West 47th
By: Gerald A. Browne.
Publisher: Warner Books
Published: 1996
Place of publication: New York, NY
Language: eng
Number of pages: 390
Subjects: Insurance investigators -- Fiction; Jewelry theft -- Fiction; New York (N.Y.) -- Fiction
Other titles: West Forty-seventh
Description: In the heart of New York City is a solid block of buying, selling, haggling, and handshakes over million-dollar deals. West 47th Street is the diamond district. And whenever a big jewel heist is pulled off anywhere, the men and women on the street know about it - fast. Now the word is out about a robbery in New Jersey that left a rich Iranian dead, his adulterous wife fighting for her life, and six million dollars worth of hot goods ready to hit the market. That's where Mitch Laughton comes in.

A former Madison Avenue jeweler, Mitch Laughton makes a lucrative but highly dangerous living: he recovers stolen insured jewelry. He's married to Maddie, a lustful, gorgeous, wealthy woman, who despite being blind plays flamenco guitar in the nude and lavishes luxuries on him. The last thing Mitch needs is more excitement in his life. Then he takes on the case of the Iranian jewel heist... and is caught in a violent spiral of deceit.

In pursuit of the missing swag, Mitch must confront two vicious though very different mobsters, a disillusioned cop, a half-mad fence, and informants of all shades. Yet it's only when Mitch makes a remarkable recovery of the missing merchandise itself that he finds the truth. Still out there is a pair of inscribed emeralds worth twenty-five million dollars to the finder.

More than enough to turn honest men into liars, thieves into killers, and Mitch and Maddie into a couple who must run - and fight - for their lives.