Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse

• Genre: PostApoc
• Published: 2008
• Author: Victor Gischler
• Pages: 324 pages
• Paperback ISBN#: 978-1-4165-5225-3
• Reviewed by: CyberPunkFuture on 23 Oct 2008, posted Tue 18 Nov 08

Official Blurb:
Mortimer Tate was a recently divorced insurance salesman when he holed up in a cave on top of a mountain in Tennessee and rode out the end of the world. Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse begins nine years later, when he emerges into a bizarre landscape filled with hollow reminders of an America that no longer exists. The highways are lined with abandoned automobiles; electricity is generated by indentured servants pedaling stationary bicycles. What little civilization remains revolves around Joey Armageddon's Sassy A-Go-Go strip clubs, where the beer is cold, the lap dancers are hot, and the bouncers are armed with M16s.

Review:
The end of the world has come, not with a catastrophic bang, but with a series of small disasters that just snowball until civilization collapses. The story follows Mortimer Tate, who rode out the apocalypse in relative comfort in a mountain cabin/cave, stocked with all the food, booze, and porn a man needs to survive.

When three hunters come through his woods one day, he decides that it's probably time to head out and see what has become of the world and perhaps see if his ex-wife still lives. He's thrown immediately into your typical savage and unrecognizable post-apoc world, and he fights to adjust to this new setting. He discovers that one of the few bastions of 'civilization' remaining are Joey Armageddon's Sassy A-Go-Go strip clubs, which function as nightclubs, safe havens, town halls, and trading posts all in one. Learning that his ex lived and worked at a nearby Joey's, but was moved to a different location, he sets out to try to find her.

He meets an array of sometimes dangerous and almost always bizarre people along the way. He ends up at the numero uno Joey's, and learns that his ex-wife was captured by an enormous gang out of the ruins of Atlanta called the Red Stripes, and that these Red Stripes threaten to bring what's left of the world down in chaos. Thrust into the hero role, partly out of need, partly out of just-don't-give-a-damn-anymore, he ventures into Atlanta to destroy the Red Stripes, save his ex, and find peace in the craziness of the Apocalypse.

What I liked:
- I liked the odd treatment of a normally very serious and dark subject matter. Instead of your typical kill-or-be killed Bartertowns, you get nightclubs and cabarets. You get soccer-mom cannibals. Instead of armored muscle cars ala Road Warrior, you have armored Prius's and Mini-Cooper's because they're more gas efficient. It's all the horrific fun of post-apoc but with strange little twists.
- I also liked the idea that the end of the world came as a series of small disasters rather than one big boom. With today's current events, it hits a little closer to home and draws you in since this is something that could really happen.

What I didn't like:
- Nothing comes to mind.

Final Scoring:

Personal Recommendation: A very easy read, and worth checking out.

Availablity:
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