0:00:00the incomparable number 225 December
0:00:11welcome back everybody to the
0:00:12incomparable podcast I'm your host Jason
0:00:13still and we're here for
0:00:15in addition of our book club i would
0:00:18like to first off I recognize that Scott
0:00:21melty is not here for the book club
0:00:23not because he didn't read the book and
0:00:24in fact like the book a lot and
0:00:25recommended to many of us but because
0:00:27he's a good son and he has to help his
0:00:30mom move and he's moving he's like
0:00:32moving his mom from one state to another
0:00:34or something right now so all good jobs
0:00:37god good job we're sorry your not here
0:00:40but I have wonderful people here with me
0:00:42to talk about this book in absence of
0:00:45mr. McNulty Erica and signs out there
0:00:47hello i am here indeed you know in nice
0:00:51one
0:00:52it's almost like your Galaxy Quest hello
0:00:54from last week but was it don't remember
0:00:56where you want a galaxy quest podcast
0:01:01yeah i was just repeat everything the
0:01:04computer says that's all you need to do
0:01:05yep that you release my sister who is
0:01:08also here and his writing this book I
0:01:10hope
0:01:11hello hi i read the whole trilogy look
0:01:13at me to me to carry all right and David
0:01:17laura is also out here you've read the
0:01:18whole trilogy it's the end of the world
0:01:20as we know it end spoiler Warren I feel
0:01:23fine
0:01:24huh all right we're gonna be doing some
0:01:26spoilers horn action here i think i
0:01:28think we will since we've all read all
0:01:30three books we will do a little bit of
0:01:32spoiler warning and as we go so if
0:01:36you've only read if you've written in
0:01:37the books when you get that first boil
0:01:39horn you will want to dive away from
0:01:41your comfortable chair and press the
0:01:43button marked spoiler horn on your phone
0:01:46or podcast have a choice and not listen
0:01:49to the rest and then likewise if you
0:01:50haven't read the second book will have
0:01:52another spoiler warning so now i'm just
0:01:54picturing one of those staples
0:01:55commercials easy buttons on everybody's
0:01:57desk but just his pictures for the horn
0:02:00yeah that's right you does dive dive
0:02:02over there hit the soft friendly button
0:02:05and know that you're not going to be
0:02:07spoiled that because you've you've
0:02:08called you summoned the spoiler horn to
0:02:11your side
0:02:12something like that anyway the last
0:02:15policeman is what worked what we're
0:02:16talking about
0:02:17and any last police in series apparently
0:02:19by Ben winters the the third book in the
0:02:23series came out relative
0:02:24recently I read these books in a matter
0:02:29of days in fact i believe i was on
0:02:31silent i was on a trip to Montreal for
0:02:34the singleton conference and I read the
0:02:37last policeman on the flight to montreal
0:02:39and I immediately bought the other two
0:02:42books and I you know by the time i got
0:02:44back i think i was in the middle of the
0:02:45third book I was just
0:02:48and that's actually why i think a great
0:02:49endorsement these books are a lot of fun
0:02:51to read just be even before we start
0:02:54talking about what they are i mean they
0:02:55they go fast
0:02:57there are a lot of fun and it's been
0:02:58awhile since I really ripped through a
0:03:00series like I read your last policeman
0:03:02they're very gently written there's not
0:03:03a lot of extraneous stuff in there and
0:03:05that's what I appreciate is that there's
0:03:07not a whole lot of time wasting
0:03:08so these are you know one of the things
0:03:11I really like about the the series is
0:03:13that these are did for lack of a better
0:03:15word these are detective novels these
0:03:17are these are these are these are police
0:03:19you know police / detective / crime
0:03:22novels with and I remember Scott and
0:03:24Lisa both talking about this because you
0:03:26guys read it before the rest of us i
0:03:28think yeah these are the the spin to the
0:03:31to the detective novel but procedural
0:03:35crime novel is that the earth has been
0:03:38given me an unpleasant diagnosis which
0:03:41is that it's going to be hit by an
0:03:43asteroid and these aren't spoilers this
0:03:45is in the beginning of the first book it
0:03:47becomes very clear very rapidly that the
0:03:50the planet is going to be probably
0:03:53destroyed by an asteroid and the society
0:03:57is beginning to break down and amid the
0:04:00breakdown of society there's a guy who's
0:04:03a policeman and is trying to solve up
0:04:07what he believes is a murder even though
0:04:09nobody else does so I love that it's the
0:04:11you know it's a plot that you've
0:04:13probably seen before you know it any e
0:04:16voice and style that you've seen before
0:04:18and then it's got this bizarre shard of
0:04:21a science fictional element that just
0:04:23kind of upsets everything so you never
0:04:25know quite what's going to happen next
0:04:26is just such a great idea for a book on
0:04:29top of that detective Henry palace he
0:04:31gets promoted right around the time that
0:04:34everything goes to pot has jobs are
0:04:36available for p.m. we're still around
0:04:38yeah and basically just wandered off and
0:04:40then go to Florida or New Orleans right
0:04:42and you're like well what-whatever wait
0:04:44there have been mass suicides evidently
0:04:46mom but what I really admire about Henry
0:04:49in this book and actually the whole
0:04:51series is his dog insistence on honoring
0:04:54this internal ideal of civilization
0:04:57where he's like if murders happen
0:04:59it's my job to solve them because if we
0:05:00don't solve crimes water we you know
0:05:02what makes us human or non-human and so
0:05:04he basically lives out his his life as a
0:05:07meditation on what it means to be human
0:05:08when you're facing extinction and I
0:05:11really like that he never comes out and
0:05:13says that explicitly but it's implicit
0:05:14and everything he does he's one of my
0:05:16favorite fictional characters this year
0:05:18I I think it's a really good character I
0:05:21i agree with you that the undercurrent
0:05:23in this entire series is well there are
0:05:27lots of things but one of them is very
0:05:29much what are we what are we here for
0:05:31what the society mean what is the value
0:05:35of having a civilization and when your
0:05:38when your civilization gets a terminal
0:05:41diagnosis it's really interesting
0:05:43it's that moment of you know reflection
0:05:48of what when you when you get that when
0:05:50you get that diagnosis what do you do do
0:05:52you say oh it doesn't matter and do
0:05:55crazy things or do you say well you know
0:05:58i wanna i want to make I want to make
0:06:00this matter because there's not a lot of
0:06:02time left and what what Henry palace
0:06:05does is say it matters to him even if
0:06:09and he's not like you should matter to
0:06:11you too so much as it's like knowing
0:06:12manageme somebody should be doing this
0:06:14and that is so the policeman right that
0:06:17is such the somebody's gotta stand here
0:06:19somebody's gotta gotta stand up for this
0:06:21guy who didn't do it or I find the real
0:06:24killer or whatever that that a you get
0:06:25from a lot of of of police stories and
0:06:28detective stories anyway except for him
0:06:30he's you know he's also sort of standing
0:06:32up for society as a as a concept that
0:06:35somebody should still be solving crimes
0:06:37even though we're all gonna die in here
0:06:39I pull up the passage that hooked beyond
0:06:41the first book and this isn't really
0:06:42this is again this doesn't spoil the
0:06:44plot but this tells you what you're in
0:06:45for
0:06:46where it starts with a lot of bucket
0:06:48list is returned disappointed and a lot
0:06:50of newly minted criminal
0:06:51goals and wild pleasure seekers have
0:06:53found themselves in jail waiting and
0:06:54terrified solitude for october so yeah
0:06:57there are differences in behavior but
0:06:58they're in the margins the main
0:07:00difference from a law enforcement
0:07:00perspective is more atmospheric hard to
0:07:03define i would characterize the mood
0:07:05here in town is that of a child who is
0:07:07in trouble yet but knows he's going to
0:07:08be confused said trembling against the
0:07:11knowledge of what comes next and right
0:07:12on the edge of violence not angry but
0:07:14anxious in a way that could easily
0:07:15shaped into anger and it was just this
0:07:18beautiful what I really like is how he
0:07:21raises and dismisses the whole idea of
0:07:23bucket lists and people gone wild in in
0:07:25just a few sentences because i remember
0:07:28reading the flat the novel that launched
0:07:30the flash Ford TV series no mandatory
0:07:33right yeah I think yeah and i remember
0:07:35reading that and my biggest problem with
0:07:37that was there wasn't for me there
0:07:38wasn't a lot of convincing world world
0:07:40building or even dismissal but what
0:07:43about this what about that there's just
0:07:44a lot that doesn't get sketched out and
0:07:46one of the things winters does
