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Patricia Anthony

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Happy Policeman Kindle Edition

by Patricia Anthony (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

3.3 6 ratings

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A story of aliens, adultery,
and one bitter lawman ...

Six years ago, the world ended. But in Coomey, Texas, life goes on. The alien Torku keep things moving with gasoline, VCRs, Twinkies, and cryptic advice. But after six years of living within the confines of the Line—the paisley barrier erected by the Torku—even a small town can go stir-crazy.

Crazy enough to covet.
Crazy enough to kill.

Praise for Patricia Anthony

“Her ability to capture the eeriness of alien civilization while simultaneously exploring the foibles of human society mark her as one of the genre’s premier authors.”
—Library Journal

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Anthony's fourth novel (after Cold Allies) details a half year in the life of DeWitt Dawson, the 40-ish police chief of Coomey, Tex. Though a one-stoplight town, Coomey is remarkable because, for six years, it's been circled by "the Line"-a paisley band of light that blocks all light, heat, broadcast waves, people, animals and objects from entering or leaving town. Local opinion has it that a nuclear holocaust has wiped out the rest of Texas (and maybe the world) but that Coomey has been spared by the intervention of the Torku, diminutive English-speaking, Zen-preaching aliens from outer space. Only the Torku can cross the Line, which they do daily, in UPS trucks bearing enough groceries, gasoline, VCRs and Mary Kay cosmetics to keep the town civilized. Projected onto this wild whimsy are a thin murder mystery-two children are missing and their mom is found dead in the woods-and a more substantial domestic drama involving Dawson, his wife, their teenaged daughter, Dawson's homely but wholesome mistress and a sociopathic deputy sheriff. While investigating the murder, Dawson learns much about the mutability of family and societal relationships and his own capacity for physical and emotional violence. The climax of his personal story-when the alleged murderer must be tried and executed (or lynched) by a community that knows him intimately-coincides with the disappearance of the aliens and the town's reintegration into the world. As a sociological parable, this novel is a touch glib, but Anthony's sure pacing and character development make it enjoyable and rewarding nonetheless.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Inside the paisley barrier that separates the town of Coomey, Texas, from the rest of the world, life goes on as usual. The Torku, alien saviors of the town, supply the citizens' every need, while the locals count themselves lucky to have survived the nuclear holocaust that ended life on Earth. When Loretta Harper's mutilated body is discovered in the woods, however, and police chief DeWitt Dawson takes it upon himself to investigate, the fragile tranquility of Earth's last community begins to dissolve. Anthony (Cold Allies, LJ 12/92) consistently demonstrates her genius for innovation. Her ability to capture the eeriness of alien civilization while simultaneously exploring the foibles of human society marks her as one of the genre's premier authors. A priority purchase.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Six years ago, under the pretext of saving part of humanity from global nuclear destruction, the town of Coomey was sealed off from the outside world by benevolent aliens known as the Torku. While the townspeople did their best to resume life as usual, the Torku provided them, through unfathomable methods of materialization, with all the necessary food and clothing. Now, for the first time since the Torku's arrival, a local woman is found murdered, leaving Coomey's police chief, DeWitt Dawson, the unpleasant task of pursuing evidence indicating the victim met her end by nonhuman means. As DeWitt questions the annoyingly obtuse but canny Torku, a larger mystery is probed about the real nature of the universe and the world outside Coomey. Compared to her critically acclaimed first three novels, Anthony's latest is somewhat disappointing, a reiteration of alien first contact themes already explored in the earlier books. Anthony once again establishes herself as a master of character and dialogue, however, who grounds improbable ideas in credible and occasionally humorous human misadventures. Carl Hays

