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?
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[I'm staring at the insurance man and he's staring at me, two cold grey eyes behind old fashioned tortoiseshell frames, and I'm having this awful and inspiring feeling, like holy moly this is real, and I don't know if I'm ready, I really don't]***
(@quirkbooks, 10 July 2012, 336 pages, ebook, borrowed from @GlasgowLib via @OverDriveLibs)
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I'm a big fan of apocalyptic & dystopian fiction. It's been a while since I read anything original in either genre. The author manages to pull it off, offering a completely unique take on these well-worn genres. In this case, the apocalypse hasn't quite happened yet, with devastating and unavoidable impact by an asteroid merely months away. Palace is a fascinating character, the only person in this world seemingly on its last legs who still cares and who still seems to think the end of the world is no excuse to behave however you like and certainly gives you no right to kill. I found myself unsure whether he is to be admired for caring or whether he was completely mad. If the world was set to end in a few months and couldn't be avoided, would anyone really give a shit? I will definitely read other books in the series as I want to know how it all turns out.
