Workers abandoned their jobs, compelled to do what they've always wanted to do. Artists clamored to try and produce something worthy of their talents. Society is slowly crumbling under the weight of this asteroid and Detective Hank Palace is trying to piece together a suicide in a McDonald's that just doesn't rub him the right way.

This book is the best kind of science fiction. Good Science Fiction, or "Speculative Fiction", shows Humanity through some lens. The story might take place a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away but ultimately the story tells us something about humanity. So what would the world be like in the face of certain destruction? Would governments crumble, or enact legislation to try and maintain the status quo right up until the moment the lights go out? Would people go insane? Pretend it's not going to happen? Try to make the best of the time they have left? Pin their hopes on unlikely government survival conspiracies? This book explores all these topics, in addition to unraveling a murder.

Supposedly this is the first in a trilogy of books, although it stands well on its own. Its satisfying conclusion leaves me wondering what his plans are for the sequels, if they'll explore the "government conspiracy shelters" aspect, or if they'll just depict events up to and after the impact of the asteroid. Life has survived worse calamities, after all, but the world post-event will be very unlike the normal world or even the pre-apocalyptic world he's crafted here. I'll be watching the progression of this series very closely.

Now, don't take all this to mean the book is perfect. It follows a fairly predictable whodunit formula, replete with mysterious happenings and femme fatales. Naomi Ettis, the fatale in question, is an attempt to make a dame that doesn't fit the noir-mal formula. She still comes off as exotic, which is smack dab in the norm for such a character. Hank Palace himself is solidly in the hard-nosed detective mold, I can imagine a scene where the chief takes his gun and badge and throws him off the case only for him to carry on alone if anyone in the book cared about anything like that. Apart from these two, most of the other characters are pretty one-dimensional, or worse. Cynical Cop, Eager Cop, Grumpy Coroner, Beleaguered Boss, the list goes on and on, and it's only the twist of their impending doom that makes many of these characters worth being interested in.

Luckily for us, the premise for the novel more than carries it across its by-the-numbers plot like a 6 kilometer asteroid across the night sky. We can see it coming a long way away, but it's still spectacular.(less)

like · see review

Apr 23, 2013 Terri Powers rated it 5 of 5 stars

You know there is something wrong by the first page of The Last Policeman when the author, Ben H. Winters, alludes to the fact that “late night cleaning of 24-hour fast food restaurant bathrooms” is not high on the list of jobs that are still being performed. The reason for the slack? Everyone on the planet has been told that life as they know it will change in approximately six months when an asteroid hits at a place to be determined. This makes Detective Hank Palace’s job even more difficult....more You know there is something wrong by the first page of The Last Policeman when the author, Ben H. Winters, alludes to the fact that “late night cleaning of 24-hour fast food restaurant bathrooms” is not high on the list of jobs that are still being performed. The reason for the slack? Everyone on the planet has been told that life as they know it will change in approximately six months when an asteroid hits at a place to be determined. This makes Detective Hank Palace’s job even more difficult. From the first sentence the reader is thrown into the world of Palace, recently assigned to the detective squad having waived the required two years and six months as a uniformed officer. Palace is not immune to what is happening around him. His feelings are evident when he is alone, as he flips off the asteroid and tells it to go fuck itself. But October 3rd is the day of impact and this is March 20th; Palace has a crime to solve.

Winters uses a first person point of view with a noir feel to it. He guides the reader through the numbing reality of impending doom while plodding through an investigation into what at first appears to be a suicide. Palace cannot stop investigating even though fellow officers think he’s chasing his tail, even when his sister has troubles of her own, or even after his life is threatened. Slowly he peels back the doubt and begins to uncover some shocking secrets.

Winters has a writing style that will put you in the middle of the action. He deals with both the uncertainty of life after impact and the fears and changes that occur, as well as Palace and the job he continues to do despite the doubt. What would you do with just six months until the end of the world? That is the question Winters is asking. I’m a positive person. I would believe in a miracle; that the asteroid will eventually pass by missing Earth, coming so close as to change our weather for six months or so, but without any lasting effects. I would continue doing what I do, like Detective Palace.