0:07:47consistently in this book is almost he
0:07:50anticipates almost everyone if and then
0:07:52you know tell you yeah well that's how
0:07:54it goes down well what about bucket list
0:07:56as well
0:07:56yeah they're there and it has not gone
0:07:58well for them or what about religious
0:07:59programs yeah well they've set
0:08:00themselves on fire or what about XYZ and
0:08:03it's just casually woven into the
0:08:05background and and you can see that
0:08:09normal life is beginning to fray and it
0:08:10adds to the tension in the book too
0:08:12because you know everything is beginning
0:08:14to develop into entropy that's that's
0:08:16the whole sense of the book is is
0:08:17everything is going to enter fee and the
0:08:20end is disorderly and messy and he ends
0:08:22it worse than he started the back and
0:08:24then you're like more I want more in
0:08:26please
0:08:26and-and-and-and the police and and
0:08:28people who are committed to finding that
0:08:30you know who's responsible for crimes
0:08:32these are the people who are standing
0:08:34against the entropy but the world is
0:08:36spinning out of control in in this in
0:08:39this book it hasn't spun yet but you
0:08:41know it will
0:08:42and in fact this whole crime is him
0:08:45investigating a suicide and they're so
0:08:47common that everybody just doesn't even
0:08:49care and something about the crime makes
0:08:52him think I don't think this guy killed
0:08:54himself I think this was a murder made
0:08:56to look like a suicide and it's such a
0:08:58great moment because even his even among
0:09:01his colleagues that kind of checked out
0:09:04because
0:09:05it's just so easy to say well this is a
0:09:07suicide and that's and maybe it's
0:09:10because he's new but he the you know
0:09:14palace cares and wants to investigate it
0:09:17and they sort of humor him
0:09:18it's really yeah it's a combination of a
0:09:21dream you said since he was 12 because
0:09:22he mentions that where he's had the same
0:09:24dream when he was 12 and get sworn in as
0:09:26a detective and it's the culmination of
0:09:28his life's work and it gives us like
0:09:29meeting right that it's inside feel like
0:09:32this is kind of his way of saying this
0:09:34is it my life has to mean something
0:09:35before it ends when it gets it in just
0:09:38under the wire
0:09:39ya know jumping off of what Jason was
0:09:41saying about the his co-workers i find
0:09:43it interesting that you know we're
0:09:46talking about all the different levels
0:09:47of things that can happen and and I i
0:09:49I'd like the fact that he still has co
0:09:51workers that are doing things but he has
0:09:53a main character really does stand out
0:09:55because he is like you said standing up
0:09:58for this and his co-workers how kind of
0:10:00checked out there's they haven't run
0:10:02away they're still there doing it but
0:10:03it's kinda like you know when you you
0:10:05get the detective the stereotypical
0:10:07detective that's been on the force for
0:10:0840 years he's just kind of waiting for
0:10:10retirement and still collecting that
0:10:12paycheck and worming his chair not
0:10:14really trying very hard and there are a
0:10:16variety of different ages of the people
0:10:19who are still left but you think the
0:10:21impression that they're kind of doing
0:10:22the same thing they're just sort of like
0:10:24they don't really know what else to do
0:10:25so they're just going to fill out a
0:10:26better time this way but they're not
0:10:28going to try to hard because why bother
0:10:30when the only things that struck me
0:10:33about him is that he reminds me of
0:10:35Detective bailiffs at the beginning of
0:10:37the series homicide
0:10:39you know he's just promoted he's always
0:10:42wanted to be a murder police right and
0:10:45that's the thinking man's policeman and
0:10:48he gets his first case and it up cge
0:10:50gets obsessed with it he wants to get it
0:10:52right he wants to solve it because it's
0:10:54his first case and it was that kind of
0:10:58obsession with this is my first thing in
0:11:01this thing that I've always wanted to do
0:11:03and i need to do it right and i'm not
0:11:06going to shortcut I'm not gonna forget
0:11:09it I'm not just gonna go home to suicide
0:11:10and go on to the next thing and I kind
0:11:12of like that stick-to-itiveness like the
0:11:14feeling that
0:11:17I mean I think we all experience this
0:11:18even better i'm extremely unlucky
0:11:20personally you get somewhere and
0:11:23everybody says well yeah it's ok now but
0:11:25boy you should have been here back when
0:11:27the salad days right it's always in the
0:11:29news and and for Palace this is it's
0:11:33just so true he he finally gets this
0:11:36thing that he wants when kind of nobody
0:11:39wants it and nobody really wants him to
0:11:40do it but you know by gum he's gonna do
0:11:43it but there's that also that feeling of
0:11:44loss not just the loss of of of
0:11:47civilization but his loss that this is
0:11:50his big dream and now it gets here and
0:11:51it's sort of been devalued like like you
0:11:54know I just I that really struck me to
0:11:57that at the party I'm finally here at
0:11:58the party
0:11:59just when the party is over the band is
0:12:01packing up the Gators of when i finally
0:12:04got in
0:12:04yes they're gone well i would like to
0:12:07also point out Jason before you were
0:12:11just describing your your ride and
0:12:13reading these books is really fun and
0:12:14and i think that we have a very
0:12:16different idea of what fun is because
0:12:19that isn't I think we've established
0:12:20that haven't we relate a little dark
0:12:23sometimes that is I mean I like things
0:12:26dark but i would not characterize oh my
0:12:28feelings about that as a as fun i guess
0:12:31um these are for their excellent books I
0:12:33wouldn't be here talking about them but
0:12:35I I do kind of want to give a warning to
0:12:37anybody who has not read these books if
0:12:38you if you are the kind of person who
0:12:41knows that that this type of
0:12:43end-of-the-world stuff might bring you
0:12:44down and you are in a fragile state of
0:12:46mind i would recommend waiting until
0:12:49you're a little bit more solid because I
0:12:51agree I'm i was a little iffy just down
0:12:54the you know the description of these
0:12:56books of as to whether or not i should
0:12:57read them in the first place but I was
0:12:59like well I'll think about it and then
0:13:02actually one of our our kind listeners
0:13:04purchased the first book for me off of
0:13:07my Amazon wish list so I was like all
0:13:09right it's a sign it was meant to be and
0:13:12when i read it the first book was so
0:13:13good that I immediately purchased the
0:13:15second one it was like I don't want two
0:13:17and a half three days or something like
0:13:18that I zip through them and i'm still
0:13:21not sure if that was a good idea or not
0:13:24yeah I don't know if it was a chicken in
0:13:26the egg thing but i was i was in a
0:13:28really bad place as i read these books
0:13:30and I can't blame them entirely because
0:13:32I might have been anyway but I mean yeah
0:13:35things got kinda kinda dicey and ugly
0:13:37they're so watch yourself if you're not
0:13:39sure I agree i definitely felt that too
0:13:42when I finished I did not come out of
0:13:46finishing the third book like you know
0:13:49fresh and we're and refreshed and ready
0:13:52to seize the day I was like I who like
0:13:56that wasn't wow I I'm gonna have to
0:13:59reveal myself as a soulless monster then
0:14:02i'm using are you going
0:14:05I read them as they came out so I had a
0:14:06year pause in between each one which
0:14:09which helps members i can see i I don't
0:14:13I don't usually get that empathetic with
0:14:15a book but there are occasionally like
0:14:18graham greene's the power and the glory
0:14:19I've never finished it because it heat
0:14:22poor trees depression and desolations so
0:14:26well just like no no I can't finish this
0:14:29book and then there's a little bit of
0:14:32that in this but it's it's also a
0:14:34detective story which is cool so I
0:14:37enjoyed it i wanted to make sure he was
0:14:40gonna be okay with in a very limited
0:14:42subset of what
0:14:43ok could possibly be but um they that
0:14:47that one of the things i want to address
0:14:49those if you do read the trilogy rest
0:14:50assured that it is really well read and
0:14:54really well-thought-out and the ending
0:14:55is immensely gratifying and it's a it's
0:14:58and it makes sense it's not always that
0:15:00was my big know because i had read the
0:15:01first one like the bean seeds like
0:15:04literally two weeks before the second
0:15:05one came out and immediately bought that
0:15:07one and ripped through it and then I
0:15:08preap and then i pre-ordered the third
0:15:10one and i almost never do that because I
0:15:12prefer to buy my books used and but I
0:15:15immediately bought it new for kindle and
0:15:17when it came out the day it came out I
0:15:18blocked out sometime and read it and
0:15:21when I was done I was like huh
