A Big Boy did it and Ran Away
Encyclopedia
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).
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.
and A Snowball in Hell (2008).
Simon Darcourt: International terrorist-for-hire, who also returns in A Snowball in Hell (2008).
not just in the basic design but also in the geography of the surrounding area.
Christopher Brookmyre
Christopher Brookmyre is a Scottish novelist whose novels mix comedy, politics, social comment and action with a strong narrative. He has been referred to as a Tartan Noir author...
's sixth novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
. It features the first appearance of policewoman Angelique de Xavia, who is one of the main characters in The Sacred Art of Stealing
The Sacred Art of Stealing
The Sacred Art of Stealing is a satirical crime novel by the Scottish writer Christopher Brookmyre. It is the author's seventh book and is a stand alone sequel to A Big Boy did it and Ran Away....
(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 Xavia: Police officer, who also turns up in a couple of Brookmyre's other novels, The Sacred Art of StealingThe Sacred Art of Stealing
The Sacred Art of Stealing is a satirical crime novel by the Scottish writer Christopher Brookmyre. It is the author's seventh book and is a stand alone sequel to A Big Boy did it and Ran Away....
and A Snowball in Hell (2008).
Simon Darcourt: International terrorist-for-hire, who also returns in A Snowball in Hell (2008).
Homages
Brookmyre makes many references to various video games in the novel.- Half-Life references:
- One of the antagonists takes the alias of "Gordon FreemanGordon FreemanGordon Freeman is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the Half-Life video game series. He is a theoretical physicist who finds himself thrust into a battle for survival against both alien and human forces. Throughout the series, Gordon must prevail in hostile situations despite...
", the main character of Half-Life. - 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", a Scots Gaelic name which can be approximately translated as "Black Mesa" (dubh - black, ardrain - high part), which is the setting of Half-Life.
- An SASSpecial Air ServiceSpecial Air Service or SAS is a corps of the British Army constituted on 31 May 1950. They are part of the United Kingdom Special Forces and have served as a model for the special forces of many other countries all over the world...
soldier called "Adrian Shephard" is a minor character. Adrian Shephard is the protagonist of the Half-Life expansion Opposing ForceOpposing forceAn opposing force or enemy force is a military unit tasked with representing an enemy, usually for training purposes in war game scenarios...
.
- One of the antagonists takes the alias of "Gordon Freeman
- Quake references:
- One character is called Shaloub "Shub" N'gurath. This name is very similar to H. P. LovecraftH. P. LovecraftHoward Phillips Lovecraft --often credited as H.P. Lovecraft — was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction....
's Great Old One Shub-NiggurathShub-NiggurathShub-Niggurath, often associated with the phrase “The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young”, is a deity in the Cthulhu Mythos of H. P. Lovecraft...
, who appeared as the final boss of Quake.
- One character is called Shaloub "Shub" N'gurath. This name is very similar to H. P. Lovecraft
- 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", which has the same acronym as the game MDKMDK (video game)MDK is a third-person shooter game developed by Shiny Entertainment and released in 1997 by Playmates Interactive Entertainment in North America and Interplay Entertainment in Europe for the PC, Macintosh, and subsequently PlayStation. It was one of the first PC games to require a Pentium or...
. - At the climax, Ash watches his enemy being sucked into a vortex and says "Suck it down", a reference to the advertising for DaikatanaDaikatanaJohn Romero's Daikatana, or simply Daikatana, is a first-person shooter computer game developed by Ion Storm and published by Eidos Interactive. Released on May 23, 2000 for Windows, it was led by John Romero. The game is known as one of the major commercial failures of the computer game industry....
, and also a catchphrase of the titular heroDuke Nukem (character)Duke Nukem is a fictional character and action hero who has been the protagonist in over a dozen video games.The character first appeared in the 1991 video game Duke Nukem developed by Apogee Software...
in the game Duke Nukem 3DDuke Nukem 3DDuke Nukem 3D is a first-person shooter computer game developed by 3D Realms and published by GT Interactive Software. The full version was released for the PC . It is a sequel to the platform games Duke Nukem and Duke Nukem II published by Apogee...
.
- Darcourt's plan to attack Dubh Ardrain is codenamed "Mission Deliver Kindness", which has the same acronym as the game MDK
Inspiration
It is worth noting the large amount of similarity between Dubh Ardrain and Cruachan DamCruachan Dam
The Cruachan Dam is a pumped-storage hydroelectric dam and power station in Argyll and Bute, Scotland....
not just in the basic design but also in the geography of the surrounding area.