The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse by Robert Rankin and Mark Stay

Buy The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse here. To find out more information or to view another item in this category, click next Science Fiction. To go back to where you were looking, use the "you are here" links below. Thank you for shopping at audiobookoncd.com!

The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse from Science Fiction

The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse
Available from Amazon
Price: $19.04
Updated on 12-28-2008.

Features

Audio CD

Publisher: Orion (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd ) (July 7, 2005)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0752873083

ISBN-13: 978-0752873084

Product Dimensions: 5.6 x 4.7 x 0.9 inches

Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces ()

From Publishers Weekly
Like a mad toymaker's fever dream, Rankin's uproarious book imagines a town where toys and nursery rhymes come to life and pursue human activities: they walk, talk, eat, drink and commit heinous crimes. Thirteen-year-old Jack goes to the City to find his fortune, unaware that the City is in fact Toy City, where legends and fables walk (or stumble, if they've had too much to drink). He meets up with detective teddy bear Eddie, who is investigating the murder of Humpty Dumpty. When Little Boy Blue is offed, it's clear that a serial killer is prowling Toy City, leaving behind the titular chocolate bunnies as his calling card. Rankin doesn't just drop names of familiar characters but gives them riotous back stories: Miss Muffett hosts a daytime TV talk show called "The Tuffet"; Mother Goose (who prefers to be called Madame Goose) runs a brothel; Humpty Dumpty was likely a failed television stuntman named Terry Horsey. Although the story is wickedly clever and the payoff is a great and satisfying surprise, the real delight comes from watching Rankin work his linguistic magic: characters talk in hilariously circular and self-aware dialogue, and puns and wordplay are packed into the prose like sardines in a tin. Although substantially darker and edgier than the Hitchhiker's series, this gem will appeal to Douglas Adams fans, as well as lovers of British humor in general.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Review
'quirky, funny, and delightful comedy of errors cum detective story includes a fantastic cast...Robert Rankin reads this audiobook with surprising ease, giving decent characterization to his main characters and maintaining a moderate pace throughout. His emphasis for text as well as speech certainly works well within the audiobook. Upbeat musical tunes carry listeners from one scene or chapter to the next. The sound production and narrator provide an impressive production...highly recommended!' -- Lance Eaton www.curledup.com

Reader Reviews
This review is from: The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse (Gollancz) (Paperback) Basically, this is the kind of book where your reaction to the title and/or cover is a pretty good indicator of whether or not you'll enjoy the contents. It's silly stuff, sometimes dark, but mostly the kind of outsize fantasy/comedy British writers seem to manage to handle so well (Rankin is often mentioned in the same breath as Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams). The concept at work here is that a serial killer is on the loose in a city populated by toys, striking down the rich and famous -- namely notables from nursery rhyme fame, such as Humpty Dumpty, Little Boy Blue, et al. Into this killing zone stumbles Jack, a 13-year-old boy come to "seek his fortune" in the big city. But almost immediately upon his arrival, the big city seeks his fortune instead, leaving him mugged and penniless in an alleyway. Fortunately, a kindly teddy bear named Eddie comes along to take him under his paw and get him involved the mystery. It seems Eddie is the sidekick of Toy City's eminent detective Bill Winkie (aka Wee Willie Winkie), who has gone missing. Soon Jack and Eddie are racing across Toy City in clockwork cars, checking out murder scenes, visiting Madam Goose's house of ill repute, and getting sloshed at Tinto's Bar, as they attempt to solve the case. If this sounds somewhat reminiscent of the 1988 film "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?", it should. Part of the fun comes from the spoofing of nursery rhymes and childhood toys, including comically gruesome murders, thriller/noir goofing, and totally tongue in cheek action. The other part of the fun comes from the wacky wordplay. Rankin is fond of alliteration, punning, double-entendres, repetition of stock phrases, and from the mouth of Eddie, the incomplete simile. If there's one thing one will remember from this book it's the construction "It's as good as!" or "I was scared as!" It has to be said that the book runs on about 50-100 pages too long as the jokes start to wear a bit thin and the action starts to get too repetitive. Alas after all the buildup, the mystery itself is a bit of a shaggy dog story, and somewhat of a letdown. It is fairly inventive stuff, and kind of fun for the most part, but unless you think the title is hilarious you probably won't love the book.

The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse
List Price: $19.04
Available from Amazon
Price: $19.04
Updated on 12-28-2008.