The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters

The Last Policeman
by Ben H. Winters

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Published: 2012
Publisher: Quirk Books
Genre: Mystery
Paperback: 288 pages
Rating: 4

The Last Policeman series:
The Last Policeman
Count Down City
World of Trouble

What’s the point in solving murders if we’re all going to die soon, anyway?

Detective Hank Palace has faced this question ever since asteroid 2011GV1 hovered into view. There’s no chance left. No hope. Just six precious months until impact.

The Last Policeman presents a fascinating portrait of a pre-apocalyptic United States. The economy spirals downward while crops rot in the fields. Churches and synagogues are packed. People all over the world are walking off the job—but not Hank Palace. He’s investigating a death by hanging in a city that sees a dozen suicides every week—except this one feels suspicious, and Palace is the only cop who cares.

The first in a trilogy, The Last Policeman offers a mystery set on the brink of an apocalypse. As Palace’s investigation plays out under the shadow of 2011GV1, we’re confronted by hard questions way beyond “whodunit.” What basis does civilization rest upon? What is life worth? What would any of us do, what would we really do, if our days were numbered?

PeekAbook:



My two-bits:

I liked the premise of this story that takes a look at what people do when an apocalypse looks imminent.

The main character, Hank, chooses to move forward in life and does what he does best. Solve mysteries. His passion to investigate makes him such an interesting character to follow which I found more intrigueing than solving the mystery.

~*~
* added this to my Bookish Bingo challenge - square: Murder Mystery

Bookish Bingo Challenge: Spring

Bookish Bingo Challenge
Winter: April to June 2015
hosted by Great Imaginations (details)
I'm hooked!

I am joining this bingo challenge again - fourth one.

The Rules:

Read read read!

-You may include one DNF.
-Remember, one square per book.
-Books do not have to be reviewed

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~*~
Books read:

Square - Horror
Outpost by Ann Aguirre -my review --coming soon

Square - We Need Diverse Books
A Boy Like Me by Jennie Wood -my review

Square - Anthology or Collection
Finder, Vol. 04: Talisman (Finder #4) by Carla Speed McNeil -my review

Square - Yellow Cover
I Take You by Eliza Kennedy -my review

Square - Green Cover
Paperweight by Meg Haston -my review

Square - Classic
Right Ho, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse -my review

Square - Memoir
The Year My Mother Came Back by Alice Eve Cohen -my review

Square - Illustrated cover
The Sculptor by Scott McCloud -my review

Square - Parental Relationships
Bittersweet by Kimberley Loth -my review

Square - Historical
Wolf Winter by Cecilia Ekback -my review

Square - Plants on cover
Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll -my review

Square - Dark Contemporary
Bear Witness by Melissa Clark -my review

Square - Murder Mystery
The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters -my review

Square - Aussie Author
Darkness by Ciye Cho -my review

Square - April release
Blue Sun, Yellow Sky by Jamie Hoang -my review

Square - Parallel Universes
Years and an Ocean by Jo Noelle -my review

Square - WWII
Mademoiselle Chanel by C.W. Gortner -my review

PeekAbook: Bedbugs by Ben H. Winters

Bedbugs
by Ben H. Winters - my review
Just released: September 6, 2011

PeekAbook:



--~ Book Giveaway courtesy of publisher ~--
signup to win this book

Bedbugs by Ben H. Winters

Bedbugs
by Ben H. Winters

Visit Ben:
Website
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Release date: September 6, 2011
Publisher: Quirk Books
Genre: Horror
Paperback: 256 pages
Rating: 4

Amazon | Barnes&Noble

FOR RENT: Top two floors of beautifully renovated brownstone, 1300 sq. ft., 2BR 2BA, eat-in kitchen, one block to parks and playgrounds. No broker’s fee.

Susan and Alex Wendt have found their dream apartment.

Sure, the landlady is a little eccentric. And the elderly handyman drops some cryptic remarks about the basement. But the rent is so low, it’s too good to pass up.

Big mistake.

Susan soon discovers that her new home is crawling with bedbugs . . . or is it?

She awakens every morning with fresh bites, but neither Alex nor their daughter Emma has a single welt. An exterminator searches the property and turns up nothing. The landlady insists her building is clean.

Susan fears she’s going mad—until a more sinister explanation presents itself: she may literally be confronting the bedbug problem from Hell.

Amusing quote:
We give it a few days. If we so much as hear a bug farting in the night, we are out of here.
- page 148, chapter 17

My two-bits:
In-a-word(s): badbugs
I found this to be a slow creeping kind of horror. The kind of horror that gently envelopes you to the point where it's too late to turn back and you just have to push forward. And then you're glad you did.

--~ Book Giveaway courtesy of publisher ~--
signup to win this book

~*~
* review copy courtesy of publisher

~!~ August Thrills-n-Chills schedule ~!~

Giveaway: Bedbugs by Ben H. Winters

Bedbugs
by Ben H. Winters
Release date: September 6, 2011
FOR RENT: Top two floors of beautifully renovated brownstone, 1300 sq. ft., 2BR 2BA, eat-in kitchen, one block to parks and playgrounds. No broker’s fee.

Susan and Alex Wendt have found their dream apartment.

Sure, the landlady is a little eccentric. And the elderly handyman drops some cryptic remarks about the basement. But the rent is so low, it’s too good to pass up.

Big mistake.

Susan soon discovers that her new home is crawling with bedbugs . . . or is it?

She awakens every morning with fresh bites, but neither Alex nor their daughter Emma has a single welt. An exterminator searches the property and turns up nothing. The landlady insists her building is clean.

Susan fears she’s going mad—until a more sinister explanation presents itself: she may literally be confronting the bedbug problem from Hell.

