"The Last Policeman," by Ben H. Winters (Session 2)

🚨 How about a little apocalyptic sci-fi mystery? Nothing like solving a murder case while the world collapses before its imminent demise, right? Well, that's what we're about to watch unfold in the capital of New Hampshire. As one reviewer put it: "This book hit a sweet spot in my taste: I like the tension and horror of big disasters (war, hurricanes, earth quakes, zombie apocalypse), and I like the cerebral work of a well-crafted mystery." Let's have a little fun with this Edgar Award winner before the summer sun introduces us to our summer vacations. By the way, it's the first of a trilogy, so you could always finish the series over your upcoming vacation. 🚨

Publishing Date: 2012
Number of Pages: 336 pages, Quirk Books
Author Nationality: American
Translation: English

Remember, please pick only one of today's two sessions. Thank you! Your Zoom invitation will be emailed to you closer to the meeting date.

From Goodreads:

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?