The end of the world changes everything, from a law enforcement perspective.
I was intending to have a productive Sunday, but then I sat down with this book and hours later came up for air. This book has been in my to-read stack for months, after purchasing it over the holidays. I attended a writing tips session held by the author last year, and came away wanting to read his most recent book. This is the first book in a trilogy about police detective Hank Palace, intent on solving what seems to be a suicide by hanging in a McDonald's bathroom but which he believes is a murder. Oh, and an asteroid is going to smash into the earth in about six months and kill everyone.
Yes, that's right. The scientists have determined that the end of the world is a certainty, and society is starting to fall apart. People are quitting their jobs to pursue their "bucket lists", the internet and phone lines are spotty at best, and plenty of people have given up and committed suicide. This specific death has all the signs of a suicide, but something looks suspicious to Detective Palace. Amid mockery from his peers, who have more or less checked out already, he insists on starting an investigation.
The detective knows that in the grand scheme of things, that everyone will die, but he's intent on being the best detective he can in the time that is left. What would you do if you knew the world was going to end in a few months? The mystery itself is compelling; the coming apocalypse simply provides setting. I tore through this book, and promptly put myself on the library wait list for the sequel.
