Review of "The Intercept' [97]

The Intercept: A Jeremy Fisk Novel  
by Dick Wolf
William Morrow, ISBN 978-0062064837
December 26, 2012, 400 Pages

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In our post 9/11 world, taking a trip in an airliner is not what it once was and the level of passenger alertness is much different than it was in the past. So when a young man on a flight into NYC jumps up with a knife and grabs a stewardess by the throat in an attempt to hijack the plane, it is the passengers who jump into action, 5 of them taking him down with little harm down.
And becoming, along with the stewardess, instant celebrities, The Six.

But for Jeremy Fisk it is all just a little off, a little too simple, a plot uncharacteristic of what we know about terrorist's plans after the death of Bin Laden. As head of NYC's Intelligence Division, a very well-funded anti-terror group modeled on the CIA, his job is to think outside the box, look for shadows where no one else sees them. Could the attempted hijacking have just been a distraction for something much bigger, a case of sleight of hand? Could this just have been one small part in a much more complicated and much more horrible plot of death and destruction on this Fourth of July weekend in the Big Apple?

I do read the occasional thriller, but they are not my go-to genre.
Still, when I read that Dick Wolf, the man behind my beloved Law an Order TV series was writing a book, I knew I would be reading it.
And I was not disappointed.

This is a well written, fast paced book with enough twists and turns to keep you up late, flipping those pages. But best of all it is a smart book! Oh, how I love a smart book.
The characters, all the characters, are smart, not one clue going unfollowed. How I hate a book where I have to shout at the pages about some glaring omission on the part of my book mates. Especailly since they never seem to hear me!
Not at all necessary in this case, happily.

There are many twist and turns but every one of them is logical and makes total sense. This book often reads like a screenplay (please do NOT cast Tom Cruise as Fisk..please) which is hardly surprising considering the authors past. That is not a bad thing. In fact, it leads to excellent dialogue and some great secondary characters, not least of which is Fisk's girlfriend Detective Krina Gersten.

I believe I read that this is the first book in a planned series and when the next one comes out, I will be in line to get a copy. There is no greater praise that I can give a book but that I am anxious to read the next one.
If you or a loved one is a thriller fan, I think this is one that you will thoroughly enjoy.

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