Our Discussion of The Last Policeman

On Wednesday, July 29^th, the group met to discuss The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters. I (Elizabeth) had an AWESOME time serving as your guest facilitator- thank you so much for having me! Here are some of the highlights from the discussion-

• Mike began by explaining this type of title was the reason he joined book group. It provided him the opportunity to read something he would not normally pick up. He couldn’t help but think, “What would I do?” while reading and appreciated that the book involved the reader. Mike did wish there was more explanation as to why Palace was so devoted to his job, although he understood obsessing over something can be therapeutic. He was also fascinated with the idea that the whole human race was essentially going through the 7 stages of grief. Lastly, Mike felt that all of the characters rang true and he also appreciated the descriptions of a smaller, urban setting.
• aNON followed this by stating he wouldn’t consider this a Sci-Fi title; however, it was an engaging,  competently written mystery. It reminded him of old cop TV shows before a lot of science was involved in solving the crime.
• As we began to discuss the “whodunit” element, Menolly mentioned that she didn’t know what the killer was doing exactly, but he was injecting himself into conversations too much so she was suspicious from the beginning.
• On this note, Theresa referenced The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith and the idea of determining 1. Who had the opportunity to commit a crime? and 2. Who had the means? Then discuss actual motive.
• Hola mentioned that Palace seemed baffled by human emotion. She found him very judgmental in regards to his feelings about working his job despite the end of the world- not everyone feels the same way. She discussed how he got multiple people killed and described this as, “really grating my cheese.” But she did read the subsequent books in the trilogy and she liked Palace more in the second and third books.
• aNON noted that Nico’s storyline and the idea of the moon being habitable was left open. He was hoping Winters would circle back to that point but the whole thing wasn’t really discussed.
• As a group, we questioned why there wasn’t some sort of plan if the asteroid hit the other side of the world. Mike mentioned that the attitude of “keep calm and die” bugged him. But we also wondered if they really had enough time to form a useful plan. To this point- Furry added that we didn’t really know what the government was doing behind the scenes. They wouldn’t publicize their plans as they would be overwhelmed by people.
• We spent a good deal of time discussing where this title fits in terms of genre. Furry said that it’s not exactly Science Fiction but it’s Speculative Fiction because the asteroid is in the backdrop of the story the entire time. She did like the book and appreciated the excellent character development. aNON said he was surprised most readers liked it because he felt it was a style that has come and gone. Menolly pointed out that the murder (and whodunit) wouldn’t have happened without the asteroid (i.e. the Sci-Fi element). She called this Psychological Sci-Fi. Furry referred to it as an old fashioned mystery, similar to Sam Spade (The City &The City and The Rook were also referenced).
• Several readers also noted that this story was especially interesting because it was pre-apocalyptic whereas most Sci-Fi is post-apocalyptic. This made for an interesting twist.  
• We spent the conclusion of our meeting trying to answer Mike’s initial question- “what would we do?” We talked about bucket list items and survival skills (of which most of us were lacking). While discussing farming and survival skills someone asked- “How do you preserve 100 heads of cattle?” which was answered with- “Jerky!” Another reader referenced the PBS series, Frontier House, as an example of modern families attempting to survive without modern conveniences.

We certainly had quite a bit to talk about. Please feel free to add additional thoughts on The Last Policeman in the comments section below. We gave this title the codes: COP, NFW, DOM, and HRO. Our average rating was 4.