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Published May 2013
336 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
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?
Edgar Awards, 2013
..a solidly plotted whodunit with strong characters and excellent dialogue...This memorable tale is the first of a planned trilogy." - Booklist
"This thought-provoking mystery should appeal to crime fiction aficionados who like an unusual setting and readers looking for a fresh take on apocalypse stories." - Library Journal
"Starred Review. A promising kickoff to a planned trilogy. For Winters, the beauty is in the details rather than the plot's grim main thrust." - Kirkus Reviews
"Ben Winters makes noir mystery even darker: his latest novel sets a despondent detective on a suspicious suicide case—while an asteroid hurtles toward earth." - Wired magazine
"Full of compelling twists, likable characters, and a sad beauty, The Last Policeman is a gem." - San Francisco Book Review
"The Last Policeman succeeds both as a mystery, with a quirky detective and an intriguing whodunit, and as a piece of apocalyptic speculative fiction." - Sacramento News & Review
"Winters is masterful in crafting a plausible image of a society that's hanging onto sanity by its fingernails as it teeters on the edge of mass hysteria....This is a novel that grabs ahold of you and doesn't let you go until the very end." - The Nashua Telegraph
"If the next two books are as good as this one, I can't wait for the end of the world." - Asbury Park Press
This information about The Last Policeman was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Photo: Mallory Talty
Ben H. Winters is the New York Times bestselling author of The Quiet Boy, Underground Airlines, Golden State, and the Last Policeman trilogy. His books have won the Edgar Award, the Philip K. Dick award, the Sidewise Award, and France's Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire. Ben also writes for television, and lives in Los Angeles with his family.
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