‘The Ultimatum’ By Dick Wolf

Published by William Morrow,
16 June 2016.
ISBN 978-0-0622-8683-3(HB)

26, January 2016.
ISBN 978-0-0622-8686-4 (PB)

Merritt Verlyn, loosely patterned on WikiLeak personage Julian Assange, is arrested and held in jail pending trial.  Then a series of sniper attacks begins, with the continued threat of one person being killed each day until Verlyn is released from prison.  Detective Jeremy Fisk takes the lead in an effort to stop the killer who has brought the City of New York to a standstill.  Meanwhile a Mexican cartel has placed a contract on the NYPD intelligence detective, adding to his woes.

Thus begins an exciting chase with plenty of action.  Originally, Verlyn, who possessed thousands of classified and sensitive documents, released a few to Chay Maryland, an investigative reporter for the New York Times, including Fisk’s unlisted home address, exposing him and others to vast dangers, setting up a conflict for the need of secrecy vs. Second Amendment rights.  The question of how this will be resolved is another interesting development.

The conclusion is far-out, more suited to a technocratic motion picture, perhaps, but makes for more and more thrilling descriptions, a specialty of the author, the writer, producer and creator of the TV series Law & Order.  Part of a series, the novel is a page-turning stunner, and is recommended.

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Reviewer: Theodore Feit

Dick Wolf  Richard Anthony "Dick" Wolf, born 20 December 1946 is an American producer, specializing in crime dramas such as Miami Vice and the Law & Order franchise. Wolf attended the University of Pennsylvania. After graduation, he launched a successful career in advertising; he wrote and produced over 100 TV commercials and penned the slogans "You can't beat Crest for fighting cavities" and "I'm Cheryl, Fly Me" for National Airlines.

Throughout his career he has won several awards including an Emmy Award and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

He started his television career in 1985, when he joined NBC's Hill Street Blues team as an executive script consultant and stayed through the show's final season, earning Emmy and Writer's Guild nominations.  In 1988, Wolf formed his own television production company, Wolf Films, which produces Law & Order and its many spinoffs. Wolf has also produced films such as School Ties, No Man’s Land and Twin Towers

 

Ted and Gloria Feit live in Long Beach, NY, a few miles outside New York City.  For 26 years, Gloria was the manager of a medium-sized litigation firm in lower Manhattan. Her husband, Ted, is an attorney and former stock analyst, publicist and writer/editor for, over the years, several daily, weekly and monthly publications.  Having always been avid mystery readers, and since they're now retired, they're able to indulge that passion.  Their reviews appear online as well as in three print publications in the UK and US.  On a more personal note: both having been widowed, Gloria and Ted have five children and nine grandchildren between them.