The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse

Infobox Book
name = The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption =
author = Robert Rankin
cover_artist =
country = United Kingdom
language = English
series =
genre = Fantasy novel
publisher = Gollancz
release_date = 2002
media_type = Print (Hardcover & Paperback)
pages = 352 pp (hardcover edition)
isbn = ISBN 0-575-07313-6 (hardcover edition)
preceded_by =
followed_by = The Toyminator

"The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies Of The Apocalypse" is a novel by the British author Robert Rankin. It is Rankin's 24th Novel and his first for new publishers Gollancz. It is set in Toy City (formerly Toy Town), a place where toys are alive and the characters from nursery rhymes are local celebrities. It is followed by a sequel, "The Toyminator". The novel is expanded from a throwaway line in Rankin's previous novel The Fandom of the Operator, which refers to recurring character Lazlo Woodbine investigating the murder of nursery rhyme characters in Toy City.

Back of the book

A boy named Jack sets out to seek his fortune in the big city, but when he finally gets there, it is Toy City, formerly known as Toy Town. There is a serial killer loose upon the streets.One by one, the old, rich nursery rhyme characters are being brutally slaughtered. The Toy City police are getting nowhere. Bill Winkie, Private Eye, has also mysteriously vanished, leaving only his sidekick, Eddie Bear, to take care of business.But Eddie is ready, and when he teams up with Jack, the two set out on an epic adventure, not to mention a lot of heavy drinking, bad behavior, fast car chases, gratuitous sex and violence, bizarre toy fetishism and all-round grossness of a type not normally associated with Toy Town.

About the Book

Jack is all set to discover the city beyond his small town. He meets a farmer on his way who warns him against going to the city. Jack however turns a deaf ear and continues his journey. The farmer tries to kill him for his meal, but Jack eventually escapes with his horse, leaving the hungry farmer in the pit.When he reaches the city he realises that it is populated by toys. He meets a wooden chef at a bar and realises his horse has been. Jack sets to search for his horse, however he is hit by someone unknown and he faints on the ground. He is awoken by a teddy bear, Eddie, who is a private detective and the assistant of Bill Winkie (Wee Willie Winkie). Eddie offers Jack partnership in his detective firm, since Bill Winkie is missing.Jack is still shaken by the fact that toys can actually talk and walk and feel like humans, but eventually he comes on terms with it.Eddie informs him that nothing is same in ToyCity and someone is killing the rich and famous PPPs. Preadoloscent Poetic Personalities.These PPPs have become rich due to the royalities they receive for their poems, like Humpty Dumpty, Little Miss Muffet, Mary Mary Quiet Contrary and Old King Cole.Although together in their quest to find the murderer, several PPPs are killed. Humpty Dumpty is boiled with a lens above his pool, Little Boy Blue is pierced with his crook, Bill Winkie is killed, Jack Spratt is fried in his ex-wife's diner, Little Tommy Tucker explodes, Little Jack Horner is stuffed with Jam and Mother Goose is slit open. In all the cases the only clue is hollow chocolate bunnies left at the scene.In their investigation, Eddie and Jack realise that the killer is an evil twin of God like figure 'Anders Anders' and is called 'Sredna Sredna'.He is the one who had absconded with 'The Manual' (Holy Scripts) and 'The Maguffin', which lets the person get entry into the Toy City.When Jack is confronted by the killer, Sredna reveals that he manufactures life like toys who do as their owners oblige. He plans to rule the world, since he feels that God is too busy creating new worlds and has forgotten this one. He has created toys of Hitler and the President of the USA in order to achieve these aims.Sredna almost kills Eddie and Jack. However, they are saved by Jack's lover, Jill.In the end Jack is made a prince and paid a hefty sum by the royal PPPs and Eddie is made the Mayor by Anders Anders.

Awards

"The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse" was the winner of the 2003 SFX Magazine Best Novel Award.