Tomorrow, Charlie Human‘s mind-bending, gonzo debut urban fantasy novel, APOCALYPSE NOW NOW, is released in Japan. Published by Tokyo Sogensha as 鋼鉄の黙示録, here’s the Japanese synopsis, followed by the English-language synopsis…

ケープタウンに住む高校生のバクスターは失踪した恋人を探すうちに、超常現象専門の賞金稼ぎローニンと出会う。どうやら恋人は、この街に実在する異形の怪物たちにさらわれたらしい。しかも事件にはバクスターの血筋に連なる異能者や、政府の秘密諜報機関までもが関わっているという。調査を進めるバクスターたちの行く先々で、銃弾と呪術が乱れ飛び、ゾンビやロボットが大暴れ……　イギリスＳＦ界を騒然とさせたデビュー作！

I love the smell of parallel dimensions in the morning…

Baxter Zevcenko’s life is pretty sweet. As the 16-year-old kingpin of the Spider, his smut-peddling schoolyard syndicate, he’s making a name for himself as an up-and-coming entrepreneur. Profits are on the rise, the other gangs are staying out of his business, and he’s going out with Esme, the girl of his dreams. 

But when Esme gets kidnapped, and all the clues point towards strange forces at work, things start to get seriously weird. The only man drunk enough to help is a bearded, booze-soaked, supernatural bounty hunter that goes by the name of Jackson ‘Jackie’ Ronin.

Plunged into the increasingly bizarre landscape of Cape Town’s supernatural underworld, Baxter and Ronin team up to save Esme. On a journey that takes them through the realms of impossibility, they must face every conceivable nightmare to get her back, including the odd brush with the Apocalypse.

APOCALYPSE NOW NOW is published in the UK by Century Books; South Africa by Umuzi/Random Struik; and is due to be published in the US by Titan Books soon (cover reveal next week). The sequel, KILL BAXTER, is also published or due to be published by the same publishers.

Here’s just a small selection of the incredible reviews APOCALYPSE NOW NOW has received…

‘It’s mad, dark, irreverent and wonderfully twisted in all the right ways.’ — Lauren Beukes, author of The Shining Girls

‘Brilliantly entertaining.’ — British Fantasy Society

‘… a riot – a firebomb of a novel, exploding with sick humour, violence and depravity… it’s never less than very funny, and the ongoing question of Baxter’s sanity adds a degree of mystery. There’s warmth here, too – you’ll likely feel sympathy for Bax by the end.’ — SFX Magazine

‘Think Lauren Beukes meets Neil Gaiman, with bounty hunters.’ — Wired (UK)