Wednesday, August 22, 2012

The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters

last policeman I received this from the publisher Quirk Books.

Wow. What a fantastic plot. Scientists have discovered a ginormous asteroid and it's on its way here, to Earth. We only have six months til all hell breaks out. People are going to die and the rest will probably slowly die from freezing temps, starvation, and civil society breaking down. It's the apocalypse with a due date.

Well, instead of waiting for the actual impact to destroy society, most decide to give up early. Governments are breaking down, people are committing suicide, martial law, high prices, drugs, etc. There are a few holdouts like Det. Hank Palace.

He takes a scene to clean up what looks like another suicide, but something doesn't feel right. He sets out to discover what really happened to this guy. Most see it as a waste of time since we're all going to die anyway.

I liked it. Winters does paint a grim picture of humanity; I'd like to think we stave off anarchy a bit longer...but he really asks some big questions about life and what ifs. What are people willing to do to save their families and friends?

It was a bit slow at first but I think he wanted to build his world and his writing portrayed that.

Overall, I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to the next installment.

4 comments:

  1. Interesting premise - I like the idea of having a story based inside of a story about the impending apocalypse. I'm not sure about how fast society would break down, though. I think if I knew there was a set deadline, I'd start right away doing whatever it took to save my family if possible. Certainly there would be a lot of people who would feel they could do whatever they wanted if there was really no fear of punishment.

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  2. I remember reading another review of this and being intrigued and since you liked it so much I'll have to add it to my wish list. Not sure I want to give up on humanity though!

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  3. Will definitely add this to my to-read list!

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  4. I wasn't really sure about this one, but your description really interests me. Definitely added to my tbr.

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