Armadillo

Another existential thriller from William Boyd. I think I prefer Boyd in his more overtly comic-novel mode but this was a very good read. Lorimer Black is an insurance loss adjuster who finds his life unraveling in sinister and random ways. It's the most prose-y of the Boyd novels I've read this summer. By that I mean he seems to be writing at an almost Martin Amis level of metaphorical ingenuity; fizzy prose is one way to think of it. The story is frustrating, in the sense that the protagonist is frustrated, unable to discern what exactly is happening in his life. This sounds a little like I didn't like this book but I did; it reads like a very smart thriller.