A Big Boy did it and Ran Away

Infobox Book |
name = A Big Boy did it and Ran Away
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption =
author = Christopher Brookmyre
cover_artist =
country = United Kingdom
language = English
series =
genre = Satire, Crime, Detective, black humour
publisher = Little Brown, London
release_date = 2001
media_type = Print (Hardback & (Paperback)
pages =
isbn = ISBN 0316857432 (first edition, hardback )
preceded_by = Boiling a Frog
followed_by = The Sacred Art of Stealing

A Big Boy did it and Ran Away (2001), is Christopher Brookmyre's sixth novel. It features the first appearance of policewoman Angelique de Xavia, who is one of the main characters in "The Sacred Art of Stealing" (2002).

Plot Summary

Anti-terrorist forces are put on alert when it is learned that the notorious international terrorist the Black Spirit plans to perform an attack on an unknown British target.

Meanwhile, 30-something Raymond Ash is struggling to cope with the banality of his new life as an English teacher, having sold his video game shop and decided to settle down with his wife and new baby. While visiting Glasgow airport he sees his old friend Simon Darcourt who supposedly died when terrorists blew up an airliner a few years before. He has no idea that Darcourt is in reality the Black Spirit. Darcourt for his part sees Raymond and decides to settle an old score with him by incorporating him into his terrorist plot.

Raymond ends up being abducted by Darcourt's terrorists and escaping, then finds himself aiding policewoman Angelique de Xavia in a valiant attempt to foil their plot, the two being the only people with a chance of reaching the site of the attack in time - the hydroelectric plant at Dubh Ardrain.

Characters

; Angelique de Xaviae: Police officer, who also turns up in a couple of Brookmyre's other novels, "The Sacred Art of Stealing" and "A Snowball in Hell" (2008).

; Simon Darcourt: International terrorist-for-hire, who returns in Brookmyre's other novel, "A Snowball in Hell" (2008).

=Ho

Brookmyre makes many references to various video games in the novel.

* "Half-Life" references::*One of the antagonists takes the alias of "Gordon Freeman":*At one point the male protagonist is equipped with a crowbar (Gordon Freeman's trademark equipment in "Half-Life"):*The main action takes place in the largely underground hydroelectric power station "Dubh Ardrain" which is a Scots Gaelic name which can be approximately translated as "Black Mesa" ("dubh" - black [Wiktionary definition of 'dubh'] , "ardrain" - high part [cite web|url=http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~fiski/gaelic.html|title=A Simple Guide to Gaelic|accessdate=2008-06-20] ) - which is the setting of "Half-Life".:*An SAS soldier called "Adrian Shephard" is a minor character - Adrian Shephard is the protagonist of the "Half Life" expansion Opposing Force.

* "Quake" references::*One character is called Shaloub "Shub" N'gurath, a name which is very similar to the final boss of Quake's name: Shub-Niggurath.

* "Sin" references::*One of the antagonists used to work for Sintek Energy, SiNtek is the name of the large multi-national biotechnology firm in the game.:*In the game, the company SiNtek is owned by Elexis Sinclaire - one of the characters in the book referred to as 'Lexy' is revealed to be named Alex Sinclaire.

* Other video game references::*Darcourt's plan to attack Dubh Ardrain is codenamed "Mission Deliver Kindness"; a reference to the game MDK.

References