Science Fiction Mystery Wins 2013 Edgar Award: The Last Policeman

A looming apocalypse. An asteroid heading to Earth.

With all the kerfuffle of asteroids whipping past Earth lately, the selection of The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters seems appropriate, and poses the sticky question of what would you do with only six months to live?

A clever premise.

In the story, asteroid 2011GVI is heading like a bullet for planet Earth with 100% assurance it will impact within six months.

Against this backdrop Detective Hank Palace is called to a McDonald’s bathroom to investigate a hanging that he pronounces a murder.

Jaws drop. Heads shake.

With suicides almost every day, and hangings in particular being his small town’s specialty, no one believes the case is murder.

Yet doggedly, against a world unraveling around him, Hank is determined to prove his case and bring the person to justice. As the case develops, it becomes obvious that Detective Palace is not just searching for a killer, but trying to find meaning and purpose in a world going mad around him.

But others are fleeing their jobs to drink, paint, escape to the beach, be with family, reunite with lost friends, as suddenly priorities shift. Yet some, like Hank, continue to pursue their job, trying to hold society together.

As Hank follows various leads, the police station empties out, courts lose judges and clerks, retail stores close down, and the world prepares for collision. No one cares who the murderer is, but Hank. And what would anyone do if he or she were found?

I found the storyline interesting and Hank Palace a bit quirky. Winters won the 2013 Edgar Award for this story and the Macavity Award for best mystery novel. Also it was an Amazon best book of 2012.

Having said that, the story focused more on the mystery of whether it was a murder and if so, who did it? Winter writes using excruciating detail at times to describe a scene while the main character remains a mystery. All we know of Hank Palace’s physical description is that he is young and has a mustache. Also, he wears several suits of the same color. Psychologically, this case is his umbrella against a rain of emotion that destroys many others who commit suicide so they won’t have to face “the final days.”

For me the book was interesting enough to mention, but not one that I would put to the top of my “must read list.”

This is the first book in a trilogy, and although the mystery resolves to a certain point, the asteroid continues to plunge closer in, evidently waiting for the next two novels before it can hit. This puts an unresolved tension on the whole story. If the case had proven more interesting, maybe…but enough other readers liked it that I wanted to mention it. It is also a Powell’s book group selection and should raise a fair number of comments and discussion.

For those of you interested in the business of books and publishing, I wanted to suggest the following links:

Mark Coker puts out a forecast every year for the book business that is worth reading. Here is a link: He lists fifteen changes or developments that will happen in publishing in 2015.

http://blog.smashwords.com/2014/12/2015-book-publishing-industry.html.

And for my Indie author readers, M.L. Banner, author of Stone Age, offers a podcast with unique ideas on how to reach the bestsellers list on Amazon with your first novel.

http://blog.reedsy.com/post/110078423257/reaching-bestsellers-list-with-first-book-indie-author

Last night my writers group was awesome, so I’m up and writing more in the next installment. My next book poses the questions, “What if time travelers from the future came to your present and tried to change things? How would you react?”

I’m finding it an interesting story.

Playing Fair

As a writer, I spend a lot of time with my nose in a book or tapping on an iPad. This past week I spend a lot of time iPad tapping as I am doing a final edit on the next book. Past the Event Horizon due out (fingers crossed) in late June, early July. See the awesome, hot off the press cover.

So I was delighted when I looked up to see my calendar display the words, “Business Fair.” This meant that I was going to get out, meet the public and write my name…hopefully a number of times and talk about what I love–my stories.

The great thing about this particular venue is that it is local, short and varied. The vendors are small businesses in the area, so I may be the only author amidst photographers, jewelers and potters. Things I love.

To get ready, I have printed out large images (81/2 x 11) of my four covers. I have bought several new pens. Made bookmarks for giveaways.

And there’s going to be candy.

I have tweeted out the news, face booked the friends, emailed and now blogged. So all my ten friends are informed. And family.

As an ebook publisher, I am still trying to figure out where the buying readers are. Maybe at a fair.

I tried the Kindle Select program and there were loads of downloads, but not as many sales. (go figure) Actually, I do best face to face. I have sold a number of books at my local nail salon by casually asking what they like to read and mentioning that I am an author when I see someone reading an interesting book. Whether they buy my book or not, I am interested in what’s good to read and why they picked that particular book. Research.

A guilty secret is that I have even sold to my local bag boy because someone mentioned books to me at the checkout and he wanted to know what I wrote. Turned out that it sounded like something he might like.

Last blog I mentioned ebooks. In trying to come up with a suggestion for this week, I remembered the queen, the expert, the best selling author Kristine Kathryn Rusch. She and her husband, Dean Wesley Smith pioneered the ebook phenomenon when it first started. Between them, they have written an amazing amount of books sold through both self publishing and tradition ways. I have read a few.

Duplicate Effort is a novel that I bought at a signing where I met Kristine and  Dean. Because it was a signing, this is a paperback, but she is a champion for the self published author and writes a great blog entitled http://kriswrites.com. She does in depth reporting on the business aspect of publishing. Worth a read if you’re a writer.

Duplicate Effort combines my two favorite genres: science fiction and the detective story. This book is seventh in the Retrieval Artist Series and I recommend reading the earlier ones to get a background for the story. Most are stand alones, but this one requires a little knowledge of previous events. Still I enjoyed the story of Retrieval Artist Miles Flint who is trying to bring down the corrupt law firm of Wagner, Stuart, and Xendor that had something to do with his wife’s death and the threat to his daughter’s life and her six clones.

Then a journalist working with him is found dead, along with her bodyguard in the strangest of places. A virtual environment program that gets wiped. As he starts to investigate her murder, the seventh clone of his sixteen year old daughter Emmeline arrives. Talia is younger, thirteen, and wants to find her other five sister clones . Miles is afraid that she will discover the daughter while doing so and put her life in jeopardy.

As the two cases develop, it soon becomes apparent that they are connected. The stakes are raised as the deeper Miles digs, and the closer he comes to the truth, the more his life is in jeopardy and that of Talia. Clones, murder, detectives, alien worlds and high tech combine to make this an interesting series. Here are two others from the set: What you got that you want to suggest?