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THE RABBIT FACTORY
by Marshall Karp
Allison & Busby, April 2007
632 pages
9.99 GBP
ISBN: 0749081635


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

This is a deep, warm, bubble-scented bath of a book. You dive in, wallow and stay there for ages, topping up as necessary. OK, so you feel a bit like a wrinkled prune by the time you make it to the end of the 600+ pages, but who cares? You're relaxed, happy and ready for more any time. And the outside world can go hang . . .

Detective Mike Lomax works for LAPD. His beloved wife Joanie died of cancer six months previously, and he's nowhere near over it. But he's got a great colleague in the form of Terry Biggs, and a dad in a million in the huge shape of Big Jim.

Mike and Terry are called on to investigate the death of Rambunctious Rabbit. Yes, you heard that correctly. Said bunny is the star attraction at the Familyland theme park. Until, that is, someone strangled the blighter and left him dead in the cavernous underground staff tunnels.

Our heroes soon discover that Eddie Elkins, the man in the bunny costume, was a convicted paedophile who had got the job by underhand means. Early assumptions are that his crimes caught up with him – until, that is, other deaths occur which are firmly linked to Familyland.

Marshall Karp is a scriptwriter and this is his first foray into novel writing. THE RABBIT FACTORY is too long by about 150 pages, and one of the sub-plots could have gone without anyone noticing. But heck, who's quibbling? The book's a riot.

Not surprisingly Karp has an ear for sparky, realistic dialogue, and the back-chat between Mike and Terry and Mike and his dad is electric. And you know, it's a real novelty to read a book where the main characters actually like each other, get on well, and don't have miserable work colleagues or dysfunctional families.

Well, not too dysfunctional … The book's very slightly weak spot is the sub-plot featuring Mike's gambling addict brother Frankie. That could have been lost and not made a jot of difference to the action and the flow of the book. The love interest angle is also a bit too obvious, although Karp deals with it neatly.

There are bound to be comparisons between Karp and the likes of Donald Westlake and Carl Hiaasen. Forget that – Karp's an original. My prediction is that he'll be up there on his own before too long. THE RABBIT FACTORY exudes talent and class all down the line.

Reviewed by Sharon Wheeler, April 2007

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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