The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse tells the story of Jack, a small town factory worker, who moves to the city to find wealth and power. However when he finally makes it to the city, after avoiding a cannibalistic farmer, its not opportunity that he finds. What he finds instead is a collection of drug addicted, alcoholic, vice-ridden toys and nursery rhyme characters. Oh, and he finds one more thing...a demonic homicidal maniac bent on killing off all the humans in the city and taking over the world.
Now if that does not grab your attention, I don’t know what will.
Author Robert Rankin does a masterful job of telling this story with a quick wit that reads much like the classic absurdist play Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett. There are also a fair amount of post-modern features to the book. The main character Jack, who is coaxed into becoming the detective partner of a stuffed bear who is trying to solve this murder mystery, very often will compare their actions to the detective novel genre and use that as a guide to how they should respond in any given situation.
The stuffed bear, Eddie, is probably the best character in the book. He’ full of sawdust, loves to drink, and due to a mental condition cannot make corroborative nouns. So everything is, “as wet as”, “as drunk as”, “as dead as.”
If you are looking for a book with depth or some deeper meaning about humanity, culture or civilization this probably isn’t the book for you. If, on the other hand, you just want a book that will put a smile on your face then this book is as good as. This book was a fun read and perfect for a quick weekend read or long plane trip.