And what I will do is buy the next book in this installment, Countdown City. I encourage all you readers out there to do the same (well, except start with this one, The Last Policeman).
(less)

like · see review

Apr 17, 2013 Elaine rated it 2 of 5 stars

The plot is intriguing, but perhaps off-putting enough not to care about the characters, which is this books problem. You see, an asteroid will hit the earth in 6 months (this is book one of a trilogy), and some people, our policeman, Detective Palace (recently promoted when the prior detective went to complete his bucket list before the asteroid comes), looks into a possible suicide (lots of these in the wake of the asteroid) as murder. Interesting set-up, but while Det. Palace found himself li...more

like · see review

Apr 03, 2013 James Renner rated it 5 of 5 stars

It’s been awhile since I’ve come across a concept so tight and perfect that I had to immediately seek out the book and devour it. But when I heard the pitch for The Last Policeman — a young detective investigates one last murder before the end of the world — I was taken. Usually I’m a little disappointed by these impulsive reads. But goddamn. This one is everything I dared hope for.

I actually listened to the audio version of the book on a 2,000-mile journey around New England during the reportin...more It’s been awhile since I’ve come across a concept so tight and perfect that I had to immediately seek out the book and devour it. But when I heard the pitch for The Last Policeman — a young detective investigates one last murder before the end of the world — I was taken. Usually I’m a little disappointed by these impulsive reads. But goddamn. This one is everything I dared hope for.

I actually listened to the audio version of the book on a 2,000-mile journey around New England during the reporting of my book on the Maura Murray case. So I was in the right mood to listen to this gritty and dark mystery.

So here’s the longer set up. Young Hank Palace works in Concord, the town in which he grew up. He was promoted to detective around the time scientists first spotted 2011GV1, a ginormous asteroid on a collision course with Earth. It is big enough to end civilization as we know it and there is nothing we can do to stop it. As the months tick toward impact, humanity begins to fall apart. Suicides are commonplace. And a lot of people are just quitting their jobs to spend the remaining time finishing their bucket lists. And then Palace finds a a body in a McDonalds bathroom. It looks like another hanger, an accountant who has strangled himself with a belt to hasten the end. But… Palace thinks maybe this one is a murder.

The rest of the book reads like a classic who-done-it, as Palace follows the meager bits of evidence toward their ends. In the process, he uncovers drug runners, insurance fraudsters, and, of course, a femme fatale. There’s also some very interesting side stories that weave in and out of the main narrative: is Palace’s sister caught up in some doomsday cult; is the asteroid really going to hit us or are we being lied to; and what’s up with that scifi serial everyone is obsessed with seeing?

The structure of the story reminded me of Watchmen (especially one eerie scene between Palace and a doomsayer wearing a sandwichboard) and the graphic novel is even mentioned, once. In the end, though, the mystery is very grounded in truth. There is no scifi twist to the murder. The killer had very understandable cold-blooded motive.

The second book of Winter’s Last Policeman trilogy comes out this summer. So read this before July. You’ll want to be ready to devour the next one.(less)

like 4 likes · see review

Mar 28, 2013 Mysterious Bookshop rated it 5 of 5 stars

The economy's in shambles, crops are rotting in the fields, and everyone has given up hope in The Last Policeman, a "pre-apocolyptic" novel following dedicated detective Hank Palace. Asteroid 2011GV1 will destroy all life on earth in mere months, plunging society into pandemonium--both churches and bars are packed, and suicide has become the prevailing cause of death. When Hank investigates what appears to be a routine hanging, though, something doesn't feel quite right. Though he could easily l...more

like 2 likes · see review

Mar 15, 2013 Joel rated it 3 of 5 stars

The earth is going to be destroyed. So why bother with anything if it's all about to turn to dust?

That seems to be the premise of The Last Policeman, a fairly standard detective novel with an interesting twist to its setting. Detective Henry Palace--just recently promoted from beat cop--gets a suicide case in a world where an increasing number of people are choosing to kill themselves now that scientist's have confirmed the inevitable impact of a giant asteroid that will almost certainly destroy...more The earth is going to be destroyed. So why bother with anything if it's all about to turn to dust?

