Charlie Human (Umuzi)
In Apocalypse Now Now, we discover from the opening chapter that Baxter Zevcenko is, to put it mildly, not a very nice boy. At 16, he is already a porn-peddling kingpin involved with school gangs, and he’s quite unapologetic about his calling in life. In his mind, everything’s perfect. He has enough cash, he’s manipulating others to do what he wants them to, and he has a hot girlfriend, Esmé.
Of course, this is where everything starts to go south. It begins with the threat of a serial killer and gets personal when Esmé goes missing, presumed kidnapped by the killer.
Baxter’s only clue is a mysterious, glowing tooth found in Esmé’s room.
What follows is Baxter’s descent into Cape Town’s supernatural underground. Everything he thought he knew is overturned.
Fortunately, he’s not alone as he teams up with a mystical former special forces bounty hunter, Jackson Ronin.
Their quest sees them tangling with elemental spirits and zombies, and Baxter gradually realises he stands at the centre of an age-old conflict between a mantis and an octopus god – shades of HP Lovecraft?
Baxter is not the hero we asked for, but he’s the only one who’s going to take the blame for averting an impending apocalypse – a task for which no one will thank him because of what he has to do to come out on top.
Apocalypse Now Now is a gritty, action-packed quest that playfully subverts many of the tropes we encounter in popular urban fantasy, from zombies to dwarves, and generous lashings of local flavour when we encounter creatures such as a springbok faun and tokoloshes.
It’s easy to see where the “Tarantino meets Neil Gaiman” applies, but I couldn’t quite help thinking of fun films like Men in Black. In a similar fashion, Apocalypse Now Now doesn’t take itself too seriously.
With that in mind, if you’re looking for a madcap romp filled with plenty of pop culture references and sometimes dizzying plot reversals, you’ll likely enjoy sinking your teeth into this one.
Though you may want to sit down and catch your breath afterwards. It’s a helluva ride.