Godspeed

by Will Christopher Baer

There is no heaven or hell. There is only the next world, a lawless purgatory called “the Presidio.” Populated by the dead, the undead, angels, monsters, and immortals, the Presidio is located a heartbeat away from this world — for those who know how to get there.

Ryder Fell, a kindhearted thief cursed with visions of the future, is contracted to kidnap Polly Lee James, a sweet sixteen-year-old orphan who is not what she seems. Polly is an exile from the Presidio, and her kidnapping will take Ryder on a collision course with the twisted denizens of purgatory.

Set alternately in modern-day California and the gothic underworld of the Presidio, Godspeed is equal parts dark fantasy and sinister noir, a Paradise Lost for a new generation.

Genres: Pulp, Novels

250 pages, Hardcover

First published November 16, 2007

About the author

Will Christopher Baer is an American author of noir fiction, often delving into sex, violence, mystery and erotica. Currently published works include Kiss Me, Judas, Penny Dreadful and Hell's Half Acre, all of which have since been published in the single volume Phineas Poe. His long-awaited fourth novel, Godspeed, was originally set to be published in 2006, but saw several delays before publisher MacAdam/Cage finally announced a release date of July 2009. The novel has since been delayed indefinitely. He shares a fan base with fellow authors Craig Clevenger and Stephen Graham Jones.

Born in Mississippi in 1966. As a child, he lived in Montreal and Italy. He attended highschool in Memphis, TN and moved on to attend Tulane University in New Orleans, LA but he soon dropped out. However, he received a B.A. at Memphis State. He then headed west in 1990 and lived in Portland & Eugene Oregon for several years. He received an MFA in 1995 from Jack Kerouac School at Naropa Institute in Boulder, CO. He has lived in California since 1996, primarily in the Bay Area and L.A.

Reviews

[Danielle Tobias]

Goddamn. The demand for this book is so high that I couldn't imagine it possibly living up to the hype... if it were any other author. Four years after the first announced release date, however, I'm not even sure this book exists. Four years is ample time to have cultivated tons of rumors- that it's to be incredibly long, that it's to be incredibly short, that it's nothing like the Phineas Poe trilogy, that it's everything like the Phineas Poe trilogy, that it's already been read, that no one has ever seen proof of it, myriad reasons it hasn't been released, myriad dates it will be... the list goes on and whereas I want to say I imagine at this point, Godspeed has been so anticipated that it's been talked beyond the point of even being conceivably released, just shit or get off the pot already.

[Catherine]

Been waiting for the release of this book for several years...and I WILL CONTINUE WAITING FOR AS LONG AS IT TAKES.

[Yelena]

Have been waiting for ages for this book. No idea when, or indeed if, that wait will ever end. Baer's writing has an effect on me like no other. It hits you like a simultaneous concoction of the best chemicals, and I'm desperate for another fix.

[kevin fraser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well....it's 2023... still waiting...still hopeful.

[Jim]

I like his Phineas Poe books immensely. I want to read this if I can find the dang things.

[Colin Miller]

Been waiting for this for years. Might be waiting years more.

[Autumn]

Have been waiting for this book since...it feels like forever. Premise is promising, and I know I love W.C. Baer's prose. Really hoping this book makes it to the shelves, someday.

[devin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best Book I've Ever Read.

[Adam Johnson]

I'll be dead before this book appears I fear.