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[[quoteright:318:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/A_Big_Boy_Did_It_and_Ran_Away_8820.jpg]]

The first novel by Creator/ChristopherBrookmyre to feature FairCop Angelique de Xavia as the heroine, it also suffered from 9/11-related bad timing for its original strapline "Terrorism is the new Rock'n'Roll". Moving on...

Raymond Ash is a thirtysomething former indie musician and game-store entrepreneur, now making a living as an English teacher, a task made no easier by his pupils or the colicky new baby that constantly gets between him, his partner, and sleep. And then one day he sees a face from the past that can't possibly be there. And then plot ensued.

Angelique de Xavia is a short, short-tempered, ethnic minority Glaswegian policewoman who finds herself on the trail of a bigger target than she'd expected - and with about as much backing up and support as you'd expect under her circumstances.

And then it all comes together, and to a head.

!!Tropes present in this work:
%%* BreakTheMotivationalSpeaker
%%* BrattyHalfPint: ''All'' of Ray's students.
%%* BrokenAce: Simon.
%%* CassandraTruth: Ray.
%%* ChewToy: Ray.
%%* DeadpanSnarker: Angelique and Div.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Ray recognizes [[spoiler: Simon]] at the airport because of his characteristic way of [[IncomingHam walking]] as if [[TheAce wearing a cape]] and with people [[BigEntrance "blawin' trumpets either side of the doorway'."]]
%%* EveryoneWentToSchoolTogether: Sort of. College, anyway.
%%* FairCop: Angelique
%%* FakingTheDead
%%* FireForgedFriends: Ray and Angelique.
%%* FreudianExcuse
* IJustWantToBeSpecial: Several characters, with Angelique the main exception and [[spoiler: Simon]] as Exhibit A.
* ItsAllAboutMe: Simon Darcourt all the way. He always wants his own way and cannot bear it if he is not the center of attention at all times. One of his early targets found out the hard way that [[BerserkButton taking credit for his work is a very bad idea.]]
%%* LoserGetsTheGirl
* MeaningfulName: Rank Bajin. Which is also {{punny|Name}}.
* TheNicknamer: Simon, a malign version.
%%* ObfuscatingStupidity: Div.
* OldShame: Someone went to a lot of trouble to hide his Music/{{Queen|Band}} records...
%%* PaedoHunt
%%* PsychoForHire: The Dark Spirit.
%%* RivalTurnedEvil
* SerialKillingsSpecificTarget: The chief villain kills everyone on a passenger jet simply in order to fake his own death.
* ShoutOut: Simon Darcourt is named after a character in Canadian author Robertson Davies' ''Cornish trilogy'' - though he does not resemble him much. At all. In any way.
** International arms dealer Shaloub "On a sunny day like this, however, you can call me Shub" N'gurath is a VideoGame/{{Quake}} shout out--as well as the Franchise/CthulhuMythos.
** Simon's assumed name for his assignment, Gordon Freeman, is a shout out to ''VideoGame/HalfLife'', as is the name of the power station the climax takes place in, Dubh Ardrain, which is (roughly) the Scots Gaelic for Black Mesa.
** Also ''Half-Life'', the SAS Captain is one Adrian Shepard.
* SociopathicHero: What "The Dark Spirit" thinks he is. Angelique has another theory: "He's a total wanker".
* TheTetrisEffect: Raymond Ash has just survived an assassination attempt by diving into a river. The next chapter featuring him opens with him making his way towards a ladder out of the water... and he hears the sound of a [[VideoGame/{{Quake}} quad-damage powerup]], and now his attackers are carrying railguns instead of handguns. He wakes up, realizes that he'd conflated the events of the previous night with a computer game, and [[DiscussedTrope recalls the times]] when he was playing another game, would spot a fire extinguisher or barrel and automatically think "switch to melee" to blow his way into the next room.
%%* UnfazedEveryman: Ray.
%%* {{Unperson}}
* VillainOpeningScene: The first chapter is from Simon's POV.
* ViolentGlaswegian: Angelique, though more in the literal sense than the trope sense.
** "This is police brutality, ya fuckin' black bitch."\\
"No it's not. But you call me that again and I'll show you what is."
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