Amazon.com 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 noir-ish seventh 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 humor 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
Product Description From the acclaimed author of "Brazzaville Beach" and "The Blue Afternoon" comes a new novel, set in present-day London--and demonstrating the superbly plotted storytelling that has earned Boyd his reputation as a writer whose "eccentric wit and restless intelligence exert a powerful appeal" ("New York Times Book Review").
MY OUTSTANDING READ FOR THE YEAR 2001December 28, 2001 Mr Pineapples(Rural England) 14 out of 14 found this review helpful
Lorimer Black is a loss adjuster working in the City of London. Unwittingly he becomes a pawn in a darker world and a side of business life, where corruption, greed and snobbery prevail.
From the outset this book had a hold on me. It was fascinating immediately, and very funny. I recognised the characters in people I know and laughed outloud so many times that I became a real pain to those within earshot. I very rarely find literature funny, only Spike Milligan in fact.
The writing is crisp and flows beautifully.
The bad type of British male: slobby, uncouth, aggressive and misogynist was supremely portrayed in Torquil Helvoir - Jayne. I have seen these guys so many times in real life. William Boyd makes the point that despite his name and connections Torquil is no different to other pig ignorant individuals who happen to be below him in the class order.
William Boyd has a fine reporter's eye and can build characters that are believable and a wonder to behold.
There are a number of important themes in this book but the main one is the struggle to be someone other than ourselves. A British trait I am afraid, a response to the class bias where we are judged as soon as we open our mouths, in our accents, the way we speak and dress.
Like so many others in Britain poor Lorimer fell for it hook, line and sinker.
There is a great play in names: Milo Blocj becomes Lorimer Black, David Watts the clapped out rock star had also changed his name. Pretence and more pretence.
The book says that underneath it all we are all the same insecure and fragile individuals. Eventually the unreality catches up and drags us down. We wear armour that eventually proves to be too heavy, to be discarded so that real life can enter. Hence the armadillo - the little armed man. The layers are slowly stripped away. And the final piece - the helmet is cut away.
Despite Lorimer's adherence to style and clambering up the English greasy pole of class snobbery, in the end he reverts back to himself - Milo the European ethnic. That's when he starts to live life and find true happiness.
It is a great book and one of my best reads for the year 2001. I can't wait to read some more William Boyd.
Ranks with the best of Martin Amis, Ian McEwan, & W. TrevorFebruary 18, 1999 2 out of 2 found this review helpful
A brilliant piece of psychology as well as a genuinely good read. Boyd makes the reader really care about his highly flawed protagonist, who is among the most believable in modern literature. "Armadillo" ranks with the best work of William Trevor, Martin Amis, and Ian McEwan.
A profound and brilliant novelMay 26, 1999 chrisad@wantree.com.au or Chris Adamson(Perth, Western Australia) 2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Hilarious and thought provoking. Boyd brings the reader so close to his main character, were it not for for his previous works you would scarcely believe Armadillo is not significantly autobiographical.
Way-out, weird wonderful workSeptember 20, 1998 1 out of 1 found this review helpful
It is a cold winter's day in London that is about to get much colder for claims adjuster Lorimer Black, who must feel that he is visiting the Twilight Zone. He goes to see his client, Mr. Dupree, only to find him hanging from the ceiling, an apparent suicide. After calling and dealing with Officer Rappaport of the police, all Lorimer can think of is what a way to start a day.
Not to long after that, an over-insured hotel burns down and his boss wants Lorimer to investigate. Frauds and scams seems to be the message of the day. However, life subsequently turns truly rotten for Lorimer. His car is vandalized and his father abruptly drops dead. Before he can even begin to mourn, he is fired. What's a man to do, when you suffer from a sleep disorder? Hopefully you get a dream-laden, good night's sleep.
If ARMADILLO sounds weird and a bit off centered, don't lose any sleep because that is what the novel is all about. In the capable hands of William Boyd that strangeness works, providing the reader with an ironic but extra dark look into London whose pendulum fails to swing back and forth. Lorimer is a wonderful character, whose world is falling apart in spite of his efforts to simply fit in with his peers. Readers who enjoy a dark intrigue need to try Mr. Boyd's latest novel because it is a winner.
Harriet Klausner
A real return to formJanuary 4, 1999 nickyb(Hong Kong) 1 out of 2 found this review helpful
It was marvellous to be able to pick-up this new novel by one of my favourite authors and realise that he had found a rich vein of inspiration. Although at times the novel and some of its characters reminded me of recent Martin Amis, Boyd managed to avoid the excesses of that author. The London setting was real, the bars were real and the people were spinechillingly real. The character of Lorimer Black was pure genius and one so wanted him to escape unsacthed. The marvellously brutish Hogg was still a character one could warm too but not get too close. And one could write about Flavia forever. The plot twists and turns into a complex maze that make you read this book into the early hours. A gem.
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