Let me tell you what I love about Dick Wolf's Jeremy Fisk
novels. THE ULTIMATUM is the third in the series, and they
cannot be beat for intense, clever, thrill-a-page plots.
Wolf is an incredibly detailed author and -- as you might
expect from the creator of the "Law & Order" franchise -- he
knows police procedure and New York City backwards. Reading
each scene, you get a sense of how everything looks, how the
people are acting, what the weather is, not so much as to be
tedious, but enough that you can picture it all very
clearly. He introduces you to even minor characters, so that
they become real people -- and sometimes those individual
idiosyncrasies figure in later.
Wolf is also a master of tying in the latest technology,
trends in crime and terrorism, and current events. Many times a plot point will
remind me of something I've seen
in the news this week and had to marvel that Wolf wrote the
scene months ago. I'm quite sure that months from now,
something similar to a point in this novel will be making
the headlines. In THE ULTIMATUM, we have covert
surveillance, cybersecurity, and drones. Detective Fisk
enjoys having advanced tools to fight crime, but in this
novel he sees firsthand the dark side in having every aspect
of your life tied in to the grid. Playing devil's advocate,
at least part of the time, is reporter Chay Maryland, who's
ready to go to prison to protect a man who stole and leaked
dangerous classified documents.
THE ULTIMATUM is like a braided rope. Three distinct threads
make up the plot and they twist and curve together, then
split off again. It is amazing, fast-paced, thoughtful and
intelligent, and it will surely delight readers who enjoy
thrillers, spy novels, police procedurals, and mysteries.
You can probably read THE ULTIMATUM without reading the two
other Fisk novels -- THE INTERCEPT and THE EXECUTION --
but I recommend starting at the beginning. They're all
excellent reads and much of the plot in the third book
builds off events in the first two.
Detective Jeremy Fisk tracks a serial sniper who has
mastered state-of-the-art airborne technology to hunt his
prey in this chilling thriller from the New York
Times bestselling author and creator of the Law &
Order franchise.
When a leaker named Verlyn Merritt
releases sensitive documents from the NYPD Intelligence
Division to WikiLeaks, some of the deadliest criminals have
access to Detective Jeremy Fisk’s unlisted home address.
Within hours, three mysterious assailants arrive at his
Sutton Place apartment. Who are they and why do they want
Fisk dead?
Authorities quickly identify and arrest
Merritt. But the case takes a sinister twist when an
anonymous third party makes threats if authorities don’t
release Merritt immediately. Forced from his home and his
bank accounts drained, Fisk confronts Chay Maryland, a
reporter who has been covering Merritt’s case. Fisk wants
the journalist’s help to get close to the leaker—to find out
what Merritt really wants and who else is
involved.
The investigation is nearly derailed when a
serial sniper begins shooting people on the street who seem
to have no connection to Merritt’s case. The killer’s aim is
eerily accurate—and Fisk believes the shooter might be using
a drone rigged with unusual sighting capabilities. Then the
sniper contacts the New York Times and promises to
kill one person every day, “for the greater good of the
citizens of America.
With the clock ticking and
millions of lives at stake, Fisk and Chay must find the
mastermind before he can wreak havoc on a city paralyzed by
fear.