The Last Policeman

On the SF side, this is a story of people who know that Earth has only months left (an asteroid is on a collision course with the planet). What do you do? Go bucket list? Throw yourself in front of a bus? Carry on as if little has changed? The societal changes are perhaps less unique in SF, but this is still excellently done. It's not a complete collapse, but a lot of changes (rationing, corporate collapse) matter. There's cults and cabals and ... it's all great!

On the crime novel side, the apparent suicide that kicks off the novel is the kind of simple case that cops actually deal with, not the complicated serial killings of a Jo Nesbø novel or many people have motives Knives Out movie. The bad guys are not mustache-twirlers. The newly promoted detective actually investigates, somewhat amateurishly due to his lack of experience, but still investigation. It ticks all the boxes of what I like in a crime story.

I'm old and tired these days. It takes a very engaging book for me to stay up past my bedtime. With 20% left, I decided I had to finish last night. I couldn't put it off until after work today.

I don't remember how this book landed on my pile. But I am really glad it did. In the end I gave it three stars, but I was close to giving it four. I really enjoyed the premise. To me, the series is what science fiction is about. It doesn't need spaceships and robots. Science fiction explores how things would be if the world was different. In this case the big difference is the deadline for all life on earth. A big asteroid is headed towards earth and society is breaking apart. And amidst all this, The Last Policeman is still working a case. I really liked that. It's mostly a murder mystery where the author imagined how that would be if the world was about to die.

Recommended if you like crime novels and sci-fi.