Apocalypse Now Now by Charlie Human
Publication: Titan Books, April 2015
The book was previously published in South Africa and the UK, but the US edition was published in April 2015, making the work eligible for the 2016 Hugos under the rule granting an additional year of eligibility to works when they are first published in the US.
Publisher's description: Baxter Zevcenko’s life is pretty sweet. He’s making a name for himself as the kingpin of his smut-peddling high-school syndicate, the other gangs are staying out of his business, and he’s dating the girl of his dreams, Esme.
But when Esme gets kidnapped, things start to get seriously weird, and 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.