That seems to be the premise of The Last Policeman, a fairly standard detective novel with an interesting twist to its setting. Detective Henry Palace--just recently promoted from beat cop--gets a suicide case in a world where an increasing number of people are choosing to kill themselves now that scientist's have confirmed the inevitable impact of a giant asteroid that will almost certainly destroy nearly all life on earth. But something about this case seems strange to Palace, and even as everyone around him wonders why he bothers, he starts to investigate whether there's more to this suicide than just a suicide.

The novel excels as author Ben Winters catalogs the disintegration and the reactions of the world around him--from those who turn to sex, drugs, and violence as a means of coping, to those who battle depression, to those who, like Palace, seem to throw themselves even more obsessively into the minutiae of their lives. All of these reactions seem legitimate in the face of impending obliteration, and that question of just how I would react is one I asked myself repeatedly as I read. At what point to you pack it all in and do the things you've always wanted to do but never thought you could--from hang-gliding to travelling the world--or is that abandonment of one's life in itself a desperate and pathetic act. Is Palace heroic for his commitment to his job as a cop, or is he pathetic for it?

Winters hasn't really broken much new ground with this novel, but that doesn't stop it from being a short, fun, and entertaining read, and he does put pieces together in new and different ways. There are twists and turns in the case--some expected, some not--and it was enough that I will be happy to tune in for the next installment of the planned pre-apocalyptic trilogy. As long as he keeps things moving the way he does in this novel, and as long as Palace continues to develop as an interesting protagonist, I think there is a lot of promise that the series will continue to be as compelling and readable as this first installment was.

Grade: B(less)

like · see review

Jan 04, 2013 Angie Holtz rated it 5 of 5 stars

From Lilac Wolf and Stuff

Some people like Jersey Shore, and some like Survivor...me, I secretly love

Post-Apocalyptic stories (movies or books). This is unique, it's Pre-Apocalyptic. There is a meteor heading for the Earth, and scientists know it's pretty much going to wipe everything out.

So the question becomes, what would you do? People that have gone off to do the things they always wanted to before they die are said to have "gone bucket list." And there are tons of suicides and people quitti...more

like · see review

Dec 06, 2012 Vegantrav rated it 4 of 5 stars

Peter Zell is dead--a hanging death.

It appears to be suicide. That's the verdict of almost everyone except for the new detective handling the case, Detective Henry Palace.

Palace is convinced Zell was murdered, though he has little evidence to support his hunch.

Nobody else on the police force really seems to care, though. It's not just the fact that everything seems to point to Zell's death being a suicide: even his family and co-workers are convinced it's a suicide; it's also the fact that it is...more

like · see review

Dec 04, 2012 Joel Brown rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, mystery, suspense, new-england

Great idea under-exploited. I wish someone like Michael Connelly had written it.

Premise: A big-ass asteroid is going to end life as we know it in six months. The news has come out over a few months, and society is slowly falling apart under the psychological pressure. Suicides and hedonism and quiet totalitarianism. The world building (unbuilding?) here is actually pretty good.

The big idea: there's one cop who is still working. He's got a murder to solve. (Shades of Robert Harris' Fatherland.)

T...more

like · see review

Nov 19, 2012 Debbie rated it 5 of 5 stars

It’s been confirmed, asteroid 2011GV affectionately known as Maia is on a direct course for Earth. It’s too big to blow up, and it’s too big to avoid and it’s just the right size to end the world as we know it.
People of Concord NH are coping in different ways, the hangers, are committing suicide, the bucket listers, have left for parts unknown to fulfill all their dreams before they die, and there are those like newly promoted detective Henry Palace who’re getting up every morning and going abou...more

like 1 like · see review

Oct 29, 2012 Janice rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: dystopia, detective-novel

More detective novel than dystopia, though the story does emit a flickering pulsing, like that of a dying heart. Actually, that light touch is most effective here, because while reading, and now after finishing the book, I’m haunted by the feeling that we actually are unknowingly awaiting an asteroid too, that we can do nothing to turn away. It doesn’t matter at all if Obama wins, or Romney. The Watchman’s Rattle (Rebecca Costa) is hissing and the self-interested 1% (Chrystia Freeman) are alread...more

like · see review

Sep 25, 2012 Ryandake rated it 4 of 5 stars

now this, boys and girls, is how it's done.

