It is about two young boys who are playing in the woods outside Copenhagen in occupied Denmark in the Second World War.

When they crawl out near a motorway, they run up against angry farmers, biker gangs, heroin addicts, and rabid dogs in a world that is close to nuclear war.

They become involved in car theft, police chases, and the massive helicopter explosion.

A review in Publishers Weekly called the book an "allegory of the chaos and emptiness of modern times that conveys admiration for a simpler past.

"[2] The book was translated into English from the Danish original De hellige aber by Steve Murray in 1987.