Items related to Armadillo
Synopsis
Book by BOYD, William
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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
From the Publisher
"Darkly comic"
--Booklist
"Everything good fiction should be...It begins with a jolt...and then goes on to become even
better"
--David Nicholson, Washington Post
"A satirical noir...probing, droll, and full of rewards"
--Ben Greenman, Time Out
"A real page-turner"
--The Observer, London
"Zesty & brilliantly on-target...Lorimer's adventures have enough of an alarming edge to keep a reader constantly, and delightedly, off balance"
--Publishers Weekly
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherHamish Hamilton
- Publication date1998
- ISBN 10 0241139287
- ISBN 13 9780241139288
- BindingHardcover
- Edition number1
- Number of pages318
- Rating
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Armadillo
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Hamish Hamilton, 1998
ISBN 10: 0241139287
ISBN 13: 9780241139288
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Armadillo
Published by
Hamish Hamilton 05/02/1998, 1998
ISBN 10: 0241139287
ISBN 13: 9780241139288
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Armadillo
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Armadillo
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Penguin Books Ltd, United Kingdom, London, 1998
ISBN 10: 0241139287
ISBN 13: 9780241139288
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Paperback. Condition: Good. Lorimer Black goes to keep a perfectly routine business appointment and finds a hanged man. His life is turned upside down and inside out. To compound matters, he falls in love with a married actress and his job degenerates remorselessly. The book has been read but remains in clean condition. All pages are intact and the cover is intact. Some minor wear to the spine. Seller Inventory # GOR003702493
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Armadillo
Published by
Penguin Books Ltd, United Kingdom, London, 1998
ISBN 10: 0241139287
ISBN 13: 9780241139288
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Seller: WorldofBooks, Goring-By-Sea, WS, United Kingdom
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Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Lorimer Black goes to keep a perfectly routine business appointment and finds a hanged man. His life is turned upside down and inside out. To compound matters, he falls in love with a married actress and his job degenerates remorselessly. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. Seller Inventory # GOR002566904
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Armadillo
Published by
Hamish Hamilton 05/02/1998, 1998
ISBN 10: 0241139287
ISBN 13: 9780241139288
Used
Hardcover
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