Back when they were students, just like everybody else, Ray Ash and Simon Darcourt had dreams about what they'd do when they grew up. In both their cases, it was to be rock stars. Fifteen years later, their mid-thirties are bearing down fast, and just like everybody else, they're having to accept the less glamorous hands reality has dealt them. Nervous new father Ray takes refuge from his responsibilities by living a virtual existence in online games. People say he needs to grow up, but everybody has to find their own way of coping. For some it's affairs, for others it's the bottle, and for Simon it's serial murder, mass slaughter and professional assassination.
A Big Boy Did It and Ran Away (Abacus Books)
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Amazon Review
His books are surrealistic, deeply irreverent and bitingly satirical. His characters may be larger than life, but are always rendered with total plausibility, however outrageous their actions. And the body count of his books is high--the world of Christopher Brookmyre's fiction is as dangerous as it is blackly comic. But is he a crime writer? A Big Boy Did It and Ran Away is another massive phantasmagoria, written with the author's customary caustic wit--and there's a character in it (a fast-living, highly successful assassin) who could have strayed in from a thriller. But such impressions never last for long--Brookmyre belongs to no genre, and this book is as uncategorisable as such previous epics as Boiling a Frog and the splendidly biting Quite Ugly One Morning.
In A Big Boy Did It... , his beleaguered hero Raymond Ash is struggling with the banal reality of his life as an English teacher and lamenting the evaporation of his student dreams. Responsibility isn't pleasant, Raymond has found. He takes refuge in a sad virtual existence, his online doodling substituting for real life. And then he encounters an old friend, whom he thought dead. Simon has achieved success in rock star-like terms: massive financial rewards, global travel, even notoriety. But his route has been that of the professional killer, and at that trade he's top of the tree. Raymond is seduced by the excitement of time spent with his old pal, even though he's reluctant to get involved with him again. But get involved he does, and soon every aspect of his life is under threat, with Ray yearning for the pretend violence of a computer game over the messy reality he's catapulted himself into.
Brookmyre sees terrorists and killers such as Simon as being self-deluded; whatever reasons they think they're performing their ruthless activities for (religion, a cause, money), they're really on a sad power trip, sublimating their craving for mass acclaim into violence. But he's never solemn--no diatribes here, unlike the organised religion he has so much distaste for. Brookmyre is adept at pulling the rug from beneath the reader's feet (Simon is attractive, until we get to know him better). The writing is always sharp, always funny, always innovative.--Barry Forshaw --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
A bit like a literary computer game, this novel has plenty of verve and dash, with Brookmyre more in your face than a smack from an outraged lover whose bottom you've pinched. (IRISH TIMES)
Brookmyre offers a brilliantly scathing portrayal of humanity... Sharply satirical and poignantly funny, this is a gripping and highly entertaining read. (TIME OUT)
Hilarous, exhilerating entertainment. (GLASGOW HERALD)
He really can write, with an exhilerating linguistic fluency and keenly subversive intelligence. (SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY)
Brookmyre offers a brilliantly scathing portrayal of humanity... Sharply satirical and poignantly funny, this is a gripping and highly entertaining read. (TIME OUT)
Hilarous, exhilerating entertainment. (GLASGOW HERALD)
He really can write, with an exhilerating linguistic fluency and keenly subversive intelligence. (SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
I am a fan of Brookmyre's writing - he writes about subjects and settings which I can relate to more so than Carl Hiassen - but this one was a bit below par. The basic story was good and (unintentionally) topical, but there did seem to be some unneccssary padding. However, the part with the two boys from Ash's school in the truck was hilarious.
I'm still looking forward to the return of Parlabane, however.....
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
By A. Skudder
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
I read this book with no expectations or pre-conceptions at all, as I had never heard of the book or the author when I picked it up to read on a long train journey. Now I have read it I am not sure whether its a comedy book with lots of action or a thriller with lots of humour.
The book starts with a masterpiece of suburban angst-ridden satire about cars, lifestyles and modern life generally which proves to be a false start as the story jumps somewhere else completely. After a while the story settles down and plays out a bit like a Tarantino film with lots of jumps back in time to fill out several back stories. (I am being deliberately vague. I enjoyed the little surprises and twists and don't want to spoil them for anyone else.)
