Robert Rankin
The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse (2005)
Author: Robert Rankin
Genre: Fantasy (Humorous)
Plot Summary:
Jack goes to Toy City to seek his fortune and is shocked to see toys and characters from nursery rhymes thinking and behaving like adults. He meets Eddie Bear who is in the midst of an investigation into who killed Humpty-Dumpty by boiling him to death in his swimming pool. Other nursery rhyme characters are being killed off one by one in gruesome murders, and Jack and Eddie are always one step behind the murderer. They finally track down the murderer who is the evil twin brother of the kindly toymaker. The reader also learns that all the world’s leaders are clockwork toys controlled by the corporations who bought them. The characters’ dialogue is very self-aware and postmodern in that they are always talking about how a murder mystery is solved in books and then using those ideas. Rankin has used puns and wordplay in almost every paragraph.
Geographical Setting: alternate universe—“Toy City”
Time Period: contemporary
Appeal Characteristics: Amateur detectives; Puns and word play; Character-driven; Secondary world
Similar Authors: Jasper Fforde; Douglas Adams
Red Flags: Some mild sexual situations and bathroom humor
|top|
|