what do you live for? you know, if there was an asteroid headed this way, unavoidable, no sf special forces coming in to save the earth, what would you live for?

this book hits so many notes just right: the apocalyptica is backgrounded and is woven into everyday life; the Big Philosophical Questions play out in the context of a three-dimensional character; the Main Event is not the coming end of the world as we know it, but in the investigation into a qu...more

like 1 like · see review

Sep 17, 2012 Darren Gore rated it 5 of 5 stars

In six months' time, an asteroid will hit the Earth - so not surprisingly, as global civilisation goes into a pre-apocalypse wind-down, suicides are on the rise and no longer a great priority for New Hampshire's Concord Police Department. Yet what looks like the latest suicide has aroused the suspicions of detective Henry Palace - is it actually a murder?

As the dogged Palace investigates further, however, he not only finds increasing sadness about the victim's life and evasiveness from a growing...more

like 1 like · see review

Sep 08, 2012 Murphy Waggoner rated it 4 of 5 stars

Henry Palace wanted to be a detective all his life. He's that eager kind that memorizes laws and statutes because he still believes in them. He is naive and honest. Only, Palace is actually good at his job, even though circumstances put him in the position long before he is ready. And now he's discovered his first murder.

There's only one hitch-and it's a biggie-the world will be destroyed in 6 months by an asteroid, and the only one that cares about solving the murder is Palace. As society is fa...more

like 2 likes · see review

Aug 26, 2012 Luanne Ollivier rated it 4 of 5 stars

Ben H. Winters. You might recognize this author's name - he penned the New York Times bestseller Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters. Winters' latest book The Last Policeman is just as imaginative and inventive.

I've got a fondness for post apocalyptic fiction, but Winters has penned a pre-apocalyptic novel.

The Last Policeman is set in the months before the world as we know it will end. It is inevitable - an asteroid is going to hit the earth and the impact will destroy our planet. What woul...more Ben H. Winters. You might recognize this author's name - he penned the New York Times bestseller Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters. Winters' latest book The Last Policeman is just as imaginative and inventive.

I've got a fondness for post apocalyptic fiction, but Winters has penned a pre-apocalyptic novel.

The Last Policeman is set in the months before the world as we know it will end. It is inevitable - an asteroid is going to hit the earth and the impact will destroy our planet. What would you do, knowing the world was ending? Start ticking off items on your bucket list? End things on your terms? Henry Castle does none of that, instead he continues on as normal. He's a newly appointed detective on a police force that is dwindling, both in resources and manpower. When Henry is called to an apparent suicide, he can't shake the niggling feeling that this death may not be what it looks like. And in a world about to end, Henry pursues this case as a murder.

Henry was such an engaging character - earnest, forthright, honest, polite, trusting and an anomaly in these times. Even though the world will end, he chooses to stay true to himself and his beliefs until the day that happens. Winters' plot is full of twists and red herrings. I truly enjoyed Hank's dogged and determined pursuit of the truth.

"Right at this moment I have to decide, is the thing. Am I going to leave town and go north to Maine and find a house on Casco Bay and sit there and stare out the window with my sidearm and wait, or am I going to stay here and do my work and finish my case. My cases."

I've read lots of post apocalyptic fiction, but it was interesting to read Winters' view of what the world might hold before that final blow. Winters gives us lots of food for thought in people's actions and words.

There's a secondary plot involving Hank's sister, that I thought was filler until the last few chapters. It caught me off guard and piqued my interest for the next book, as The Last Policeman is the first in a trilogy. The Last Policeman was an unusual blend of sci-fi and mystery that just worked. I'm curious to see what else will happen before the asteroid hits.....or after.(less)

like 1 like · see review

Aug 21, 2012 Ryan G rated it 4 of 5 stars

I'm not normally a huge fan of apocalyptic fiction, though I guess this could be called pre-apocalyptic. Most of what I've read in the genre is too heavy and depressing or so far fetched that I can't take it seriously. I think the only two I've ever really enjoyed are The Road by Cormac McCarthy and Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank, both of which were preblogging days. And while the premise of this book was interesting, I'm not sure that would have been enough to sell me on the idea.

