A pop culture Book of the Dead, Apocalypsing begins with David, a freshly deceased ghost, who is more self-conscious about his looks rather than upset about being dead. If he knew he was going to die he would have worked out more and dressed up first. This nonchalant humor sets the tone for a journey that playfully suggests that death may not be relief from life, but at least there is comic relief. Bobby Kennedy appears to David to give orientation, a Virgil to David’s Dante.
A clever plot mixes contemporary physics with theology to create a fresh vision of the beyond weaving through the battle of good and evil, some political satire, the perils of dating in the afterlife, David witnessing his own funeral, being beholden to his ex even as a ghost, that reuniting with long lost relatives is as awkward as it was on Earth, friendly aliens, eventually culminating in a show-down for all existence.
The dialogue in Apocalypsing is popcorned with mass media references which some readers may need Wikipedia at hand in order to navigate this Bardo. However, pop culture junkies will rejoice in the light approach to serious subjects like a Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy for the Information Age. Hilariously there’s an Anti-Hell where an evil doer may be surrounded by happy people in perpetuity. Perhaps like a Pharaoh armed with his Earthly possessions in his tomb before entering the next realm, there’s a subtle warning that what we fill our brains with in this world will play on repeat in eternity. You might as well dwell on all the things you love. Ultimately, Apocalypsing is a love story.
—Westley Heine, author of Busking Blues: Recollections of a Chicago Street Musician & Squatter
APOCALYPSING is available for pre-order at https://www.magicaljeep.com/product/apocalypsing/177