0:15:23I've no I was relieved because it clear
0:15:26on so it could have gone so bad and he
0:15:28could have broken faith with the reader
0:15:29and instead he writes a book that is so
0:15:33consistent to Henry is and so consistent
0:15:36with the story he began telling in the
0:15:38first book that this trilogy really
0:15:39hangs together as a perfect three piece
0:15:42of that makes sense
0:15:43and oh yeah it's like Diane lot yeah
0:15:46it's six months ago by putting sticks
0:15:47the landing so I really i was relieved
0:15:50because I would've been angry if they
0:15:51hadn't done that it doesn't certainly
0:15:52mean it's a feel-good I mean this whole
0:15:54the whole series it is consistent and I
0:15:56think that's what you're saying is a i
0:15:58agree i think the ending is consistent
0:16:00and not a ripoff and all those things
0:16:02the fact is this is ultimately about the
0:16:04sort of the world destruction of light
0:16:07in fact you could say it's weird because
0:16:08we all talked about the stand a little
0:16:10while ago
0:16:10it is a few chapters of the stand right
0:16:13is it is how society unravels and how
0:16:16people face and react to death and
0:16:19that's what it's about
0:16:21there's a why a series called this world
0:16:23we live in I'm turning on googling
0:16:25whoo-hoo-hoo-hoo does it now but the
0:16:29premise is that a rogue it's always a
0:16:31row gasps oh yeah is that the one where
0:16:33the moon blows up yeah its okay its or
0:16:35getting hit by an asteroid yes it's
0:16:37Susan beth pfeffer and gather the moon
0:16:40gets hit by an asteroid knocks it out of
0:16:42orbit and enriched and in turn what that
0:16:44does is that screws with the oceans that
0:16:47screws with the oceans tides and then
0:16:49the caldera under Yellowstone explodes
0:16:51yeah so so the earth effectively goes
0:16:55into it what what is all people called
0:16:58nuclear winter state like there's no
0:16:59more Sun and the climate change is
0:17:02radical and and very sudden and society
0:17:05breaks down and so I had read the first
0:17:08three books in that series when they
0:17:09came out
0:17:10oh yeah like I rather like 2011 which
0:17:12was not the best time to read that but
0:17:14we done
0:17:16yeah well I was postpartum at the time
0:17:17too so totally not helping
0:17:19uh-huh so I had already gone through and
0:17:23read a trilogy about this is what
0:17:24happens when massive catastrophe hits
0:17:27and this is what happens to people who
0:17:28are left standing and so in the back of
0:17:30my mind the whole time mastering the
0:17:31last policeman and I admit that
0:17:33subsequent two books i was impressed
0:17:37with how he mainly he treated the idea
0:17:39of suicide because well it's true he
0:17:41does he does investigate murders he does
0:17:44also raised a lot of very good points
0:17:47about whether when it makes sense to
0:17:49have a survival instinct that kicks in
0:17:50versus what makes sense to throw in the
0:17:52towel and then he starts talking about
0:17:53the scams that people have started
0:17:54pulling on each other or the death
0:17:56it measures are taking and and i found
0:17:58that actually a lot more upsetting than
0:18:00the notion that a comet would hit the
0:18:02planet it was the idea of not knowing
0:18:03whether you wanted to live or die that
0:18:05that I have the most trouble with these
0:18:06books should we fire off the spoiler
0:18:09Horner is there more we should do on
0:18:10this side of it i think i gave my
0:18:12warning so I'm going ok I think I think
0:18:15that's I think that's right this
0:18:16definitely can leave you I definitely
0:18:18felt like i was i was picked up by these
0:18:21books and then when I was left off
0:18:22although i really enjoyed the reading
0:18:24experience i was left in a different
0:18:26emotional place then when they picked me
0:18:29up there is no doubt about it
0:18:30oh yeah now i have i seen questions
0:18:32linger in the back of my head of the
0:18:34post-apocalyptic variety time for me to
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0:20:51alright here we go the spoils horn at
0:20:53the end of the world if you don't wanna
0:20:54listen spoilers jump to 55 minutes for
0:20:57what are you reading
0:20:58[Music]
0:21:02I'm going to be very careful as we talk
0:21:04about this here because i read them all
0:21:07in such close succession and and because
0:21:10i read them on a kindle I've discovered
0:21:12that now that I'm now that I'm reading
0:21:13an e-reader I don't make the delineation
0:21:16between different books as much because
0:21:18i'm not seeing the covers and I tend to
0:21:20forget the titles of books if I wasn't
0:21:22looking at the wikipedia page for the
0:21:24first one right now I could not tell you
0:21:26the title who support the second and
0:21:27third books and i don't know that i
0:21:29remember super well exactly where the
0:21:31line is between each one of them simply
0:21:34because it is such a consistent story
0:21:36and it really does flow each one has its
0:21:38own beginning middle and end date for
0:21:40miss Gloria solved because that
0:21:42beautiful art my god I'm just I the the
0:21:46pacing the way he links all three of
0:21:49them together each book has its distinct
0:21:53are due its distinct narrative arc with
0:21:54the whole series just does a beautiful
0:21:57job from beginning to end too and i'm
0:21:59with you Erykah it's it's I have to stop
0:22:01remind myself that oh yeah book two ends
0:22:03with insert event here in them and and
0:22:07then booked three starts with but this
0:22:08last police been uh we you know we
0:22:11talked about the themes a little bit one
0:22:12of the things that i like it so it's a
0:22:14suicide that he thinks is a murder
0:22:15there is of course a I mean let's see
0:22:20there's there's the subplot with his
0:22:21sister and their em and there's like the
0:22:25military base and all these things that
0:22:26are happening and then there's the
0:22:28there's the trying to figure out the the
0:22:32story of the guy and the guy was hanging
0:22:33out with that with that with another guy
0:22:35and then there's a well woman who's
0:22:37involved because it's a detective story
0:22:39of course he's going to unravel their
0:22:42lives and get in get involved with the
0:22:46woman who's involved in the mystery as
0:22:49you do as happens so often no detectives
0:22:53mostly Democrats the books about the
0:22:56detectives who just do their job and
0:22:58it's all morning they just take care of
0:23:00it and always a femme fatale
0:23:02in this case it's kind of literal yeah I
0:23:05like I enjoyed the mystery i enjoyed him
0:23:07unraveling I like the fact that even in
0:23:10a standard mystery when a guy thinks
0:23:12it's a murder but everybody else thinks
0:23:14it's suicide you're like come on it
0:23:15the book he's going to be right but in
0:23:17this I felt like he might be wrong
0:23:20i mean i-i don't know that the the
0:23:21existence of that asteroid makes
0:23:23everything kind of it throws everything
0:23:25out of sync and I start to think maybe
0:23:27this is not going to be that story it's
0:23:29gonna be some weird thing involving the
0:23:31end of the world and and you know it
0:23:33turns out not to be it turns out that
0:23:34that there is indeed a a mystery to be
0:23:39solved involving a conspiracy to kill
0:23:42this guy and make it look like a suicide
0:23:44and it's nice because you know by sort
0:23:48of starting in media res you know here
0:23:52you don't necessarily know except unless
0:23:54you've read the back of the book
0:23:56no it's it's about the end of the world
0:23:58so you know if you're trying to pick up
0:24:00details about what's going on in this
0:24:01world it's all oblique it's not you know
0:24:03well to mcdonalds well it's not really a
0:24:05mcdonalds right you know how I love that
0:24:07when he explains which change of clothes
0:24:09which was not in just these little
0:24:11details that you pick up so again
0:24:14there's there's just enough doubt as to
0:24:17whether you know maybe it really is a
0:24:19suicide
0:24:19I don't know right and but but yeah I
0:24:23love that there's no like big things
0:24:25saying here is the situation now right
0:24:28it gives you everything you need to know
0:24:29it's just all these details that sort of
0:24:31filter through the whole thing and you
0:24:35you learn stuff as you need to know it
0:24:37as it makes the plot make more sense
0:24:39which is against just beautiful
0:24:41yeah in the so in the end you know
0:24:44there's I mean we can we can recap the
0:24:47plot but basically he follows leads that
0:24:50leads that that uh make you think
0:24:53there's a very nice red herring where
0:24:54you think that this is going to be about
0:24:55this guy who's doing insurance fraud
0:24:58whose because the insurance companies
0:25:00again are in a problematic place because
0:25:03the world is coming to an end and lots
0:25:05of crazy things are happening whether
0:25:07they're disputing a lot of payouts to
0:25:08because they're now what you gonna do
0:25:13uh you know we'll take it to court next