I guess you could...more I'm not normally a huge fan of apocalyptic fiction, though I guess this could be called pre-apocalyptic. Most of what I've read in the genre is too heavy and depressing or so far fetched that I can't take it seriously. I think the only two I've ever really enjoyed are The Road by Cormac McCarthy and Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank, both of which were preblogging days. And while the premise of this book was interesting, I'm not sure that would have been enough to sell me on the idea.

I guess you could say the biggest reason I decided that this was a book I wanted, or needed, to read was the author. After reading Bedbugs last year, I think it's safe to say I'm a huge fan of Ben H. Winters. Now that may be a little hard to believe after reading only one book, but for those of you who have read Bedbugs, I think you will understand. After reading The Last Policeman, I know I was right in my initial judgement and I can't wait to devour everything else this author puts out for general consumption.

I'm going to have to admit upfront that I have a slight crush on Detective Hank Palace. He is the kind of man I would hope I could be in such circumstances. I'm still not sure how I would react if I was told the Earth only has 6 months to live, but I would be proud to act in the way Hank does. He, despite the fear and despair anyone would feel in such situations, understands that falling apart isn't going to do anyone a bit of good. He realizes that people, whether they are willing to admit it or not, want those in positions of power to still do their jobs. A police officers first duty is to protect the public, and that's what Hank is holding onto within everything in him.

When anyone else just would have assumed the unassuming accountant hanging from a rail in a McDonald's bathroom did it to himself, Detective Palace is willing to admit that things just don't look right. There are too many signs that somethings amiss, signs that would have been obvious to everyone else if a big hunk of rock wasn't six months away from annihilating the human race. Through careful investigation, including some genius manipulation of what he can get away with, Hank takes it upon himself to figure out why someone wanted this man dead.

This is the beginning of a trilogy, so I'm rather excited to see what happens next. It will be interesting to see Hank as the asteroid gets closer to ending everything he knows. There was some action centered around his sister and a possible plot she is involved with, so that will be something to look forward to in the next book. Of course, and I'm rather hoping for it, the next book could take place after the asteroid hits and the human race has been thrown into it's final death spasms.(less)

like 2 likes · see review

Aug 19, 2012 Cindy Crawford rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. The scenario for The Last Policeman presents a fascinating premise. An asteroid is on it's way to earth, and astronomers have announced that it will, against improbable odds, hit the earth and destroy life as we know it. People react in a variety of ways--some go off to do the things they most want to do, some turn to drugs or drink or religion, some kill themselves, some carry on with their lives. Henry Palace, new detective, is one who carries on.

When called to the scene of an apparent suicide...more

like · see review

Aug 15, 2012 Eric rated it 3 of 5 stars

I read this in one three hour sitting after being unable to fall asleep again having been shocked awake by a nightmare most likely caused by ill-advised complimentary coffee at 5 PM.

Nice Guy Noir, I suppose is one way to put this. A man; polite, pragmatic, thoughtful tries to convince the rest of the police organization in Concord that a suicide isn't a suicide but rather a murder. The issue is that no one really cares as they have more pressing concerns, that of a 6 kilometer wide meteor which...more

like 3 likes · see review

Aug 08, 2012 Brad rated it 3 of 5 stars

"The Last Policeman" is a police procedural dressed up in an apocalyptic dress. But based on the premise of this book, I expected a lot more.

The idea of a policeman continuing to do his job with an asteroid barreling down on the earth is compelling and different. But the story failed to really grab me. And there were a few parts toward the end that left me a bit confused. Ben Winters did his best to tie up some loose ends, but the actions taken by a few of his characters seemed, well, out of cha...more

like 1 like · see review

Aug 05, 2012 Larry Hoffer rated it 5 of 5 stars

If you knew the world would end in six months, what would you do? Would you abandon your job and your life to pursue something you've always dreamed of? Would you find that one special person and let them know what they mean to you? Or would you take your own life before circumstances went beyond your control?

