Tuesday, February 25, 2014

The Last Policeman


The Last Policeman was good. I had a feeling it would be good, but it was better than I thought. I first encountered Ben H. Winters as the co-author of Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters and then with Android Karenina. When I saw that he wrote a new non-regency, non-romance novel, I was eager to check it out. Luckily, Goodreads helped me with that by giving me The Last Policeman as a first reads win. Also, how could I resist a pre-apocalyptic mystery?

Though I knew who the killer was after the second encounter with the character (while suspecting him during the first)*, the mystery was very interesting. It was an examination of typical motives or scenarios, with the added aspect of how those things changed in the current world climate. There's an added desperation with the knowledge that this potentially planet-killing asteroid is going to impact in six months. Behaviour changes, as do thought processes, risk assessments.  

As I find with most mysteries, I found the beginning a bit slow as we got to know the young detective Henry Palace, the victim, Peter Zell, the other detectives, the suspects and people in Henry's life. That did not last long. Soon, we were in the thick of things. There was suspicions proven, disproven and all the while Henry's sister, Nico, calling and calling.  I loved the storyline with Nico.  I have to know what happens with her and what she's doing.

I'll find out one day.  I didn't know it when I first was interested in the story, but The Last Policeman is the first in a seriesCountdown City is book two and already out. Book three, World of Trouble will be published in July and I have a feeling I'll be wanting that book too.  

*I could have been wrong. Also, figuring out who the killer was, wasn't about evidence. I was thinking about who the writer would choose, who would be surprising, not-obvious/least suspected, etc.   

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