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A review by jennjuniper
Apocalypse Now Now by Charlie Human
5.0
Baxter Zevcenko is your average, Holden-Caulfield-esque sixteen-year-old: he's suffering from oddly realistic nightmares of the Boer wars, lying to his psychiatrist, and running a successful porn syndicate out of his high school. Well, perhaps not so average. And that's even before his Ramona Flowers of a girlfriend is kidnapped, he's accused of being a serial killer, and the gang wars at his school take a turn for the heavily armed. A little casual violence and one alcoholic magical bounty hunter later, and Baxter is plunged into the supernatural underworld of Cape Town in this deliciously dark adventure that screams through past, present and future with all the finesse of a corkscrewing rollercoaster.
Apocalypse Now Now is slick, laugh-out-loud funny, and just scary enough to make turning out the lights at bedtime disquieting (maybe don't stay up 'til one a.m. finishing it like I did). Baxter makes for a fabulous antihero with a distinctive and marvellously caustic voice, the perfect guide to drag you through the messy, terrifying and increasingly nonsensical supernatural world he's uncovered. Populated with a creative cast of disparate characters - zombie pornstars, arachnid queens, transsexual valkyries, chainsaw-wielding pirates, corporate warlocks and more - this is a gory, disturbing and clever alternate reality that pulls you in and then refuses to let you go. Full of twists, pitch-black humour and plenty of bloodshed, think Ben Aaronovitch without any sort of law or perhaps Vernon God Little with demons. I absolutely loved this and unreservedly recommend it, though I am not responsible for any night lights you may have to leave on!
Apocalypse Now Now is slick, laugh-out-loud funny, and just scary enough to make turning out the lights at bedtime disquieting (maybe don't stay up 'til one a.m. finishing it like I did). Baxter makes for a fabulous antihero with a distinctive and marvellously caustic voice, the perfect guide to drag you through the messy, terrifying and increasingly nonsensical supernatural world he's uncovered. Populated with a creative cast of disparate characters - zombie pornstars, arachnid queens, transsexual valkyries, chainsaw-wielding pirates, corporate warlocks and more - this is a gory, disturbing and clever alternate reality that pulls you in and then refuses to let you go. Full of twists, pitch-black humour and plenty of bloodshed, think Ben Aaronovitch without any sort of law or perhaps Vernon God Little with demons. I absolutely loved this and unreservedly recommend it, though I am not responsible for any night lights you may have to leave on!