--~ Book Giveaway courtesy of publisher ~--
Win a copy of this book!

Open to all.

Offer ends: September 30, 2011

TO DO:
Send me a link to a picture of a scary-looking bug.

AND, leave your email (if I don't already have it)

Participate entries:

Entry pictures removed.

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Contest has ended - winner is here

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*image source for participant entries are in comments

~!~ August Thrills-n-Chills schedule ~!~

In My Mailbox - 7.31.11

Free from Kindle: beware some free offers are limited

Ashes
by Scott Nicholson
-horror

First Frost
by Jennifer Estep
-YA paranormal

One O'clock Jump:
a swing town mystery for the young at heart
(Dorie Lennox Mystery Series)
by Lise McClendon
-mystery

Survivors
by Sophie Littlefield
-zombopocalypse

For Review and giveaway:

Mr. Softee
by Mike Faricy
-thriller
courtesy of author
Thanks Mike!
stay tuned: giveaway set for August

Bedbugs
by Ben H. Winters
-horror
courtesy of publisher
Thanks Eric!
stay tuned: giveaway set for August

Free from Netgalley: got mine, get yours!

A U S T E N alert!
All of august will be...

Austenesque Extravaganza
at Austenesque Reviews
i'll be going to that party!

~*~
Bookie Brunch schedule
Now follow me to the second Bookie Brunch meeting for a bit of chit chat at Beyond Strange New Words

Bookie Brunch Question of the day:
People often tackle the issue of characters or plot being unrealistic or not possible in real life.

Are you on the-book-must-be-believable/realistic side or not?

Why or why not?

~*~
* get a heads up on free or discounted ebooks from Books on the Knob

* per usual, check out the sidebar for my current giveaways to you

* image from Leafcutter Designs - world's smallest postal service and you can get a letter kit at Chronicle Books

* In My Mailbox is hosted by The Story Siren and inspired by Pop Culture Junkie. A post where we share books acquired via mailbox, library, store, etc.

Seeking Narwal: Fifth Sea

Seeking Narwal
a monthly saga
posted on the 7th of each month - until the narwal is found
details here
~*~
The search continues for the narwal and stolen treasure...

Fresh from pirate adventures during the ...and a bottle o'rum event The Rusty Dagger has left the Red Sea and now navigates through the Arabian Sea.

From trusted sources at Triton's Tavern, the narwal is on board the spice merchant ship The Flying Elephant which is bound for Goa, India.


The Arabian Sea is a region of the Indian Ocean bounded on the east by India, on the north by Pakistan and Iran, on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, on the south, approximately, by a line between Cape Guardafui in northeastern Somalia and Kanyakumari in India. Some of the ancient names of this body of water include Sindhu Sagar (meaning "Sea of Sindh" in Sanskrit) and Erythraean Sea. -per wikipedia

~*~
Captain Vix paces the deck fore and aft restlessly with Goliath clutched into her shoulder.

New crew recruits work the ropes.

Some may find this guide handy...

Knots, Splices and Rope Work
- ILLUSTRATED -
by A. Hyatt Verrill
kindle version is currently free

Other crew members tell tales of sea creatures.

Creatures found in The Deep waters...



This particular story gets under the skin of many...

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters
by Jane Austen and Ben H. Winters
Description from the amazon:
From the publisher of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies comes a new tale of romance, heartbreak, and tentacled mayhem.

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters expands the original text of the beloved Jane Austen novel with all-new scenes of giant lobsters, rampaging octopi, two-headed sea serpents, and other biological monstrosities.

As our story opens, the Dashwood sisters are evicted from their childhood home and sent to live on a mysterious island full of savage creatures and dark secrets. While sensible Elinor falls in love with Edward Ferrars, her romantic sister Marianne is courted by both the handsome Willoughby and the hideous man-monster Colonel Brandon.

Can the Dashwood sisters triumph over meddlesome matriarchs and unscrupulous rogues to find true love? Or will they fall prey to the tentacles that are forever snapping at their heels?

This masterful portrait of Regency England blends Jane Austen’s biting social commentary with ultraviolent depictions of sea monsters biting. It’s survival of the fittest—and only the swiftest swimmers will find true love!

--~ Book Giveaway courtesy of publisher ~--

Win a copy of this book!

Open to all.

Offer ends: June 26, 2011

TO DO:
Send me a link to a picture of a sea monster.

AND, leave your email (if I don't already have it)

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Contest has ended - winner is here

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~*~
C R E W:
AimeeKay of How can you help?
Audra of Unabridged Chick
Freda of Freda's Voice
Giada of Dr. Stravagante's Traveling Book Circus
Jo of Fluidity of Time
Kulsuma of sunshine and stardust
Sullivan McPig of Pearls Cast Before a McPig

Crew duties:
Report in for duty: comment below with a link to a picture of a sea monster AND comment about The Deep video above.

Join the crew and earn points towards the Seeking Narwal prize during the tour of the seven seas.

Sea monster sightings:

AimeeKay spots this...


Freda spots this...


Giada spots this...


heykiddego spots this...


IdentitySeeker spots this...


krysykat spots this...


MAD spots this...


Michelle spots this...


Rebecca spots this...


Sakira spots this...


Sami spots this...


Sullivan McPig spots this...


Susanna spots this...


vvb spots this...


what sea monster did you see?

~*~
* a mini-challenge for the Iron Seas Challenge

W A N T E D:


* if you've read Iron Duke by Meljean Brook post your link here to enter to win the next book in the series - Heart of Steel

* fyi: check out more Jane Austen related schtuff at the Book Rat's Jane in June

~~~ seeking narwal schedule ~~~