0:25:16year haha and but in the end it turns
0:25:19out that there's a there's a guy who's
0:25:21what distributing drugs out of the
0:25:23basement of the police station is that
0:25:25right
0:25:27hospitals are the hospital right
0:25:29hospital
0:25:30that's right and I but along the way we
0:25:35have the Fatah land and a scene that
0:25:37could very easily have been in other
0:25:39circumstances not as meaningful but what
0:25:44is interesting about this series is this
0:25:46this seen this this one evening the date
0:25:49that that the main character goes on
0:25:52haunts him for the rest of the books
0:25:55which I actually think it's kind of
0:25:57great dance that it's so meaningful to
0:25:59him and we're thinking about this woman
0:26:02that he spent you know was actually one
0:26:04night with an A and the it had that
0:26:07hangs over the other two books it's
0:26:09actually really kind of great that's the
0:26:11case haunted by women
0:26:12I suppose so his sister here and sister
0:26:16is that this is his sister is the
0:26:17biggest ghost in his life and she's
0:26:19right there half the time but palace
0:26:20will you ever learn
0:26:23probably a dozen now it's gonna hit that
0:26:26he's just about to learn in yeah the and
0:26:32yeah we should we should we talk about
0:26:34the other books
0:26:35why not why not that's all right isn't
0:26:38this your second spoiler Hearn
0:26:40[Music]
0:26:43it's alright form below
0:26:47well done Lisa push the button on the
0:26:49spoiler in there good job i guess i
0:26:50could count on fiat so countdown city is
0:26:55the one that I um I think I feel like in
0:27:00some ways I I I remember the most
0:27:02because this this to me
0:27:04so at the end they basically shut down
0:27:06parts of the police force and palaces
0:27:09out of a job
0:27:10so now he's kind of like a detective
0:27:11with you know like a private detective
0:27:14sort of except not what sort of man and
0:27:17this and and i love the structure of
0:27:18this one because this one is very much
0:27:20like it's like his his old nanny but
0:27:22it's very much like her husband has
0:27:24disappeared
0:27:25you gotta find him and it all kind of
0:27:27unravels when he starts to check out his
0:27:29story there's like the bowling alley
0:27:32where they serve food that is where he
0:27:34worked and then he he has to figure out
0:27:37that they have a truck that they use to
0:27:39get supplies and he ends up in this one
0:27:43he ends up he ends up at the what the
0:27:46University of New Hampshire is that
0:27:48right yeah it'sit's you an agent with
0:27:51become a hippie commune basically his
0:27:54sister he ends up there with his sister
0:27:56and they're trying to find out the
0:27:57location of this guy who is the husband
0:28:01of the nanny and wondering what he's up
0:28:03to and what he's doing and and and and
0:28:06traces that story through and eventually
0:28:09comes to a like a Coast Guard is a
0:28:13schematic yes it's there's there's a
0:28:16coastguard operation they interrupt
0:28:18yeah yeah where he's where it turns out
0:28:21that this guy is trying to prove to what
0:28:25saved the people who are off who have
0:28:28fled other places and are trying to come
0:28:30to the u.s. on the off-chance that since
0:28:33the asteroid is hitting an end indonesia
0:28:35us may be safer place to be and these
0:28:38people are being like gunned down before
0:28:41they stand and thinking the ship's yeah
0:28:44person so you know that it's really dark
0:28:46but that I mean this has really division
0:28:49the visuals of this have stuck with me
0:28:51that the the walls of the of the
0:28:53university they with the defenses and
0:28:56and being allowed
0:28:57and I was like high security perimeter
0:29:00and the bowling alley where there's the
0:29:02guy who's like it's like the mob bowling
0:29:05alley
0:29:05except they just you know it's the there
0:29:07they're mobbed up because it's the end
0:29:09of the world and they have food there
0:29:10and then that last confrontation where
0:29:13he's coming he meets the finally meets
0:29:16the husband and he's climbed up the side
0:29:18of that that building and it's just it's
0:29:21just yeah what a crazy it better
0:29:24you know I I liked it better than the
0:29:26first one because i thought it was like
0:29:27even more memorable as things are
0:29:29spinning out of control and and it
0:29:31really i'll i really enjoyed the thread
0:29:33that he keeps following because it's dog
0:29:35it right he's just like you kind of like
0:29:37to start but then in true detective
0:29:39story fashion once he gets that thread
0:29:41he just keeps pulling it he can't help
0:29:43but keep pulling it no matter what the
0:29:45cost is the second book i thought was
0:29:47actually the most disturbing of them all
0:29:48to be honest with you because that's
0:29:51also when you discovered the parents
0:29:52have been abandoned their children
0:29:54oh yeah oh that's right yeah there's
0:29:56like the it's like merchants from a
0:29:58musical except terrible it's awful yeah
0:30:01you know so you discovered that's been
0:30:03going on the medical care has begun to
0:30:06deteriorate there's that weird vigil
0:30:08they have in Massachusetts where people
0:30:10just start standing up and reciting all
0:30:11things are going to miss the end of the
0:30:13world you know there's that there's that
0:30:17data model there's the hucksters who
0:30:19took all those people for all their life
0:30:21savings for this this this rescue
0:30:23oh yeah program that will never ever
0:30:25come to fruition and yeah that one just
0:30:29a kind of made me go like yeah I mean I
0:30:32guess you got some money but really like
0:30:35you you have three weeks to spend it on
0:30:37whatever I just yeah like a lot of work
0:30:40to go through to scam people like that's
0:30:42just that you're really a terrible
0:30:44person if you're doing that because
0:30:46you're not going to get much out of it
0:30:48yeah it's just awful uh-huh so it's just
0:30:51it's just the second one is because the
0:30:54third book I think they're the thing I
0:30:55really like about the third book is it's
0:30:57just this this very it's just the final
0:31:01unraveling where where he only has two
0:31:03big mysteries left to solve one of them
0:31:04is what the hell happened to a sister
0:31:05right and the answer is not a surprise
0:31:09this one reminded me
0:31:10of a book that i really i read in high
0:31:12school that I really liked that was one
0:31:14of my favorite detective books called
0:31:17well in the same way that it that
0:31:19there's this kind of you know i love
0:31:22that dread of I'm gonna follow this case
0:31:25and it's going to go somewhere badly you
0:31:27know bad and it's gonna be bad for me
0:31:28and it's going badly for everybody
0:31:30involved and yet i'm going to do it
0:31:32because that's just what's gonna happen
0:31:33now it's that dot that darkness and in
0:31:36that book is I think he may be out of
0:31:38print it might be back in print now
0:31:40called strike three you're dead which is
0:31:42actually about a baseball player
0:31:43investigating the murder of one of his
0:31:45teammates and for a book that is kind of
0:31:48quirky and strange and sounds like it
0:31:50might be wacky it's actually really dark
0:31:52and then that the first book in a series
0:31:53of of mysteries being solved by this
0:31:56former baseball player and it's the same
0:31:58thing which is personal life you know
0:32:01spending apart have to follow the case
0:32:03leads to unpleasant locations and and I
0:32:06I just the result of that book is i love
0:32:09the tone i like i love that the main
0:32:11character is reluctant and yet can't
0:32:13just can't help it has to follow the
0:32:15path and that's I got that exact same
0:32:17tone and feeling and style from from all
0:32:21these books but especially countdown
0:32:22city
0:32:23yeah oh and the diner the diner that
0:32:26serves almost nothing where he and his
0:32:27two former police colleagues go like
0:32:31have nowhere else to be amazing
0:32:35no the am I mean is I you sort of going
0:32:38into book number three world of trouble
0:32:39that that really oh this this isn't
0:32:41gonna end well see also common yeah but
0:32:44you know I think for me that the thing
0:32:45that broke my heart a little bit is how
0:32:47he leaves police house and strikes out
0:32:49on his own and it's just like the worst
0:32:51possible decision you can make but like
0:32:53jason said he's got that thing in his
0:32:55nature that pushes him to keep going
0:32:56alright we're going to just blow the
0:32:57blow the whole whole whore now
0:33:00[Music]
0:33:04there goes yeah and you know his
0:33:06sister's the biggest mystery in his life
0:33:08and he's just compelled to try to solve
0:33:10whatever it is that he goes on about and
0:33:14you know it's not gonna end well like
0:33:16you know from the minute you open the
0:33:17book she hasn't she hasn't she's always
0:33:19a sign of something bad in every single
0:33:20book the minute he gets entangled mr.
