Currently Reading: The Last Policeman


In six months and eleven days, the Maia asteroid will collide with Earth, destroying it.  While many people have run off to spend their last six months relaxing on a tropical island or having orgies in New Orleans, a few remain to give the end of the world as much normalcy as possible.  One of these people is Henry Palace, a detective in the Concord Police Force.

One morning, Palace is called to investigate a likely "hanger" aka suicide by hanging, found in a local McDonald's bathroom.  Although suicide is the obvious, something doesn't feel quite right to Palace.  The victim's phone is missing; the belt he used to hang himself is too expensive.  Sensing something more malicious, Palace begins to investigate this case as a suspicious death.

I'm apparently on an apocalypse kick, whether it be pre- or post-.  It's always a fascinating question - if the world were going to end in six months, how would you spend your time?  In the novel, there's something heroic about those who choose to stay in their everyday lives, those who keep calm and carry on, if you will.

Palace is the good guy, trying to do right by his victim, and by those remaining around him, whether its his doubting coworkers or his young, naive sister.  The fact that the story is set in Concord, New Hampshire (DT's hometown!) only strengthens the story for me, as I know many of the places that are referenced.

I've flown through this book and am very close to the end and hopefully, finding out the truth behind the hanger's death.  This is the first book in a trilogy, and if they are as good as this first one, I will be reading them too.

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