In Ben Winters' fantastic new book, the Maia asteroid (aka 2011GV1) is expected to hit Earth within six months, and many people all over the world are moved to do at least one of those thre...more

like 2 likes · see review

Jul 27, 2012 Petr rated it 4 of 5 stars

Postapokalyptických příběhů je spousta. Co takhle jeden preapokalyptický?

Konec světa bude za půl roku. Země se srazí s šestikilometrovým asteroidem a dělat se s tím nedá vůbec nic, jen čekat. Lidé reagují různě, převážně však mírnou apatií. Civilizace funguje víceméně dál: trochu ze setrvačnosti, trochu z nezbytí, trochu (v Americe, kde se děj odehrává) pod tlakem nových přísných zákonů - zaměřených právě na to, aby se status quo jakžtakž zachoval až do konce. Tvrdě se jde po drogách (kromě mari...more

like · see review

Jul 25, 2012 Karen rated it 4 of 5 stars

I loved the premise of this, somewhat, sci-fi mystery. Scientist have discovered that the world will be hit by a huge asteroid. They can pin point the date and soon the location. There are dire predictions about how this catastrophe will wipe out the population of the world. The author explores what happens when people have to deal with such doomsday knowledge. Many become radicalized, others choose to end it all and some try to gather everything they can to stave off the disaster. Those who hav...more

like · see review

Jul 11, 2012 Jill rated it 4 of 5 stars

Henry (“Hank”) Palace is a police detective in Concord, New Hampshire, who got promoted from patrol officer because basically everybody else walked off the job. In fact, people all over the world are walking off their jobs, because “Maia,” a 6.5-kilometer-diameter asteroid is due to collide with the earth in six months. It will, according to reliable sources, cause a series of interlocking cataclysms resulting in the death of at least half the world's population.

Palace is a bit unusual in his pl...more

like 3 likes · see review

Jul 08, 2012 Cheryl rated it 2 of 5 stars

In just six months, the world is going to be destroyed by asteriod 2011GV1. With this impending doom, everyone has just decided to stop what they are doing. People have walked off their jobs. Just because everyone has stopped working does not mean that the crime has stopped.

Detective Hank Palace is investigating a murder. Just because the world is about to end does not mean that Hank is going to stop solving murders. He has wanted to be a detective and this is his chance to finally do right and...more

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 99 100 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
Gwinnett County P...: In Case of Apocalypse	1	5	Dec 07, 2012 08:37am
Goodreads Librari...: isbn 9781594745768	3	148	Aug 02, 2012 04:25pm
Making Connections: US Only: The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters	1	5	Jul 09, 2012 11:55am
Advanced Review R...: US Only: The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters	1	4	Jul 09, 2012 11:53am
Book Giveaways: US Only: The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters	1	6	Jul 09, 2012 11:52am

combine
Other Editions (10)

More editions...

Genres

Mystery

136 users

Science Fiction

67 users

Mystery > Crime

31 users

Apocalyptic > Post Apocalyptic

25 users

Science Fiction > Dystopia

21 users

Science Fiction > Apocalyptic

14 users

Thriller > Mystery Thriller

13 users

Thriller

11 users

Mystery > Detective

10 users

Fantasy

10 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

Books by Ben H. Winters

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About The Last Policeman

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

Quotes from The Last Policeman

“He books it into that little playground there. I mean the guy is zooming like the Road Runner, skidding through the gravel and the slush and everything. I’m yelling, “Police, police! Stop, motherfucker!”

‘You do not yell, “Stop, motherfucker.”’

‘I do. Because you know, Palace, this is it. This is the last chance I get to run after a perp yelling, “Stop, motherfucker.” — 1 person liked it

More quotes…

title link	preview: The Last Policeman
avg rating	preview: The Last Policeman Goodreads rating: 3.72 (2750 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=https://discoverreads.com/book/show/13330370-the-last-policeman?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1344370646l/13330370.jpg[/img][/url] [url=https://discoverreads.com/book/show/13330370-the-last-policeman?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters[/url]

The Last Policeman (Last Policeman #1)

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website