0:33:23things get complicated in weird and
0:33:24murdery Erica you know you mentioned the
0:33:27the the the the dark the darkness and
0:33:31that it ends up in a problematic place I
0:33:36i will reinforce that by saying that the
0:33:38world of trouble reminds me a lot of the
0:33:40road yeah uh yeah yeah yeah you know
0:33:44because he is he's traveling through and
0:33:46i think it's interesting i can't wait to
0:33:47get your reaction to station 11 cuz well
0:33:49we're gonna do that we're going to do
0:33:50that for the football club so everybody
0:33:53seek some therapy before they're more
0:33:56and more population tellin ya you know
0:33:59it's not i can't stop thinking about the
0:34:01book it's delightful
0:34:02it's it's an amazing book will get there
0:34:04um I but it's delightful i mentioned i
0:34:07mentioned the road but it is like that
0:34:10in a sense and this is actually
0:34:11something I thought was weird in these
0:34:13books is I don't get a sense by the time
0:34:16the third book happens that this is not
0:34:18the stand right people aren't dying in
0:34:21mass die-offs because of something
0:34:23that's happening the thing is gonna
0:34:25happen and it's going to be the end of
0:34:26the world and yet in world of trouble as
0:34:29he is riding his bicycle from Vermont to
0:34:33ohio I the world seems pretty
0:34:36unpopulated and I I thought that was
0:34:39really nice
0:34:42in terms of telling a story about the
0:34:44end of the world that have it be like we
0:34:45this is the world we are leaving behind
0:34:47that we've already abandoned it and yet
0:34:50you know the people aren't really going
0:34:52anywhere and so on that level it didn't
0:34:55really make a lot of sense to me that it
0:34:57seemed as empty as it did he runs into
0:34:58people here and there but it it just
0:35:01seemed like you know this kind of a this
0:35:03kind of apocalypse where I know it felt
0:35:06like he was cheating and he was telling
0:35:07us a setting of a different kind of
0:35:10apocalypse and the one where
0:35:11actually watching I felt like this would
0:35:12be more people around and I was figure
0:35:14the mass suicides
0:35:15yeah I got the feeling that there are
0:35:17more suicides that the he just sort of
0:35:18described some of the suicides and
0:35:21didn't want to bog things down with it
0:35:22and also that that some of these houses
0:35:25and in places that he's passing are that
0:35:27many more of them perhaps then he can
0:35:30tell from the outside are still
0:35:31inhabited and it's just people hunkering
0:35:33down because they don't want to run into
0:35:35run into anybody you don't have the code
0:35:38right of like what the different kinds
0:35:40of houses are abandoned and therefore to
0:35:42find friends yeah the red towns versus
0:35:45the blue toes and then when you get the
0:35:47red ones just chillin an awful but i
0:35:51think it i liked the the bits and pieces
0:35:55of the the folks that he found who were
0:35:57still you could retain their humanity to
0:36:00a certain extent I think that it didn't
0:36:03completely balanced out all of the the
0:36:05awfulness as far as you know making me
0:36:07feel good but it was nice to see that
0:36:10that wasn't left aside that this wasn't
0:36:12you know we were completely dragged down
0:36:14by it some people still have not only
0:36:16are some people still trying to keep
0:36:21their their old job the way that he has
0:36:23been but there are also people who have
0:36:25become even more selfless and there are
0:36:29actually just trying to help out you
0:36:30know you be the people traveling around
0:36:32and picking up the kids and just taking
0:36:34care of them and yes lets you know not a
0:36:36bad thing I i really like the twist with
0:36:39the Amish yeah well it's and what I
0:36:43really enjoyed was how he said no I've
0:36:45lied to everybody and said that there's
0:36:47a huge plague and that we have to stay
0:36:49quarantined because i don't want them to
0:36:51know what's happening and I thought to
0:36:53myself you know wow that's a terrible
0:36:56burden and a wonderful gift at the same
0:36:57time and how must it feel to have to try
0:37:00to keep up that lie every day out of
0:37:02love you know and it would work that is
0:37:04completely one hundred percent plausible
0:37:06thing and it makes the ending just
0:37:08beautiful
0:37:09you know I guess I when I read the last
0:37:11chapter and I'm holding my I was holding
0:37:13my breath through all of it through the
0:37:14epilogue and I I literally was holding
0:37:18my breath through it and then you know
0:37:21we get to the weather having lunch
0:37:23together
0:37:23uh-huh and you know you get to the last
0:37:25page and your and then I was home it was
0:37:30that mean that last paragraph was just
0:37:32burned into my mind is just like that if
0:37:34of any book I think that I've ever read
0:37:37that ending is is going to stick with me
0:37:40and has changed me more as a person into
0:37:42anything else I can think of
0:37:44oh god yeah but the thing that I liked
0:37:46about that ending so much was how after
0:37:50spending basically a book and a half
0:37:51documenting the downward slide of
0:37:53humanity both as a conceit no actually
0:37:56as a conceit as a species and as a
0:37:59condition you know where basically
0:38:01dissolving into selfish shapes and
0:38:02people are killing each other for dumb
0:38:03reasons and and all that like he chooses
0:38:06to end on this this note of deliberate
0:38:08community and deliberate com deliberate
0:38:11support and complicity where he agrees
0:38:13to be complicit in the lie and Ally
0:38:15agrees because he's like no one should
0:38:17have to be alone today and I just I was
0:38:20like wow that's that's that's a
0:38:21remarkably up the end it you know where
0:38:25he's basically a form in that young
0:38:26people can cheat people can choose to be
0:38:28good under awful circumstances over and
0:38:30over again they can choose to be good
0:38:31and and I thought that was just a
0:38:33beautiful way to in the book when
0:38:35talking about i'm sticking the landing I
0:38:37mean this is now that we're now that
0:38:39we're safely behind many spoilers horns
0:38:41balance of squiggly lines had a variable
0:38:45city tonight
0:38:46yeah so many spoilers horns uh add the
0:38:49budget for this episode 4 large with
0:38:50bringing extra extra read it
0:38:52yeah the one thing i really appreciated
0:38:55in this it it reminded me by the by the
0:38:57end of the third one
0:38:58it reminded me of the movie Penn &
0:39:00Teller get killed
0:39:01we're at the end of the movie
0:39:05sure enough Penn & Teller get killed and
0:39:07the camera pulls up in this long crane
0:39:10shot or helicopter shot and and pens
0:39:12voice comes on it goes what we named the
0:39:14movie pen until we get killed what did
0:39:15you expect would happen
0:39:17yeah and it's like me yeah the the thing
0:39:20I really like about this is that there's
0:39:23no it's not a plot about saving the end
0:39:25of the world it's not a part of about
0:39:27trying to get out of it
0:39:28it's just here's what's gonna happen
0:39:30over here you know
0:39:33oh yeah yeah and that that goes back to
0:39:35what Lisa was saying about
0:39:37and they thought they'd never blink on
0:39:39it Scott mentioned this and I mentioned
0:39:42it to an unprepossessing podcast and and
0:39:44so I guess technically that would be
0:39:45considered a spoiler but it really is
0:39:46more like you want to give the
0:39:48reassurance like you know this series is
0:39:50what it's a it's about what it's about
0:39:52and it would be a ripoff
0:39:54if in the end there was a miracle and
0:39:56and it doesn't happen and the way it
0:39:59ends is we can talk about later but it's
0:40:02you know I didn't feel like I am I was
0:40:05ripped off and I I appreciate that does
0:40:08what it says on the label this is what
0:40:09the story is about it's not not about
0:40:12that its didn't it's telling you the
0:40:14truth and what it's about the the hard
0:40:16thing to talk about when you're not
0:40:17trying to spoil it when you say he stuck
0:40:19the landing is he he does not shy away
0:40:22from he doesn't swerve and say well
0:40:24maybe in fact most of the information
0:40:26you get as things go along is just
0:40:28confirming its yeah this is gonna happen
0:40:32righty you keep wanting that moment of
0:40:34like well maybe and instead the
0:40:35information like no no really it's not
0:40:37gonna happen that would there they're
0:40:39not going to survive this
0:40:41it's just I and then you think well
0:40:42maybe it's going to Indonesia maybe that
0:40:44will be ok for us in the US
0:40:46no that's not gonna be okay either well
0:40:48what if we're away from the oceans and
0:40:50we're in the know that's not going to
0:40:51end it just keeps going like that and
0:40:54yet
0:40:54and in the end while he never blinks
0:40:58from that what what you don't get
0:41:01which I actually kind of love I I was
0:41:03dreading it and I was happy not to see
0:41:05it is you don't get to see what happens
0:41:07next
0:41:07no yes I completely agree because as
0:41:11much as I'm curious about it i firmly
0:41:14believe that some things should be left
0:41:15up to your imagination right yeah it's
