Resumen
Resumen de El pirata del automóvil
Para quién es
Readers who enjoy fast chases, gentleman detectives and early motoring, and anyone who likes a mystery solved by clues, a rival in love and a masked criminal who always keeps a step ahead of the law.
De qué trata este libro
The Motor Pirate is a thriller by G. Sidney Paternoster, set in the early days of the motor car in England. It is told by James Sutgrove, a young landowner from Norfolk, who sets out to write the true story of a masked highwayman who robs motorists from behind the wheel of a silent, boat-shaped car.
The book gives you a chase story with a detective at its centre, a courtship that pulls in the same direction, and a villain who always seems one road ahead. Sutgrove knows more than the papers do, because chance and his own choices put him close to the man. He promises to vouch for every fact he sets down.
If you like clues, night drives and a puzzle with plenty of suspects, this is the place to start. The story opens in a Soho restaurant, over a newspaper on the last evening of March, where two strange robberies in one night catch Sutgrove's eye. From there he turns to the first piece of news, the attack near Salisbury.
En este resumen
- 1Two robberies in a single nightFree
- 2The Pirate stops a Daimler
- 3A rival, a vow and a runaway night
- 4Forrest, a fast car and a body on the road
- 5The Brighton mail and the shots at Royston
- 6Evie's fear and Mannering's strange hold
- 7Forrest's trail and a night search
- 8Storm, a threat and the long chase north and east
- 9What the story is really about
- 10How the story is told
Idea clave 1 de 10
Two robberies in a single night
The story begins on the last evening of March in a Soho restaurant. James Sutgrove has invited two friends to dinner, and he arrives early to make sure the meal pleases them. One is Colonel Maitland, a famous judge of food and wine who also has a daughter Sutgrove admires. The other is Fred Winter, the most keen motorist in the country.
While he waits, Sutgrove reads the evening papers. The Globe reports a strange highway robbery near Plymouth, where a man in a hood fired a shot to wreck a car's machinery. The Star has a second report, from near Salisbury, and it is the fuller one.
Two motorists named Bradshaw and Roberts were driving at night when a long, low car overtook them with almost no noise. Its masked driver asked politely for their money and valuables, and when Bradshaw tried to swerve into him, the stranger's car shot ahead. Bradshaw's own car was smashed, Roberts was badly hurt, and the pockets of both men were emptied.
Winter laughs at the story over dinner and says no motor he knows could cover the roads between in under three hours. The Colonel blames the newspapers. Sutgrove is not so sure, though he has no idea how soon he will test the tale for himself.
This opening sets the mood for the whole book: a dry, polite voice in the dark, a car that nobody can name, and a country that cannot decide whether to laugh or be afraid.
That’s 1 of 10 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Questions about El pirata del automóvil
What is The Motor Pirate about?
It follows a masked highwayman who robs motorists at night from a fast, silent, boat-shaped car, and the young man Sutgrove and Inspector Forrest who track him across England while Sutgrove also courts Evie Maitland.
Who is the Motor Pirate?
The book keeps the answer as part of the mystery for most of its length. Sutgrove, Forrest and the reader weigh several suspects in the circle around St. Albans, and clues about hair, voice, a bullet and a stud build up.
When was The Motor Pirate written and is it a true story?
G. Sidney Paternoster wrote it in the early years of motoring, in the Edwardian period. It is a work of fiction, told as if it were a true account by Sutgrove, and it uses real roads and towns.
Is The Motor Pirate easy to read?
It has short chapters, a friendly first-person voice and plenty of dialogue. The chases and detective scenes move briskly, and the clues are laid out in a way that invites you to guess along.
What kind of car does the Motor Pirate drive?
A long, low, boat-shaped car that runs almost silently at very high speed. Characters guess at petrol or electricity, and the book later explains the engine in the workshop scenes.