From Kirkus Reviews

Another existential, aliens-among-us oddity from the author of Conscience of the Beagle (1993). Six years ago, on Bomb Day, the inhabitants of Coomey, Tex., found themselves cut off from the rest of the universe by an impenetrable yet radiant barrier, the Line, beyond which lay, perhaps, only a post-nuclear desolation. For all those years, the Torku, humanoid aliens with malleable flesh, have provided Coomey with everything needful, right down to brand-name consumer goods, and police chief DeWitt Dawson has dutifully cooperated with Seresen, the Torku leader. But now the town's plump Mary Kay rep, Loretta Harper, turns up murdered, and Dewitt uneasily ponders the list of suspects: Hubert Foster, once the town's banker, now a pot-smoking bohemian; the inscrutable Seresen, denounced by angry townsfolk; Billy, the dead woman's violent estranged husband; even Dewitt's wife, Janet, whom he suspects of having an affair. Slowly, the policeman realizes that the Torku are trying to teach him lessons about the imaginary nature of time and about multiple realities whose boundaries diffuse and mingle. Thoughtful, impressive work, though it is far from certain precisely what philosophical points Anthony wishes to make here. Consequently, the impact is markedly less than that of her splendid previous novels. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Patricia Anthony is the highly acclaimed author of Cold Allies (winner of the Locus Award for Best First Novel), Brother Termite (motion picture option to James Cameron), Conscience of the Beagle, Happy Policeman, and Cradle of Splendor. She lives in Texas.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B009K7ZM7K
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Event Horizon EBooks/Event Horizon Publishing Group; 1st e-book edition (September 27, 2012)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 27, 2012
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 1602 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 211 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #3,042,177 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #107,785 in Science Fiction (Kindle Store)
- #220,301 in Science Fiction (Books)

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3.3 6 ratings

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Patricia Anthony

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Patricia Marie Anthony (March 29, 1947 – July 2, 2013) was an American fiction and specualtive fiction author. She lived in Portugal and Brazil during the 1970s and later drew upon that experience for several of her novels. She taught creative writing at SMU in Dallas, Texas in the late 1990's and led a weekly writers' group at her home.

She published for Harcourt Brace and Ace throughout the 1990s, with novels such as BROTHER TERMITE (which was optioned by film producer James Cameron), COLD ALLIES, GOD'S FIRES, FLANDERS (recently voted as one of the top war novels of all time), HAPPY POLICEMAN, CRADLE OF SPLENDOR and CONSCIENCE OF THE BEAGLE. Her short fiction appeared in a number of magazines, including Aboriginal SF, Weird Tales, and many others, and Ace also issued a collection of her short fiction called EATING MEMORIES.

Her last published novel, FLANDERS, was named a New York Times Notable Book. The American Library Association chose FLANDERS as one of its 5 recommended books of the year in 1999 (the list included fiction, non-fiction and biography).

Patricia Anthony has several unpublished novels that are currently being reviewed for publication.

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B5Anteros

Again!

Reviewed in the United States on March 25, 2007

Verified Purchase

She's done it to me again. Kept me hooked throughout the book and then... weird ending.

Just like "God's Fires", "Cold Allies", "Brother Termite," which I actually finished after this one, and now The "Happy Policeman."

This book reads like an episode of The "Outer Limits" on steroids. It's usually my cup of tea when it comes to science fiction. And for most of the book, it is! The thing is that when I read this type of story I expect a payback for all my time expended!

Sigh... Oh well. At least she's a fantastic writer. Do I recommend the book? Yes, but with the reservation I've mentioned. Perhaps I just don't get it and it's possible you will.

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Pamela Lea Mount

Book Club Choice

Reviewed in the United States on September 6, 2018

Verified Purchase

I made it through. Parts were interesting but overall not overly thrilled with the choice. The electronic version I read contained many typos and misspellings.

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erikjwaxx

An excellent and intelligent read

Reviewed in the United States on October 11, 2003

This is a good book to read in bed for entertainment on the surface, but it's also an excellent commentary on human xenophobic nature. It's been a while since I read it, so I really can't offer more, but it is a quite multi-layered book that I recommend to both the casual and deep reader.

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David Myers

her most underrated book

Reviewed in the United States on April 2, 2001

Patricia Anthony is underrated in general, but this is her most overlooked book. Too bad, because it's THAT GOOD. Although the premise is a simple twist on an old ghost town of sorts, it is sci-fi/specu-fic at its best.

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Chris W.

More appropriately, Mr. Happy Policeman

Reviewed in the United States on January 18, 2005

The cover makes you think it's a good book.

I could have sworn a man wrote this phallically oriented dreck. The thing I remember the most about this story is the Doctor Who reference and that embarassingly bad section about the "greptusian(whatever the heck those aliens were called) handshake," a term the author invented to describe oral intercourse. Ick.

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