"Robert Rankin - Raiders of the Lost Car Park" - читать интересную книгу автора (Robert Rankin)

Having discovered the existence of the FOR-BIDDEN ZONES, he set out to enter them, to expose
the truth about the beings that dwell within, to liberate the plundered wealth of ages, to free mankind from
its secret oppressor and would-be destroyer, and to raise upon high his banner of
 ULTIMATE TRUTH.
But he did not succeed.
Although, with the aid of his acolyte Rizla, a compass and a tape measure, Rune plotted the location
of every FORBIDDEN ZONE in London; and even formulated a means of breaking into them by
playing certain `restricted' notes on a reinvented ocarina, he did not succeed.
On a dark and stormy night some eighteen years ago, Rune and Rizla set forth upon a heroic
mission. Fearlessly they penetrated to the very heart of the FORBIDDEN ZONES, there to beard the
evil lion in his den. To confront The Hidden King of the World.
Exactly what happened on that fateful night may never be known. Rizla escaped, a broken man.
Hugo Rune was never seen again.
 INTRODUCTION

Cornelius Murphy is the Stuff of Epics.
He is seventeen years of age, a tall boy with big hair, a quick wit and an astonishing sense of smell.
He is also the illegitimate son of Hugo Rune.
Cornelius has just returned from an epic adventure. He was employed by a certain Mr Arthur
Kobold, to seek out certain missing chapters from a certain missing book.
The Book of Ultimate Truths. Penned by a certain Hugo Rune.
During the course of his epic adventure, Cornelius, accompanied by his best friend Tuppe (who is
also the Stuff of Epics, although to a somewhat lesser degree), and travelling in a suitably epic nineteen
-fifties Cadillac Eldorado, discovered his true parentage.
He also learned of the existence of the Forbidden Zones and that Rune is still alive and kicking, held
captive inside one of the Zones by the stinkers that dwell within.
Being an epic adventure it was naturally fraught with peril and Cornelius found himself risking life and
limb on numerous occasions. As might well be imagined, the Hidden King of the World, deter-mined to
destroy any threat to the security of his secret kingdoms, was prepared to go to any length to prevent the
tall boy passing on what he had learned.
As well as being fraught with peril, the epic adventure was not without complications. There was a
Scotsman, the Campbell, who was not really a Scotsman at all, but a malevolent chimera. Part man, part
something-else-entirely. And there was a train, THE TRAIN OF TRISMEGISTUS, which wasn't really
a train at all, but a Satanic-style agency of despatch, unleashed by The Hidden King of the World.
Cornelius did not return from his epic adventure altogether unscathed. He lost a good deal of his big
hair in a life-and-death struggle with the Campbell. Had his Cadillac Eldorado mashed to pieces by falling
masonry. And was tricked out of Rune's missing chapters by Mr Arthur Kobold, writer of dud cheques,
eater of cake and evil cat's-paw of The Hidden King.
But if you are the Stuff of Epics, then you just have to take this sort of thing in your stride. And if,
like Cornelius, you find yourself at the end of it all in possession of Rune's annotated A-Z and the plans
for his reinvented ocarina, then the way ahead is clear.
You must enter the Forbidden Zones.
You must free your father.
You must wage war upon the Hidden King of the World and expose the truth about the evil beings
who secretly control mankind.
You must become a warrior in the cause of
ULTIMATE TRUTH.
And if you happen to come across any of that boundless wealth stored up inside the Forbidden
Zones along the way..
Well, that wouldn't go amiss either.