By the end of the book, all the flashbacks and false starts have been tied together and you realise what a fantastic jigsaw the plot is, but long before then you have stared turning the pages faster and faster to see what is going to happen next.
For people of a certain age (like mine) the frequent references to old shoot-em-up games like Duke Nukem, Doom and Quake and 70s and 80s rock music are just an added bonus to it all.
At different times this is a comedy, a vicious satire and a psychological thriller, but the different elements enhance each other instead of distract. I can see why the cover quote compares the author to Carl Hiaasen, who also manages to blend humour and thriller together with satire.
From my point of view, the best news is that this is not a new book, but is a few years old, and Mr Brookmyre wrote several previous books and has written several since, so I now have another half dozen or so books I can hunt down. For me its like discovering a new author, but not having to wait for him to write another book because I have a backlog to catch up on.
I would recommend this to just about anyone.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By "dyls"
Format:Paperback
An excellent read - although it does almost have too much character development. The book takes many diversions from the main plot to go into the various character's backgrounds. Whilst it does give you a rich mental picture of who the main protagonists are, Brookmyre almost goes over the top with the detail.
Brookmyre has the rare skill of developing a character who you can respect and hate all at the same time: the introduction of Simon, and his cynical views of modern life are something many of us can agree with. But this character is quite evil - so you find yourself agreeing with some of what this utterly hateful character has to say. The other main character, Raymond Ash is an unlikely hero (who I can readily identify with, being a frequent Quake and UT player at LAN parties).
There's some superb plot twists in the story - some unexpected, and some you can see coming from a mile off, and Brookmyre leaves a hanging questionmark at the end of the book: maybe there's more to come?
Or maybe Simon will just end up facing some nice Black and Decker power-tools...
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
A book I enjoy reading again and again.
Perhaps my favourite book by Christopher Brookmyre and I'm definitely a fan.
A funny enjoyable book that also reminds me of some of my time growing up too. Read more
A funny enjoyable book that also reminds me of some of my time growing up too. Read more
Published 1 month ago by JustGav
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not Brookmyyre's page turning usual offfering
I found this a frustrating book. The idea was good and some of the characters were ok but there were too many diversions into what I thought were needless mini biographies of the... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Nigelcwm
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Tartan Noir!
I love Christopher Brookmyre's dark humour and daft stories - they seem oddly credible while you're immersed in them and brilliantly bizarre when you take a step back. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Maibeth
5.0 out of 5 stars
Book Review
As usual Amazon deliver a fast and efficient download of another classic Christopher Brookmyre story, full of twists, turns and brilliant plotwork
Published 7 months ago by jimbo
3.0 out of 5 stars
Too long!
On the whole a good story and believable characters, but far too much padding. The storyline would start going somewhere, and become quite a page turner, and then you would jump... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Andy
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Big Boy Did it and Ran Away
Yes, had its moments. Not his best novel but one of the better ones and worth a read on a dreary weekend.
Published on 5 Dec 2010 by JCEH
3.0 out of 5 stars
Flashbacks draw the plot out a bit too long
Brookmyre's sixth book tells the story of Ray Ash and Simon Darcourt, two former university friends who find themselves on either side of the law when Ash discovers that Darcourt... Read more
Published on 24 Oct 2010 by J. R. Johnson-Rollings
4.0 out of 5 stars
Lot of pressure, lot of stress, not much kip. Difficult combination.
Persevere over the rather chaotic first section which is written in a persona that repels - so unprepossessing that you might think - I don't want to be in this person's company a... Read more
Published on 20 July 2010 by Eileen Shaw
5.0 out of 5 stars
If you live in Aberdeen read this!!! Hilarious
Read this several years ago and was worth it just for the first few chapters. If you knew Aberdeen airport 15 years ago, live in the granite (grey) city, or have ever listened to... Read more
Published on 27 Jun 2010 by twoman
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good, but not as compelling as some
I like Christopher Brookmyre's writing and love the mix of thriller with humour. This one gets a bit caught up in characterisation at the expense of pace but it has some fantastic... Read more
Published on 22 Mar 2010 by James H
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