Product Description

THE HOLLOW CHOCOLATE BUNNIES OF THE APOCALYPSE is set in Toy City. The Old Rich, who have made their millions from the royalties on their world-famous nursery rhymes, are being slaughtered. One by One. Horribly. A psychopath is on the loose. He must be stopped at all costs. It's a job for Towtown's only detective. Eddie Bear. This is a wonderfully funny book from the irreverent, hilarious writer of WEB SITE STORY, THE SPROUTS OF WRATH and The Brentford Trilogy (currently five books and counting).

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #366034 in Books
• Published on: 2002-09-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 352 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
In Robert Rankin's latest warped fantasy, a serial killer is murdering notable nursery-rhyme characters and leaving very special sweeties as calling cards at the scene of each crime: The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse.

Humpty Dumpty is the first of Toy City's upper crust to sleep with the fishes. Boiled alive in his own swimming pool. A nasty fate, but maybe not as nasty as Little Boy Blue's, with his own shepherd's crook thrust a long way into a place where the sun does not shine.

Bill Winkie the P.I. has gone missing, and his hard-drinking teddybear sidekick Eddie takes up the case. Down these mean streets a bear must go. He needs a hand, though--two hands, owing to a lack of opposable thumbs--and reluctantly teams up with "gormster" country boy Jack, who foolishly thinks he can make his fortune in Toy City.

Of course the police, jolly bouncy rubber policemen who are sadistic at heart, object to interfering freelances. So does the mystery assassin, who seems to be a curvaceous woman in a kinky rubber outfit--death on high heels. Even kindly old Mother Goose, madame of the Toy City brothel, gets her neck wrung before she can talk, and Eddie is in serious danger of losing his very stuffing.

Fast, demented, fairytale-noir action, filled with gruesomely silly deaths, self-referential thriller gags, and the true meanings of those nursery rhymes whose royalties made Humpty and the rest so rich.

Robert Rankin is fond of introducing peculiar, repeated figures of speech, and this book's is the Maddeningly Incomplete Simile. Like this: Hollow Chocolate Bunnies is as good as. It's as weird as. It's as deeply bonkers as. In short, it's as Rankin as.--David Langford

Review
This is our first book with Robert Rankin and initial reports are very promising. I have organised a big bash with his fan club which will take place at the Children's Museum in Bethnal Green, on Saturday 7th September. Features:Robert will do the 'It's your funeral' interview for the Night and Day supplement which is part of The Mail on Sunday. Feature in SFX on their convention, it included coverage of Robert. A full interview with tour listing to appear in the September issue of SFX. Reviews: SFXStarburstDreamwatch 'A worthy addition to Rankin's oeuvre... entertaining and mildly disturbing.'The Morning Star 'Fast, demented, fairy-tale noir avtion, filled with gruesomely silly deaths and referential thriller gags.'Amazon Events:Robert was a guest at the SFXconvention in Blackpool back in June. Robert will be the Guest of Honour at Gencon 2002, a role playing convention which takes place at Olympia from 29thAugust through to 1st September. 4,000 to 6,000 people expected to attend. Tour:Robert Rankin's tour started on 5th September at Borders Brighton, from there he toured all over Britain up to the 26th September. Full details are available from me or can be found on the Author's Event Schedule. SIGNINGS... Robert sold 203 books at the Gencon convention two weeks ago. Shame they only count as special sales... Robert's launch also went with a bang. We sold 30 books and even had a visit from Publishing News (who joined Robert's tour on the Museum of Childhood). Border Brighton sold out of all their books (they even resorted to grabbing copies out of the window!).Forbidden Planet sold over50 and had another 50 signed. The turn out was unusually good for a Forbidden Planet Event. The rest of the events and signings also went fantastically, at one event in Chelmsford, one punter bought 20 hardbacks and fourteen copies of Robert's paperbacks. In Edinburgh, Robert, fell victim to his own sarcasm when the people at the event began to heckle him back and come the end of the event initially refused to buy a book... Robert freaked out but then realised they were joking. In Golucester we attracted a number of his fans and ended up in the pub with Robert regaling them whilst in Cardiff the exact same thing happened... All in all the tour paid off really well, Robert got to meethis fans, pick up some free books from gratefull booksellers and we even managed to outsell Raymond Feist in about 3 of the shops!! And one more thing, Robert's methods of selling were also rather unconventional, at each event Robert managed to encourage at least 4 people to purchase two books rather than one... if we can get him to be more convincing we may just hit number 10 on the bestseller list next year! MISC Robert's It's Your Funeral piece in the Mail on Sunday appeared two weeks ago, but it obviously made an impact in Scotland as he was quoted in The Scotland On Sunday's 'Quote Unquote' section. Here's the quote: 'I have often pondered the best way to die. All things considered it would be ideal to be killed at the age of 97 by a jealous husband...' I

About the Author
Robert Rankin is an unrepentant Luddite who writes his bestselling novels by hand in exercise books. He is the author of The Brentford Trilogy (5 books), The Armageddon Quartet (3 books) and many more.

Customer Reviews

Surrealistic, silly and enjoyable
This is the first Robert Rankin novel I have read, and I have to say it was different from anything else I've ever read before.
I've avoided Rankins books before, thinking they sounded too silly and surrealistic for my tastes. However, while The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse certainly is bizzare, it is also a very interresting and entertaining read. It is a murder mystery set in a fantasy universe, with elements of comedy, horror and fairy tales.

The language is simple, as other reviewers have mentioned, but this in my opinion is not a bad thing. You almost feel as though you are reading a childrens book, a young childrens book even, and then Rankin hits you in the face with a horribly graphic murder or severly adult themes. The book at times has that disturbing feel of the nightmares you have as a child; the monsters under the bed are real, and that scary, ugly old toy really IS alive...

I reccomend this book to anyone seeking a different kind of reading experience, even if you are not a fan of fantasy or other speculative fiction. Personally, I will certainly be looking into other works by Rankin.

A good first Rankin read.
I was hooked on this book from the first chapter. This is the first Rankin book I've read, so I can't compare it with any of the Brentford books, but it has taken a place in my list of favorite books. Rankin's phrasing and language sets up a wonderfully sinister atmosphere, and the dark (and slightly smutty) humour fits well. The ending isn't (too) predictable and some plot twists *do* come as a surpise.
I would recommend this book to anyone who isn't offended easily. There's dark humour but 'Hollow Chocolate Bunnies' is still lighthearted and fun. The story itself is entertaining and the first chapter's a gem.

Good book, but not the second coming!
I borrowed this book from the library, as I enjoy Rankin's books on the whole. Just finished it and came on here to see how other people enjoyed it.

Whoa! Yes, it is a good book, but not THAT good! "The funniest book I have ever read!". What? Are you serious? Yes, it is mildly amusing in parts, but I think the most I managed was a wry smile occasionally.

Please don't get me wrong. This is a good book. Yes, it is amusing. It has (IMO) a great opening that really pulls you in and carries on with similar quality. I found the opposite of many people though, the last quarter or so dragged on a bit and I thought the ending not brilliant, compared to most Rankin books where I am hooked until the last page.

So enjoy this book for what it is - a good book well worth an enjoyable read. But please do not buy the insane hype in these reviews!