Dick Wolf

The backstory: The Execution is the second novel in Dick Wolf's Jeremy Fisk series, after The Intercept. This review, like the book itself, contains spoilers if you have not read The Intercept.

The basics: Shortly after the Mexican presidential election, twenty-three beheaded bodies are found beheaded on the U.S. border. Mexican intelligence officer Cecilia Garza recognizes it as the work of Chuparosa, a man she's been chasing for years. Meanwhile in New York City, it's United Nations Week, show more and NYPD terrorism detective Jeremy Fisk must keep numerous world leaders, including the newly elected Mexican president, safe.

My thoughts: After being surprised by how much I liked The Intercept, I was eager to see what The Execution had in store for Jeremy Fisk and the United States. Fisk is still reeling from the events of The Intercept, and Wolf doesn't shy away from revealing plot details. The Execution is clearly not intended to double as a standalone, and that's a good thing for Fisk's character development. Fisk is a dynamic character, and I particularly enjoy his antihero tendencies. He's a good guy, but he doesn't always play the rules.

Fisk shared the spotlight with another well-drawn character, Cecelia Garza. Her backstory is as fascinating as her present, and she demonstrates Wolf's ability to craft strong characters besides Fisk. The pacing in The Execution never feels frantic, but one of the reasons it's such a thrilling read is the sense that no one is truly safe. Wolf is a bold plotter, and I hope that continues in his thrillers. As a reader, I like to think of even beloved characters in true peril, as it mimics the realities of life so well.

Favorite passage: "Life. So strange the paths we take. I think that to meet anyone on a crowded city street, even for an appointment, is a small miracle. But for us, for our lives, to intersect again like this, twenty years after leaving the incubator of the university...it is not mere fate, it is something richer. Not necessarily fraught with meaning..but profound nonetheless."

The verdict: While not quite as compelling as The Intercept, The Execution is a tightly plotted, well-crafted thriller. The action is intense, but thankfully it slows down from time to time to offer some poignant moments with its well-developed characters. show less

The backstory: Dick Wolf, perhaps most famous for creating all of the Law & Order series, as well as my beloved Chicago Fire. The Intercept is his first novel, presumably of a series, given the subtitle: a Jeremy Fisk novel.

The basics: Jeremy Fisk is an NYPD officer who works in the Intelligence Division to combat terrorism. When a terror attempt on a commercial flight is disrupted days before July 4, when One World Trade Center is set to be dedicated, Fisk and partner Krina Gersten work to show more figure out who was behind the attack and what they might be planning next.

My thoughts: As much as I adore all things Law & Order (and Chicago Fire), I was somewhat skeptical about this novel. Does Wolf have novel-writing chops? Having brilliant ideas for television shows isn't easy, but it's also not necessarily the same skill set as writing a well-crafted terrorism thriller. My fears were soon put to rest, as Wolf skillfully developed characters and mixed it with a compelling and smart terrorism plot. The Intercept succeeds initially because it is so close to reality. Osama bin Laden is a character, and Wolf pulls the traditional "ripped from the headlines" stories you'd expect from the Law & Orders. The more you already know about these current events will likely heighten your enjoyment of this novel. Things are shocking and provocative, but they're logical, which makes it even more frightening:
"For every terror plot that arose organically, which is to say without domestic law enforcement interference--the underwear bomber in a jetliner over Detroit, or the planned attack on Fort Dix, New Jersey--two others originated with the prodding of undercover federal agents. Not unlike actual terror cell leaders, they radicalized vulnerable Muslim suspects by fomenting anti-American dissent and supplying the conspirators with dummy materials, such as fake C-4 explosive or harmless blasting caps. These paper conspiracies were then passed off as major law enforcement victories, vanquished threats to say that the FBI had instigated more terror plots in the United States since 9/11 than Al-Qaida."
Wolf also manages to write from the point of view of terrorists eerily: "They must be made to believe we repeat ourselves out of a desperation to act." My biggest problem Andre Dubus III's Garden of Last Days was that the voice of the terrorist wasn't believable. Wolf manages to bring understanding, if not quite empathy, to the mind of a terrorist. I said to more than one friend who pondered "who could do this?" after the Boston Marathon bombing: read The Intercept. It may not fully answer the question, but it gets quite close.

Favorite passage: "I have not lost God, Miss. What I have lost is the idea that I can ever know what God is. That is why religion has become a curse on the earth. Nobody can know. But everybody presumes. Many are willing to kill without knowing. Without even thinking."

The verdict: The Intercept is a confidant, smart, and thrilling debut. Jeremy Fisk is a fascinating and flawed character, and I eagerly await his next adventure. show less

NY City some years after 9/11, and Jeremy Fisk, a NYC intelligence detective, and his cohorts are working to keep the city safe on the eve of the new One World Trade Center building opening. But you don’t know that until page 76 because Wolf chose to throw many boring pages of just background info at us -- necessary I suppose, but very clumsily executed. It took forever and a day for this to really grab me, but then when it did, I was in its grip. Those first chapters were slow and show more confusing, though, and I can see many readers giving up before the interesting stuff starts. The interesting stuff is a new terrorist plot being revealed through some very good intelligence work. Wolf is sure to let us know that The Patriot Act and the NSA are used to the max to obtain information on an entire planeload of tourists, not to mention American citizens--surely intrusive, but nevertheless legal. On p. 103, Patriot Act is even used as a verb, which gave me a chuckle:

“He use a credit card for his flight?”
She checked. “He did.”
“Let’s Patriot Act that account, shall we?”

The terrorists are Saudis and followers of the late Osama bin Laden, with a little help from our fellow Americans. There’s a lot of action at the end so I stayed up very late to finish it last night. show less

Wow. So much action centered on New York City. The FBI, other agencies, and NYPD's Intelligence Unit and specifically Detective Fisk are working to track threats. Someone is angry that Merritt Verlyn has been arrested and jailed for leaking sensitive NYPD Intelligence docs to WikiLeaks.

New York Times reporter Chay Maryland covers the scoop she received from Verlyn, and while not agreeing with his methods she doesn't condone government 'spying' on its citizens. When she and Fisk first meet show more they both show their claws because each believes (s)he is 100% right. But working together to find a dangerous man from harming New Yorkers they listen and learn from each other.

Additionally Fisk is being hunted by drug cartels and terrorist orgs intent on his early demise because of his work in locating, arresting or killing their agents, slowing down and/or stopping their 'businesses.'

While over the top on so many levels, this series is oddly fun to read. One can also learn about science, technology, law and what responsibilities many government agencies have, and how they mostly work together for the good of the US. show less