entertaining tale of a loss adjuster sliding sideways into a complex fraud. well written, with some great characters. a surprising decision to spell out the detailed routes our hero takes when travelling around London.

good holiday read

I like William Boyd but, for me, this wasn't one of his best. It was just too surreal, too murky, the characters too unpleasant, and it took too long to gather momentum in terms of plot.

It would be unfair to say it wasn't well written or didn't conclude effectively, but if this was his usual style I wouldn't be a fan. I had to force myself through the first hundred pages because it took that long to become coherent for me.

I did enjoy the discussion on sleep disorders, particularly the conclusion. And I would never say he wasn't an intelligent and gifted storyteller.

Impressive writing, intricate and complex. I was totally taken by the story, the protagonist and all the improbable occurrences including the entertaining romantic entanglements real and imagined. His descriptions of the minor characters, spare yet fully roughed out were brilliant. An excellent read all the way through..

3.5. Enjoyable but a bit slow. Or not? Hmm.

Much better than I was anticipating and sometimes that's the best result. Looking to be underwhelmed and it turns out rather fantastic. Funny, irreverent, and just a quirky love story in the end about an insurance adjuster.

I did not really finish this book because I could not bear it. My bookmark is and will always be stuck on page 36.

The odd flash of brilliance in a very patchy novel that doesn’t really know what it is.

I was delightfully sucked into the vortex of this book, with multiple and sometimes cumbersome streams flowing in parallel, wondering what the heck was going on, hoping it would all turn out well, and then, it just seemed to end. I'm not normally one for perfect, tidy endings, but I did wish for a little more here.