0:41:18better that way right other books are
0:41:20available that deeply depict the
0:41:22horrible things that happened at the
0:41:24very end of the world but here ya
0:41:26because that an up note it takes to
0:41:28country has Henry has had his journey
0:41:30right he's taking his journey and if if
0:41:32if what happens is sometime in the next
0:41:34two hours some you know a shockwave
0:41:37happens and and breaks their bones and
0:41:39destroys the house and he bleeds to
0:41:41death you're in or whatever it is you
0:41:43know something terrible happens and they
0:41:45all died right that's what's going to
0:41:46happen next
0:41:47it doesn't matter at this point it
0:41:49doesn't matter because this is the part
0:41:50that man
0:41:51nurses the way it ends and and and i
0:41:53wanted to talk a little bit about the
0:41:55the mystery of a sort that's in the in
0:41:57this not only does he take a little trip
0:41:59but he ends up at the police station
0:42:01where there's like a bunker that's been
0:42:03constructed underneath where the fake
0:42:05we're going to save the world cult that
0:42:08includes his sister is going to end up
0:42:11and this is where he finds his sister
0:42:12and finds that finds that she's dead
0:42:15he missed her by so very little time if
0:42:19you would have not stopped to help
0:42:20somebody else along the way Joe might
0:42:22have been there in time to save her the
0:42:24the way he deals with her murder the
0:42:25person who murdered his sister the the
0:42:28way he deals with that murder is just
0:42:29phenomenal because it shows that again
0:42:31and again he chooses to to stick to that
0:42:33internal standard of civilization and he
0:42:35chooses compassion right and it's almost
0:42:38like he's subbing in what he wishes he
0:42:40could have done for Nico for this woman
0:42:42no you know and and he does point out
0:42:45while you were you were tripping balls
0:42:46at the time but there's a lot going on
0:42:48and I i think one of the things I really
0:42:51like about this in terms talk about your
0:42:53wacky confrontation scenes in in
0:42:56detective stories in or detective movies
0:42:59and things like that the the the battle
0:43:01in the bunker where we've got like an
0:43:03extra guy who we didn't know he was
0:43:04there because he was asleep or high or
0:43:07something and and and all of that and
0:43:09then I it ends up being a really great
0:43:12kind of a dramatic action e climax to
0:43:17the to this this mystery
0:43:20I really like that I thought this like
0:43:21so bizarre that we're gonna we're gonna
0:43:23go down in the bunker where they're
0:43:25supposed to be riding out to the end of
0:43:26the world we're going to break open the
0:43:27impregnable bunker and see who's down
0:43:29there I I end and that gets just
0:43:32increasingly weird i really enjoyed that
0:43:34I thought that was so strange and I and
0:43:37then in the end the choice Henry makes
0:43:40is not to stay in the bunker
0:43:41yeah I was a little heartbroken by
0:43:43Cortez because I i really loved him to
0:43:45the second book and when he shows up at
0:43:48the end of the second book to police
0:43:49house in a horse-drawn carriage and he's
0:43:51got coffee and he's like what I just
0:43:53over 25 and I'm like this is what the
0:43:55house like this with the book needs this
0:43:57random element of of levity and because
0:44:00he kinda provided this this this this
0:44:02wildcard well you know what the
0:44:04trachomatis what like there was a
0:44:05certain lightness of character I light
0:44:08and then book number three it goes away
0:44:11at the end of that was like Cortez why
0:44:13did you have to because i like i like
0:44:16that because he it they bring him in and
0:44:18he is
0:44:19yes he's funny but he is funny with an
0:44:21edge in with the dark side and he is
0:44:23he's not a good guy and I was worried
0:44:26actually that he was going to soften him
0:44:28up and have some sort of redemption arc
0:44:30for him by the end and the fact that
0:44:32didn't happen maybe I think just as
0:44:34happy as the fact that he didn't works
0:44:36out when it comes to killing the entire
0:44:38Earth with an asteroid it was the same
0:44:39kind of a same kind of with a realism
0:44:41what kind of thing going on and another
0:44:44thing that happened towards the end
0:44:45there that i enjoyed was the fact that
0:44:47not only is cortez sort of parallel you
0:44:51be a the world and the asteroid but we
0:44:53also have a weird little parallel 44
0:44:55palace himself because the we find out
0:44:58that that would help there's an FBI
0:45:00agent who he hasn't realized was an FBI
0:45:02agent this whole time
0:45:04who is also trying to find his sister
0:45:06and trying to save her because he sort
0:45:09of see the same thing in her that that
0:45:10Palace does and they both fail and you
0:45:14can feel bad for both of them
0:45:16I think you're right about Cortez I just
0:45:18I I always liked the trap of the the
0:45:21Brogue who the road who decides to have
0:45:24a last-minute change of heart and I
0:45:26think you're right it would not have
0:45:27worked here in a nice guy and maybe
0:45:30that's what makes it more poignant is is
0:45:32the fact that some people are true to
0:45:34their natures even when there's no
0:45:35reason not to be the I i also like how
0:45:37the story comes to rest with the
0:45:39exception of the the the Amish farm that
0:45:42we get the very end the story comes to
0:45:44rest at an empty police station
0:45:46so we're back Henry is also back in a
0:45:49new police station and and I like the
0:45:52sense that it's sort of like there's the
0:45:54vending machines in the kitchen and it's
0:45:56sort of I I pictured it as the eunuch
0:45:58strangely clean and together police
0:46:01station that just has nobody in it but
0:46:03this is Henry's this is where Henry gets
0:46:05to solve his last case and he still
0:46:07managed to find sort of a friend because
0:46:09he's reading through the the journals of
0:46:11that one detective recognize he liked
0:46:13her he liked her
0:46:15yeah it's in the connection right there
0:46:17right she she figures out what's going
0:46:19on and then the very sadly he he finally
0:46:22puts together what her last entry means
0:46:25and how that did that was a very bad day
0:46:27the town
0:46:28yeah yeah i I just I i love the fact
0:46:33that he doesn't want to stay in the
0:46:35bunker because part of me is like no
0:46:37dude you got a bunker that they made up
0:46:39they made a doomsday bunker and it's
0:46:40doomsday how perfect is that and it's
0:46:42open and you can just go in and they got
0:46:44stuff down there and you can you know
0:46:45who knows there's a vending machine with
0:46:47candy Christian give it a shot you never
0:46:50know and what I like that he that he
0:46:52chooses not to do that right because it
0:46:54goes back to what Lisa was saying that
0:46:56this is about somebody you know in one
0:47:00way this is Death with Dignity this is
0:47:01him deciding he's going to go out his
0:47:04you know in a in a civilized fashion and
0:47:07the world is going to not end with a you
0:47:09know just everybody tearing everything
0:47:11apart but it's going to end with sort of
0:47:13family and community and yeah I I don't
0:47:17know you're gonna you're gonna go down
0:47:19with your with your boots on and not
0:47:21cowering in the ground in a hole hoping
0:47:24to eke out a few more months and I like
0:47:28that I like that that's the decision he
0:47:29makes it
0:47:30yeah yeah yeah I'm totally with amen
0:47:34amen
0:47:35barium good job Hank palace
0:47:38good good job well I'm and how how
0:47:41boring would have been if he had stayed
0:47:43in the bunker right that's that's not
0:47:45how it's going to end well that's true
0:47:46right
0:47:47the end and they lived in function for
0:47:49Evan the end
0:47:50yeah i mean really that's when you think
0:47:52about I i would find that a much more
0:47:54depressing endia even if there's some
0:47:56sort of hope that in 15 years he can you
0:47:58know continue on I just that would have
0:48:01horrible existence that probably is i I
0:48:03just I still have thoughts about that
0:48:05poor girl down there all by herself like
0:48:08but that did just going to go insane
0:48:10here it's not okay so-so palace she said
0:48:14I guess you're the last policeman the
0:48:17edge that would not be something that
0:48:21would not be some good i I don't I don't
0:48:23advocate that anything i'm glad that it
0:48:25didn't I I
0:48:26I mean we didn't mention but i really
0:48:28love where he kind of runs the runs the
0:48:31gauntlet a little bit in terms of
0:48:32getting to the Amish farm i really
0:48:34enjoyed that not only doesn't meet that
0:48:35he meets the wacky couple that like
0:48:37naked couple for the RV and then
0:48:40realizes that there is like is it like
0:48:43metal work that's done by the there's
0:48:45the standard concrete work that's not
0:48:47great
0:48:47yeah with a stamp from the Amish guy
0:48:49puts that together and then he goes out
0:48:50to the farm and is basically threatened
0:48:55and told to leave and and with bodily
0:48:58harm and chooses not to and I really
0:49:00like that to that he's hard-headed at
0:49:03that moment he just wants to get this
0:49:04solved and I I'm not a bad guy you know
