EAST 43RD STREET

Can you summarize the book in two minutes?

Nathan Marley, an old-fashioned private investigator and the main character, lives in a important place of New York city, which is the 43rd street, next to the popular Chrysler building.

The story begins with Nathan Marley sitting in McFadden’s Bar six days before Christmas. He sees a beautiful, expensively-dressed woman with huge diamonds. Marley decides to follow her but he loses her in the crowd.

But in the morning he sees her in his office, because unfortunately he had been selected by her and her husband as a fall guy for their devious plan. So, Angela Lake (the rich woman) says to Nat that he have to reclaim a briefcase of jewelery from a locker at Grand Central Station, but this jewelery were’nt there, so it was a lie.

But he was not so stupid as they had imagined, so he don’t trust the woman, and he contact sneak with some people that can help him, such as a member of the NYPD because he sees that is involved in a case of criminal activity involving fraud, computer hacking and kidnap.

At last, they get Angela told the truth about the story, so she told that, they didn’t have got the jewelry, and the ones they had weren’t real, so they were expensively-dressing and wore jewelry because people wouldn’t suspect about their debts.

Is there a mystery sentence or a mystery point in the story?

If I have to chose a mystery point in this story, I will chose the part where Angela Lake confess that the jewelry that they have got aren’t real and that the ones they were are false. So I think that this is an important moment, or sentence, because the argument of this book, and the problems that are the center of the story, begin because of the jewelry and because of the wealth of the Lakes.

When and where does the story take place?

I think that that’s obvious because the title of the book is east 43^rd street, so it happens in New York City. We can especially notice places like the fifth avenue, known by the Empire State building, McFadden’s Bar, which is also in the 43^rd street, and the Grand Central.

The time when the story takes place doesn’t appear, but we can situate it now, maybe few years ago, but not much. So we know that it starts on a cold evening of December, three days before Christmas.

Who are the main characters in the story? What’s their role?

Nat (Nathan Marley) is the main one, so he is an old-fashioned private investigator which has always had the ordinary work for an investigator, but in this story he have got to be involved in a very complicate case, because a rich couple of New York has lied him. He shows his intelligence when he doesn’t trust Angela Lake investigate first her case.

Angela Lake, when Nat first see her, seems a very rich and beautiful woman, who is expensively-dressed and who have got special legs that Nat cannot forget. But then, when Nat investigates her case, at the end of the book, Nat discover that Angela Lake is a dangerous woman who is involved in a case of criminal activity with her husband.

Robert Lake is Angela’s husband. He is more dangerous, so Angela is, in some way, his servant because is always involved in his problems related to the kidnap, the computer hacking, etc. Robert is a very dangerous man, so he is intelligent and he uses his intelligence to make fraud, kidnap and computer hacking.

Stella is the Nat’s secretary. She always worried about him when he is involved in dangerous cases. Stella knows all about Nat and she tries to help him whenever she can; so Nat is very proud of her.

Choose one character (main or secondary) and describe him/her.

Nathan is the main character. He is an old-fashioned private investigator who lives in New York. He is a little pessimistic, so he explains that he goes often to a pub called McFadden’s bar in order to forget all his troubles by drinking beer. He doesn’t seems to be very rich, so he describes his office like an small place and he dreams of having his office in the Chrysler Building. Especially at the end of the story he shows that he is intelligent and that he don’t want to be in troubles, so he prefers his ordinary work , such as resolving divorce cases or things like that.

Can you identify with any character? Why?

No, I think that’s impossible in this kind of story, so here the characters haven’t got a lot of importance. Here the most important is the action, and the characters aren’t much described. But I have to say, that in reference to the moment wen Nat is about being deceived, I would also called sneak the police because of not being arrested.

Choose your favourite moment in the story.

My favourite moment here is maybe the end, when Nat is about dying, and finally Angela Lake tells the truth. But I have to say that I don’t like this kind of stories, so I prefer the parts where the narrator describes the city and the streets where the story take place.

Which new key words have you learnt to understand the story?

Crowd, manner, kidnap, strength, line-up, headquarters, jail, fee...

Provide an alternative ending.

Angela Lake, the beautiful woman, fall in love with Nat (Nathan Marley), so she can’t hide more what’s happening. She tells him the truth, she tells him that her ex-husband Robert Lake has been involved in lots of kidnaps and computer hacking and that she was involved strength too. Then Nat and Angela give proof at the NYPD and they arrest Robert Lake. So my ending finishes with the Angela and Nat’s wedding and their honey moon in Turkey.

Would you recommend this book? Why?

Personally, I would recommend this book only to those persons who really like the thrillers, and the action stories; because it has disappointed me, so when I chose it, the first I noticed was the cover and I like it a lot, I thought that it would be a different story set in New York, but I think that I would have like a different kind of book. But I know that there are people interested in this kind of stories ¿Why not?