61 pages • 2 hours read
Irvine WelshA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Before You Read Beta
Summary
Part 1, Chapters 1-3
Part 1, Chapters 4-6
Part 1, Chapters 7-10
Part 2, Chapters 11-13
Part 2, Chapters 14-17
Part 3, Chapters 18-19
Part 3, Chapters 20-21
Part 4, Chapters 22-24
Part 4, Chapters 25-28
Part 5, Chapters 29-31
Part 5, Chapters 32-33
Part 6, Chapters 34-36
Part 6, Chapters 37-39
Part 6, Chapters 40-42
Part 7, Chapter 43
Character Analysis
Themes
Symbols & Motifs
Important Quotes
Essay Topics
The last chapter of the book shows Mark, Simon, Danny, Frank, and Second Prize taking on a major drug deal in London—a very lucrative one. They have a contact, Andreas, who connects them with a major dealer, Gilbert. Gilbert knows that the Edinburgh boys are anything but the “professionals” they think they are (as previously claimed by Frank) and underpays them for a price of £16,000. The boys are happy with this price, however; it’s a huge haul. They want to go celebrate.
Mark, however, claims that he isn’t feeling well. He has relapsed; he and Danny were taking hits of the heroin stash they were meant to sell earlier. While the other boys go out and party, Mark makes off with their money. He deposits half of the cash into his bank account and then buys a ticket to Amsterdam. His remorse is limited; the one person he feels bad about cheating is empathetic Danny: “Spud had never hurt anybody, with the exception of a bit of mental distress caused by his tendency to liberate the contents of people’s pockets” (343).
Mark knows that Frank will kill him if he catches him and that he can never return to