0:49:07and I I just it's there's some moments
0:49:10that really have stuck with me from this
0:49:11book really if there's ever at you know
0:49:13I've got nothing to lose sort of a time
0:49:15and this is probably it so yeah I I
0:49:18could see myself perhaps being even more
0:49:20hard-headed than normal and and really
0:49:22going for it in that sort of situation
0:49:24because you know he can he keep sort of
0:49:26saying to himself this is no I don't
0:49:28have much time I've got to get this
0:49:30figured out he really needs the
0:49:31policeman he's a detective needs to
0:49:33solve the mystery before it's all over
0:49:34ya mean it really follows through the
0:49:37classic noir troops of you know again
0:49:41the the detective who has to find the
0:49:43truth and and just this sort of streak
0:49:46of nihilism except you know in a Philip
0:49:48Marlowe novel the world isn't literally
0:49:49going to end but here it is
0:49:52but but again you know it's all those
0:49:54troops that the Chandler inhabit were
0:49:56using to exactly yeah these are these
0:49:59are all detective stories and crime
0:50:02stories there's just this whole a whole
0:50:03other layer that mean the darkness of
0:50:05something like like Anwar that might
0:50:08that that might seem like where we where
0:50:10is that coming from I guess it's coming
0:50:12from the souls of corrupt people and
0:50:13things like that it's like here as well
0:50:15you know it's be astrally yeah it's
0:50:17kinda like Raymond Chandler's on the
0:50:19beach
0:50:19yeah there you go wow yeah David does it
0:50:24again
0:50:25yeah Wow trouble so much coffee goes
0:50:28he's done if you if you chose to be be
0:50:31spoiled anyway and still haven't read
0:50:33these books you should read them if you
0:50:34like if you like it that but again as
0:50:36Erica said you should probably be a good
0:50:38place they are they are hot
0:50:40word on where they're easy to read but
0:50:42they they take you on an emotional
0:50:44journey I mean you are journeying
0:50:45through the it's it's it's tough
0:50:50there's tough it's tough stuff and it's
0:50:52a dark place and although it ends on
0:50:54what is about note for a series of books
0:50:58like this it's not that kind of up note
0:51:00if they enter the world of note but it's
0:51:03not that into you know what character
0:51:05comes to rest at an appropriate place
0:51:08yeah it's very satisfying from a
0:51:09narrative perspective from an emotional
0:51:11perspective you will be erect for about
0:51:132,400 please please
0:51:15yeah you'll have full no i don't know if
0:51:18the rest of you have this but I had the
0:51:20what would I do
0:51:22yeah that's why would you read a book
0:51:24about the end of the world and i'll ask
0:51:25yourself what you do at the end of the
0:51:27world that's the Holy yeah and I i found
0:51:29myself at and I'd I didn't get any
0:51:33closer to clarity over the course of
0:51:34three bones I I'm you know and I was I
0:51:36was I was like well I know I wouldn't be
0:51:38like this person or I would not want to
0:51:40do that and then I thought why just
0:51:41don't help
0:51:42well you-you-you we need to find John
0:51:45Syracuse's a mountaintop read i was just
0:51:48gonna say i was just here to have a plan
0:51:50he's gonna pick me up he's always got a
0:51:52plan i was gonna say I'm gonna go go
0:51:54hang out with jen Syracuse and not go
0:51:56anywhere near legacy Black Snow not
0:52:00Alexis house
0:52:01why what is lex plenty and I guess you
0:52:03got us all the BBQ well did you know
0:52:05this was this was were you not on the
0:52:07dogstars now I was no soda
0:52:10well that's what I all well yeah you can
0:52:12listen to that in here loud legs to the
0:52:14lexus pairs for the lives of his
0:52:15children would end would end their in
0:52:17their lives in a gentle way before the
0:52:19zombies come and John Syracuse's like no
0:52:22no I got a plan
0:52:23send your kids to me I'll take care of
0:52:25them will be fine oh my god of the video
0:52:27is your family to be comfortable John
0:52:31Syracuse's got a solid lead he's gonna
0:52:33break down there yeah he's got a plan
0:52:35he's got a plan for all of us just like
0:52:36Jesus that way yeah that's what I was
0:52:40going for that and so thank you I'm just
0:52:44admit you're bringing my imagery into
0:52:46separate longest gospel at the end of
0:52:49the world centerpiece will take care of
0:52:51all of us don't worry in the open
0:52:53basket together oh yes I see into the
0:52:58hypercritical society that is to come
0:53:00you can't pronounce it like that
0:53:03this is the only time we have left her
0:53:05this podcast is not you know like Star
0:53:07yeah so did I you know again you need to
0:53:10be in the right place you need to be
0:53:12willing to take that journey but
0:53:13especially if you like
0:53:15good police story detective stories it
0:53:19uh III I it was not work to go through
0:53:23them it would have left an emotional
0:53:25impact but they were all really really
0:53:27enjoyable fun I don't you again
0:53:31hey they pulled me through it they I I
0:53:35did not want to stop reading at any
0:53:37point in all three books i just wanted
0:53:39to keep reading them so take that for
0:53:40what it's worth that's a but not fun
0:53:43sorry Erica I shouldn't say fun one is
0:53:46the wrong leaves the wrong impression
0:53:48another series that reminds me of is
0:53:50Martin Cruz Smith's books about
0:53:52detective Arcady Renko who starts it as
0:53:56an ascot police detective when he goes
0:53:58through all kinds of horrible jobs that
0:54:00he is forced through after he pursued
0:54:02the truth to it sin and then he winds up
0:54:05being a detective again after the fall
0:54:07of the Soviet Union and then again it's
0:54:10sort of that that nihilistic hopeless
0:54:13kind of existence although again doesn't
0:54:16literally be in the end of the world but
0:54:19it's that same kind of I don't think
0:54:22I've mood
0:54:23the detective alright well you've been
0:54:25you've gotten our recommendations and
0:54:27our warnings now listen to the smiths
0:54:33all reading this Tim yet
0:54:34yes certainly not have have I have a
0:54:37bunch of the dvds of romantic comedies
0:54:39ready to go in order for YouTube clips
0:54:42of the stuff that makes you laugh or
0:54:44whatever your comfort food is not such
0:54:45all ready to go watch love actually yeah
0:54:48so Erica not season 8 of Doctor Who that
0:54:51right no have some some anyway before we
0:54:57go I like to go around and ask people
0:54:59what are you reading is there a book
0:55:01that you've read lately or that you're
0:55:03really that
0:55:04no that you just finished that you would
0:55:06like to or again you could be recently
0:55:09that you'd like to recommend or mention
0:55:11that you you read this is a good time to
0:55:13do that because this is the time where
0:55:14I'm going to ask you that David what are
0:55:15you reading
0:55:16well I'm since I'm in writing mode right
0:55:19now I'm all nonfiction because if i
0:55:22start reading fiction i will start just
0:55:25done consciously picking up the style of
0:55:28whatever i'm reading and that's not a
0:55:29good thing so i just finished a book
0:55:32called when Magoo flew the history of
0:55:35the UPA animation studio where they did
0:55:38mr. Magoo and Gerald blowing blowing but
0:55:41they also did some brilliant standalone
0:55:43like adaptations of james thurber and
0:55:46Edgar Allan Poe and a lot of the graphic
0:55:51work they did his influence advertising
0:55:54and animation since then so it's really
0:55:57fascinating book and then it's there was
0:55:59sort of an idyllic studio that just sort
0:56:02of fell apart when when push came to
0:56:05shove but it's it's a really interesting
0:56:07story and then i went from that into yes
0:56:11please by Amy Poehler because Amy
0:56:13Poehler Erica what are you reading
0:56:16well I i need some comfort reading
0:56:19actually if you're going back so i
0:56:21reread one of my favorite probably my
0:56:25favorite Sarah Addison Ellen books and i
0:56:27think i mentioned her on the last book
0:56:29club the first book I ever read by her
0:56:31was called the sugar queen and it's a
0:56:33it's about a young girl who
0:56:35well she's actually not that young just
0:56:36like 27 but she is very very sheltered
0:56:39and her mother has been drinking
0:56:42sheltering her on purpose because she
0:56:44just wanted to take care of her and and
0:56:46she eats a lot and she's up a heroine a
0:56:49main character who is is buried
0:56:53basically overweight and they don't make
0:56:54a big deal about it in the book but it
0:56:56is it is one of the attributes of her
0:56:59and she comes home one day to find a one
0:57:02of these sort of tawdry women in town
0:57:03hiding in her closet and blackmails her
0:57:06because she finds her secret stash of
0:57:07candy in the back of this closet and the
0:57:11head says you need to let me hide here
0:57:12i'm gonna tell everybody about about
0:57:14this and then it's a very sort of
0:57:16heartwarming
0:57:17re over the course of it that this girl
0:57:20gets helped by the more worldly woman
0:57:23and and there's that there's a little
0:57:25bit of supernatural stuff going on which
0:57:27would i would ruin the book if I if I
