The Last Policeman
Series: The Last Policeman, Book 1
By: Ben H. Winters / Narrated By: Peter Berkrot
Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins
One book in the series down, two to go!
Cuz see, it’s like this: At some point in time, back long, long ago, the whole series was on sale as kindle ebooks. Then one could Whispersync the whole deal and get the audiobooks for cheap. So NATURALLY I didn’t think about whether the series was good or not, and why buy the first book to see if it was interesting when I could buy them all and hope for the best? Cuz see, that’s the way my mind works: Audiobooks first, thoughts later.
So here I am, finally starting the series with The Last Policeman being the first. Hmmmm… did I like it? Well? Dunno exactly.
I think the flaws are pretty. big, something you can’t just sweep under the rug and hope not to notice. First, there’s Peter Berkrot’s narration. He gives the impression that we’re listening to a cheap dime store detective story, kinda cheesy, kinda heavy-handed on the sense of drama. I really don’t need to have deep, important pauses that hang heavily in the air. Stuff like that makes my mind wander. Plus, he sorta has a Southern accent which, for a story based in New Hampshire, comes off as rather odd. “Right” becomes “raht”, “night” becomes “naht”. Seriously, I totally mean odd.
Then there’s the fact that the whole sleuthing (not a suicide but is a murder) is based on nothing more than an expensive belt being used for strangulation. That and just a super gut-feeling.
The good parts are based on the whole premise, which is totally engaging. An asteroid is about to collide with Earth, and just how does one live, what do societies do when everyone knows the end of the world is near? Apparently, drugs and alcohol for numbing fear or for plain old getting-of-kicks is up at the top. People also leave their jobs to go study art or something.
And a whole lot of people choose not to wait for the end. They’ll take it into their own hands, and suicides run rampant. All of which I found to make for fascinating listening. It was just the ridiculous red herrings thrown in, the melodrama that I objected to.
But Detective Hank Palace is likable enough, and heaven knows he was born to be a policeman that I kinda found the whole thing to be a pleasant enough listen.
I saw a reference to the series made in a review for a different book by Winters where the person said that it wasn’t until the second and third books that the series picked up steam. So who knows? Maybe reviews of the second/third books would be in order, maybe they’ll be better listens.
What am I saying?!? I bought the ENTIRE series, so of COURSE you should be ready for reviews on the next books, of COURSE I’m going to listen to them!
See? This is what happens when you think audiobook first, logic, oh well, somewhere waaaaaay down the line!
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