Ben H. Winters is the author of eight novels, including most recently World of Trouble, the third novel in the Last Policeman Trilogy. Book two in the series, Countdown City, was an NPR Best Book of 2013 and the winner of the Philip K. Dick Award. Countdown City is the sequel to The Last Policeman, which was the recipient of the 2012 Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America; it was also named one of the Best Books of 2012 by Amazon.com and Slate.From Winters's Q & A with Daniel Ford at Writer's Bone:
DF: What inspired your Last Policeman trilogy?Learn more about the book and author at the official Ben H. Winters website.
BW: I have always wanted to write a detective story. Because I was pitching this book to Quirk Books, a publisher that skews toward books with big hooks and big concepts (i.e. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies), I knew I wasn't going to just do your basic police procedural or detective book. I thought a cop solving cases even though the world was going to end was a pretty sharp angle, and that's where I came up with the asteroid.
DF: How much of yourself ended up in Detective Hank Palace? Would you handle a looming apocalypse as well as he does?
BW: I wish I was more like him. I doubt very much that I would have the integrity to keep working, and hang on to my moral sense, as long as he does. The thing is, my job (writer, writing teacher) isn't like being a police officer: nobody relies on it for their immediate safety or well being. I hope I would handle the looming apocalypse by protecting my children as much as I could for as long as I could.
DF: How did you develop the rest of the characters and themes in The Last Policeman? What are some of the things you wanted to explore in this world on the brink of extinction?
BW: Once I had this basic plot idea (cop solving crimes though the world is ending), once I got going on it, the themes...[read on]
My Book, The Movie: The Last Policeman.
The Page 69 Test: The Last Policeman.
The Page 69 Test: Countdown City.
--Marshal Zeringue