0:57:29explain it in case anybody wants to read
0:57:31it so i had to read that again to kind
0:57:34of calm myself and make myself happy and
0:57:36then the other thing I've been reading
0:57:37is the first issue of uncanny magazine
0:57:40which is a new magazine of short fiction
0:57:43and interviews and and essays and stuff
0:57:47that I am producing the podcast
0:57:49co-producing with with my husband
0:57:52Stephen co-producing the podcast for so
0:57:54I got a free subscription
0:57:57yeah yeah I saw you tweeting about that
0:58:00today I have a Kickstarter subscription
0:58:02for that so yeah I think I actually did
0:58:04it actually did kick in money on
0:58:05Kickstarter so technically it wasn't
0:58:07free but will work for subscription but
0:58:09I've been really enjoying it
0:58:11there are some excellent excellent
0:58:12stories in there and I'm fine I've
0:58:15really been enjoying I'm still not quite
0:58:17all the way through the first one
0:58:18because I've been so busy but I'm
0:58:19getting there and I'm loving it right
0:58:22Lisa what are you reading I just
0:58:24finished station 11 and I can't shut up
0:58:26about it
0:58:26by Emily st. John mandal and I really
0:58:31hope we do in a comfortable book about
0:58:33this soon because yeah that's going to
0:58:35be on the agenda for for january it is
0:58:37basically do remember how during the
0:58:39stand podcast we were like well how
0:58:41would this work in an era of the
0:58:42internet
0:58:44oh and this book we're not quite sure
0:58:45well this book basically answers that
0:58:47question
0:58:48uh-huh and it's wonderful and lyrical
0:58:51and there are that there there's a
0:58:56there's a there's an indie comics plot
0:58:58line that runs through it as well as the
0:59:00as well as a fluid devastates into the
0:59:01world
0:59:02it's beautiful and again I can't stop
0:59:06thinking about it the other things I've
0:59:08been reading i'm a huge harry s temper
0:59:11fan and I don't think she gets enough
0:59:14credit in sci-fi circles and i finished
0:59:16her most recent novel which is fish
0:59:18tales which is about preparing for in
0:59:21the coming environmental apocalypse
0:59:23ok on and along those lines I am
0:59:27currently i'm also reading slow
0:59:28apocalypse by John Varley
0:59:30haha it's looking at once inserted some
0:59:32sort of romantic story here but pepper
0:59:35and pepper and barley or both longtime
0:59:37favorites of mine i am more engaged in
0:59:41their older work but i have not yet
0:59:43figured out whether it's because I was a
0:59:45younger reader than and it was easier to
0:59:48fall into books and not climb out or if
0:59:53you know it's it's it's old but on old
0:59:55reader means an old author and there's a
0:59:57lot of baggage on both ends I don't know
0:59:58but I'm
0:59:58but I'm
1:00:00hopeful that the that barleys book slow
1:00:02apocalipsis is a return to form because
1:00:04he kind of veered off track with his
1:00:05mark series and i'm also reading william
1:00:09gibson's the peripherals in fit the
1:00:11peripheral fits and starts
1:00:13well the thing about Gibson is if I have
1:00:14like six hours and a head cold it's
1:00:17really really fun because you know you
1:00:19just like take a lot of sudafed and it
1:00:23lets you fall right into his prose style
1:00:25because these protocells is
1:00:26simultaneously spare and overheated
1:00:29so you know reading so to me totally
1:00:32he's kind of equivalent of like that
1:00:34that out of that that out of your head
1:00:36feeling that you get the first you have
1:00:37a really bad cold so I like to read and
1:00:39what I'm sit just because i had this way
1:00:41like what I'm feeling in my head matches
1:00:43up with anything on the screen so
1:00:45station eleven Scott multi the mentioned
1:00:48at the beginning helping his mom good
1:00:50son etc etc he all he said that station
1:00:5411 is I believe his favorite book of the
1:00:56year will have to check in with him its
1:00:59center on their end episode to make sure
1:01:01but yeah everybody likes it and I've got
1:01:04it in the queue but I haven't I haven't
1:01:05read it yet i'm currently reading
1:01:08ancillary sword by unlucky the sequel to
1:01:10Angela ancillary justice about
1:01:12two-thirds of the way through it love it
1:01:14another good one and I i finished the
1:01:18madness of angels which I mentioned on
1:01:19the previous podcast the the London
1:01:22urban fantasy podcast that i was reading
1:01:24I did finish that that was very long it
1:01:26was good but it was so long very long so
1:01:29I'm not going to come back to that
1:01:30series for a while I think and the book
1:01:32that I finished is the peripheral by
1:01:35william gibson which starts it is what
1:01:39may be the most confused I've been in
1:01:41the science-fiction book in a long time
1:01:43where it starts where I like I'm not
1:01:45sure who these people are or what
1:01:47they're doing or what I'm supposedly
1:01:49seeing and then there's a moment for me
1:01:51there's a moment I don't know it i read
1:01:55on my Kindle so I'm gonna say like
1:01:56fifteen percent of the way through
1:01:57fifteen twenty percent of the way
1:01:59through where I'm like oh and at that
1:02:01point it was a you know it was
1:02:04delightful actually the rest of the way
1:02:05through it is a very strange book with a
1:02:07very strange premise
1:02:10yes it's so we
1:02:12and I'm not sure I'm not sure I like how
1:02:15it ends only because i'm not quite sure
1:02:17I kind of felt like he just said ok
1:02:20that's enough
1:02:21show's over everybody and then and then
1:02:23the end of the story was hoping I ok
1:02:25because I can I read it was like oh yeah
1:02:28okay that was a lot of fun that was a
1:02:29fun ride and then the next day I was
1:02:31thinking about wait how does it end
1:02:33that's what you know and it's not like
1:02:35it ends like to be continued to
1:02:36something it's more like really okay
1:02:38that was I guess that was the end he
1:02:41wanted it in strangely i guess i would
1:02:44say but I i found it so enjoyable to go
1:02:46from being completely baffled about what
1:02:49I was reading to getting it and then
1:02:51taking sort of delight in the weird
1:02:53alternate futures that we see and that's
1:02:57a little hint
1:02:58there's two timelines that are
1:03:00intersecting and various it's so bizarre
1:03:03I'll stock up on the city Feathersword
1:03:05oh yeah you mean you said you may need
1:03:07some extra extra nyquil to defense
1:03:12oh my god that were just right but
1:03:14anyway I Indian I didn't do it overall
1:03:16does not endorse robotripping before six
1:03:19seven but but uh you know except for
1:03:21wave gets it apparently but anyway
1:03:22wherever I i enjoyed reading it and then
1:03:26afterward I was like what was that which
1:03:29is kind of funny but it was it was fun
1:03:31to read it so yeah that's what i'm
1:03:33reading and that means we've reached the
1:03:34end
1:03:35mhm that's a podcast we did a podcast we
1:03:37talk about books i like talking about
1:03:39books we should do we should do state
1:03:41station eleven i think we're gonna have
1:03:42to do that
1:03:43yeah oh my god will America just opt out
1:03:47yeah it's a find a happier book
1:03:50why do we keep reading these apocalypse
1:03:52books I don't all of my friends to read
1:03:54this book club quality books and went
1:03:55crazy over Donna Tartt and all that all
1:03:57of them are just hysterical with joy
1:04:00over station eleven as well it really is
1:04:02one of these books that works across
1:04:03multiple audiences it so it's on all the
1:04:0610 best books of the year list that I've
1:04:08seen coming out
1:04:09it's definitely it's it's a it's a site
1:04:13guy stewie kind of I've wanted white
1:04:15look so far was the first know the first
1:04:17time I went straight through and then
1:04:18the second time I went back because its
1:04:20nonlinear so the first time I read it
1:04:22through and then the second time I went
1:04:24back because i read i have it on my
1:04:26kindle
1:04:26second time I went back and picked apart
1:04:27certain plot threads to see how well
1:04:29they hung together and how well they
1:04:31spin out individually and that and
1:04:33rereading it the second time just maybe
1:04:35like it more good son yeah it's oh my
1:04:38god is amazing
1:04:39alright so stay tuned for that in
1:04:41January but that at that wraps up this
1:04:44edition of the incomparable book club
1:04:46Scott thank you for not participating I
1:04:50don't know thank you for thank you for
1:04:52moving your mom is what I think you're
1:04:54being your good something my crew that
1:04:56we thank you for the lower thanks for
1:05:00being here thank you i will see you all
1:05:01at Syracuse's yeah we will
1:05:04yes yeah next next year and Syracuse's
1:05:08mountaintop read out the spider thank
1:05:10you for being here thank you hope I'm
1:05:13invited to syracuse yes sure
1:05:15come on along and eric and sign you can
1:05:18go days John Syracuse's or his Canadian
1:05:20equivalent if you prefer
1:05:22thank you for being here thank you for
1:05:24having me and everybody out there thanks
1:05:27for listing the world despite what
1:05:29you've heard will continue so we'll see
1:05:32you next week
1:05:39[Music]