Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse by Victor Gischler

Nine people attended this discussion at A. T.’s house.  Our topic was Go-Girl Girls of the Apocalypse, the first speculative fiction novel by established mystery writer Victor Gischler. One of us had read Gischler’s work before. All of us started the book, and six finished it.

We thought this book had several clever ideas about what might happen after society falls. One reader felt the lap dances and beer drinking at the end of the world were believable. Another liked the names for generic liquor. Several of us liked the scenes of Prius racing in the mountains. The franchise apocalypse stores were entertaining. And most of us were amused by the references to Jane Fonda and Ted Turner.

We all thought the author’s prose style was easy to read. One member said she plans to read Gischler’s mysteries because she liked the style so much. Another complained that the book was written at too young of a reading level.

There were complaints.  One person did not believe this book’s scenario where people ran out of bullets before condoms in rural Tennessee. Others felt the ending was too downbeat.  And many of us felt this story compared unfavorably to earlier books and movies that handled similar material, including Through Darkest America, Postman, and Mad Max.

At the end of the meeting, two members of the group compared their recently-acquired Kindles. Afterward, several of us had a nice dinner at Mongolian Grille.
—A. T. Campbell, III