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A review by akahn26
A Big Boy Did It and Ran Away by Christopher Brookmyre
2.0
2.5 Stars
I added this book to my TBR pile after stumbling onto the 3rd book, "A Snowball in Hell," in this series and wanting to start it from the beginning. After finishing the first one and having such lackluster feelings towards it, I've put this series on the back burner for the time being.
The story revolves around the ups and downs of the relationship between college besties Raymond Ash and Simon Darcourt, both reveling in their pasts as indie rock stars and the opposite directions each has gone since then. Raymond chooses the simple life of a school teacher/video gamer and the joys of the early yet tiring years of fatherhood with his wife. On the other hand, Simon takes up the hobby of terrorism, going to lengths such as faking his own death to continue his murderous ways under the pen name of The Black Spirit.
The story kicks off many years following Simon's "death" and in which the two spot eachother at a distance at the airport. Raymond obviously thinks he's seen a ghost and tries to brush it off. But Simon, in all of his brashness, decides to entangle Raymond as a pawn in his latest scheme. As Raymond becomes entrapped in all of the chaos, the local police bring on board the 3 major character, Angelique De Xavier. She uses Raymond as her resource to help track down the Black Spirit and shennanery ensues.
The story itself has an intriguing hook to it, as Raymond reenacts his life as if it were a video game. But it pretty much stops there as the local scottish dialect leads to many instances where I had to sound out the terms. The characters themselves aren't very likeable and left me just spectating from the sidelines and not really caring what happens to everyone. The ending felt rather rushed over the last 15 pages and didn't allow me to suspend my disbelief with the conclusion of the story. All in all, it felt as though I had to trudge through most of this book with not much enjoyment upon the wrap up.
I added this book to my TBR pile after stumbling onto the 3rd book, "A Snowball in Hell," in this series and wanting to start it from the beginning. After finishing the first one and having such lackluster feelings towards it, I've put this series on the back burner for the time being.
The story revolves around the ups and downs of the relationship between college besties Raymond Ash and Simon Darcourt, both reveling in their pasts as indie rock stars and the opposite directions each has gone since then. Raymond chooses the simple life of a school teacher/video gamer and the joys of the early yet tiring years of fatherhood with his wife. On the other hand, Simon takes up the hobby of terrorism, going to lengths such as faking his own death to continue his murderous ways under the pen name of The Black Spirit.
The story kicks off many years following Simon's "death" and in which the two spot eachother at a distance at the airport. Raymond obviously thinks he's seen a ghost and tries to brush it off. But Simon, in all of his brashness, decides to entangle Raymond as a pawn in his latest scheme. As Raymond becomes entrapped in all of the chaos, the local police bring on board the 3 major character, Angelique De Xavier. She uses Raymond as her resource to help track down the Black Spirit and shennanery ensues.
The story itself has an intriguing hook to it, as Raymond reenacts his life as if it were a video game. But it pretty much stops there as the local scottish dialect leads to many instances where I had to sound out the terms. The characters themselves aren't very likeable and left me just spectating from the sidelines and not really caring what happens to everyone. The ending felt rather rushed over the last 15 pages and didn't allow me to suspend my disbelief with the conclusion of the story. All in all, it felt as though I had to trudge through most of this book with not much enjoyment upon the wrap up.