Apocalypse Now, Voyager (2004)

Introduction by Paul McAuley

Afterword by Jay Russell

Art by J.K. Potter

SYNOPSIS: Los Angeles. Criminy. He's still only in Los Angeles.

Marty Burns - once-upon-a-time child star, occasional detective, eternal wise-ass and grudging voyager into the weirdest nooks and crannies of the Great Googly-Moogly - is back on the supernatural beat. With a full moon above him and a naked lady below, accompanied by a man who thinks he is a dog and a woman of great power who is nuttier than an elephant's
breath, Marty embarks on a savage journey up the Los Angeles River without a paddle. It's okay, though: the river is dry.

But, lordy mama, there's a mighty storm a'coming.

Lost Boys, hairy girls, centuries-old shamans, cigar store Indians, birthday bikers, and a baby with very big teeth are just some of the perils Marty will have to survive as he and his companions wend their way into the heart of darkness and the darkness of the heart. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll thank all that's holy and otherwise that you don't live in L.A.

And you'll never get out of the freakin' boat.

An original novella by Jay Russell, with an Introduction by Paul McAuley, an Afterword by Russell, and art by J. K. Potter.

Available in two states:

"Outrageously funny and genuinely touching, it's worth looking for."
— Paula Guran, CINEFANTASTIQUE

"Welcome to the demented romanticism of Marty Burns' Hollywood. This time out, Marty gets caught up in the weirdest boat ride since Willard went upriver to do lunch with Col. Kurtz. Genuinely laugh-out-loud funny."
— The Alien Online

"Starts out weird and goes from there. Fans of Lucius Shephard or F. Paul Wilson (Repairman Jack) should find it engaging. The whole thing kind of gets under your skin, but that's a good thing."
— SFRevu.com

"Wow! Jay Russell's new Hollywood mini-epic is a bleakly comic blend of romance and dark weirdness about which one can imagine Bette Davis, Nathaniel West, Col. Kurtz, and Dave Eggers sitting around a trash-can bonfire arguing, laughing, and knocking back shots of cheap cognac. Russell's got a top-of-the-line sensibility for both art and entertainment that duplicates no one else in modern literature. He's a national treasure - no matter which nation he calls home!"
— Ed Bryant

"Jay Russell's APOCALYPSE NOW, VOYAGER is a surreal, acid-trip nightmare, a roller-coaster ride through a gritty urban Hell populated by dog-men and street-dwelling soothsayers and dark worlds beyond the one we know. Like Joe R. Lansdale after a bag o' 'shrooms and a really bad night in the big city, this is the type of story that will get under your skin, it
might just keep you awake at night . . . yet at the same time you'll find yourself laughing throughout it all. Don't miss Russell's latest 'Marty Burns' adventure! I'm glad I didn't."
— James Newman

"Jay Russell is horror's finest comic stylist. Funny, touching, and weird. And so is his work. Make sure you've got time to finish APOCALYPSE NOW, VOYAGER in one sitting, because you will *not* be putting it down."
— Michael Marshall Smith

"A new chapter in the life of Marty Burns is always good news, and this one is a superlative addition to the canon. It may not be a novel, but it still packs in a novel's worth of invention, mystery, satire, and humor. Drawing on one of the all-time great films for his model, Russell sends our Marty on an only-in-L.A. trip upriver that leads straight into love's heart of darkness, full of great characters, countless forms of weirdness, and the most irresistible first line I've come across in maybe forever."
— Brian Hodge

"Marty Burns is back in an outlandish tale of love, courage, and canine and feline strangeness. Hilarious, surprising, and ultimately uplifting."
— Tim Lebbon

"You know something is working right in the universe when Joe Santos gets a semi-regular role on The Sopranos and there's a new Jay Russell-Marty Burns out there... that it's as good as APOCALYPSE NOW, VOYAGER is pretty much proof that reality ought to be recommissioned for another series."
— Kim Newman

"Jay Russell's new book is a fantastical quest through a mythical Los Angeles in search of redemption, resurrection, and love — the holy grails of any truly memorable epic — herewith bundled into a tight, exceptionally well-written novella. Count on Earthling to continue bringing us original, thought-provoking material."
— Brian A. Hopkins

"Bikers, babes, and a trans-specied dog boy... Ex-Hollywood heart-throb Marty Burns goes down streets that most heroes don't even know exist and he travels with style, balls, and some very weird friends. His creator, Jay Russell, is a writer I've long admired."
— Jon Courtenay Grimwood

"Russell is a major new talent."
— Paul McAuley