- Hardcover: 310 pages
- Publisher: Hamish Hamilton; 1st edition (5 Feb 1998)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0241139287
- ISBN-13: 978-0241139288
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 15.8 x 3.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 486,710 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Armadillo (German Edition)
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Lorimer Black may suffer from a serious sleep disorder and an obsession with the labyrinths of the British class system, but Armadillo's peculiar protagonist is the star insurance adjuster of London's Fortress Sure PLC, unaffectionately known as "the Fort". At the very start of William Boyd's noirish 7th novel, however, things take a decided swerve for the worse. On a bleak January morning one of his cases has apparently chosen to kill himself rather than talk: "Mr. Dupree was simultaneously the first dead person he had encountered in his life, his first suicide and his first hanged man and Lorimer found this congruence of firsts deceptively troubling."
Soon our hero, who himself has a lot to hide, finds himself threatened by a dodgy type whose loss he has adjusted way down and embroiled with the beautiful married actress Flavia Malinverno. "People who've lost something, they call on you to adjust it, make the loss less hard to bear? As if their lives are broken in some way and they call on you to fix it," Flavia dippily wonders. Lorimer also has his car torched and instantly goes from an object of affection to one of deep suspicion at the Fort. Then there is another case, the small matter of the rock star who may or may not be faking the Devil he says is sitting on his left shoulder.
Needless to say, Lorimer is "becoming fed up with this role of fall guy for other people's woes." Boyd adds a deep layer of psychological heft and a lighter level of humour to this thinking-person's thriller by exploring Lorimer's manifold personal and social fears. This is a man who desperately collects ancient helmets even though he knows they offer only "the illusion of protection." Another of Armadillo's many pleasures: its dose of delicious argot. Should Lorimer "oil" the apparent perpetrator of the Fedora Palace arson before he's oiled himself? Or perhaps he just needs to "put the frighteners" on him. Boyd definitely puts the frighteners on his readers more than once in this cinematically seedy and dazzling literary display. --Kerry Fried, Amazon.com
Review
'As entertaining and as thought-provoking as anything Boyd has ever written' Daily Telegraph 'Marvellously paced and ingeniously plotted. A real page-turner' - Andrew Motion, Observer 'Armadillo doesn't miss a trick. It has depth and resonance which will make you want to read it again... zinging readability' - Philip Hensher, Mail on Sunday 'A joy to read: east to get into, addictively plotted and beautifully written' - James Delingpole, Daily Mail 'As entertaining as anything he has written... brisk farce and dialogue that can be finger-licking good' - David Profumo, Spectator
--This text refers to the
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First Sentence
In these times of ours - and we don't need to be precise about the exact date - but, anyway, very early in the year, a young man not much over thirty, tall - six feet plus an inch or two - with ink-dark hair and a serious-looking, fine-featured but pallid face, went to keep a business appointment and discovered a hanged man. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
In these times of ours - and we don't need to be precise about the exact date - but, anyway, very early in the year, a young man not much over thirty, tall - six feet plus an inch or two - with ink-dark hair and a serious-looking, fine-featured but pallid face, went to keep a business appointment and discovered a hanged man. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Very enjoyable. Excellent characterization-one feels for Lorimer while recognizing his weaknesses.The large and colourful cast of characters is brought vividly to life.Plotting is ingenious and momentum maintained. Dialogue is idiomatic and witty. Avery good read.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is unlike any of William Boyd's other novels, or indeed any other novels that I have read. Almost the opposite of The New Confessions, it describes only a few weeks. It presents a man, with very little reference to his past, that you must learn about from his interaction with others and his, sometimes absurd, actions. I feel like I've met Lorimer Black and I really fancy Flavia. You become submersed in his world until you're unsure of you're own identity. Less of a thriller or a comedy than an intimate, naked portrayal of a small portion of a man's life.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio Cassette
I have just finished reading this book - having previoulsy read some of William Boyd's others.
I really enjoyed the 'modern British' style of writing and the plot was interesting, if somewhat frenetic.
All in all, a book to enjoy.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Buy the book - avoid the Kindle version
I am getting through this book... slowly. The most irritating aspect is the awful spelling and bad layout due entirely I believe to the 'Kindling' process. Read more
Published 5 months ago by missycat
Fine book - but a disgrace to Kindle
I make no comment about the book per se beyond the first two words of the title of this review: anyone reading it will infer correctly that I enjoyed this book greatly. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Nicky de Spinoza
William Boyd's "Armadillo"
Truely awful.
This book is the literary equivilant of bad Jazz. Incredibly self indulgent and so cloaked in over wordy description without hint of any story. Read more
This book is the literary equivilant of bad Jazz. Incredibly self indulgent and so cloaked in over wordy description without hint of any story. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Vince W
Duff Boyd - maybe it's just dated badly
Very disappointed - don't understand the fawning reviews littering the jacket. Every supporting character felt fake, one-dimensional, a function of the need to construct a filmable... Read more
Published on 15 Mar 2010 by Martin Blanc
A dark comedy of the metropolis
Armadillo is a shining achievement - one of Boyd's best books. It concerns Milomre Blocj (who has renamed himself Lorimer Black), of Eastern European gypsy extraction. Read more
Published on 3 Oct 2009 by Eileen Shaw
Lightweight, but fun
I enjoyed this when I first read it, though it is not one of Boyd's more intelligent novels. Unfortunately it was destroyed by the lacklustre TV adaptation (I forget whether Boyd... Read more
Published on 28 Feb 2008 by Sir Harold Woodbury
The master writes his millenial novel.
Armadillo by William Boyd
a pastiche of the mystery/thriller/crime works of confection we are bombarded with on the shelves of every bookstore. Read more
Published on 10 Aug 2001
Loss adjustment has never been so much fun
Cross Iain Banks with Ben Elton and you come up with this excellent little page-turner. Great characters, wonderful set-pieces and a crafty plot. Read more
Published on 25 Sep 1999 by N. Smith-Jones
Boyd gets better and better
I've enjoyed most of Billy boy's work before and this Armadillo is a pleasant animal to have on the bus with you. Read more
Published on 21 Sep 1999
Engaging and entertaining
After reading three so-called thrillers on a beach in Greece, I was looking for something different and found it in this book. Read more
Published on 4 Sep 1999
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