A Big Boy Did It and Ran Away - Christopher Brookmyre

Terrorism - not a subject that most people would want to base a comedy book around. Since Sept 2001 this is increasingly true, but books did come out before this date, in fact, some books came out in 2001 before September. One such book is 'A Big Boy did it and Ran Away' by Christopher Brookmyre and opens with several terrible acts of terrorism. Could this book in light of events still hold up to scrutiny? Is it possible that its message has become even more potent due to the events that occurred after it was written? Or is it just another silly crime comedy book that deserved to be treated thus? A plane crashes, a bridge collapses, a train derails, and a ...  Read the complete review

'A big boy did it and ran away' was the first Christopher Brookmyre novel I read, a couple of years back now. It's a heady mix of international terrorism and petulant rants against popular Indie bands, set against a backdrop of computer game nerdery of the naffest order. And almost everyone in it is Scottish. Not that I've anything against the Scottish, but after reading both Trainspotting and A Clockwork Orange in the past year (not to mention giving up on Feersum Enjinn), I’m getting a bit fed up of reading books which require a degree in linguistics to understand the dialogue. And I HAVE a linguistic degree. And yet I quickly found myself ...  Read the complete review

OK so one serial killer vs. an English teacher from Aberdeenshire. A really poor quality plot devised by a bored 15-year-old working his way through double Macbeth... or so you might think. In fact this is quite excellent bog reading. Some of the hit man murders are both graphic and believable. However, this is an intelligent and witty writer and he nails together what may seem to be a pretty thin plot with some genius one liners. Any fan of Brookmyre will love this. However, for the uninitiated I believe that Quite Ugly One Morning (his first work and still arguably his best) is the best to buy first. There is nothing too new here, and that is ...  Read the complete review