Alternative Law Journal

The Intercept

Mike Daly

the intercept by dick wolf Dick Wolf; Sphere Hachette, 2012; 400pp; 29.99 (paperback)

For two decades Law and Order was a must-watch TV for crime aficionados and legal professionals alike. By avoiding sensationalism and focusing instead on the routine of criminal investigation, trial preparation and process, the US series provided unsensational, yet engrossing insights into the work of New York police detectives and the district attorney’s team of prosecutors.

It spawned spinoffs from Los Angeles to the UK, Paris and Russia, plus the superior Law and Order Criminal Intent and voyeuristic Law and Order Special Victims Unit (still running) until finally, series creator and prolific screenwriter Dick Wolf has turned novelist.

Intercept is a solidly-plotted thriller, set in New York (of course), that sends dedicated NY anti-terror cop Jeremy Fisk on the trail of a Machiavellian conspiracy devised by Osama Bin Laden before his demise. It’s admittedly current, in light of the Boston bombings, and comes with the almost mandatory endorsements of best-selling writers — in this case, Lee Child and Harlan Coben.

If Intercept is more absorbing procedural than page-turner, Wolf has woven in a mass of convincing contemporary detail, as well as some real-life New York figures. The drama revolves around a foiled hijack, spawning the inevitable media circus, but to reveal more would be a spoiler. Don’t be surprised if this evolves into a Homeland-style TV mini-series. It certainly reads more like a screenplay, although that’s common among contemporary thriller authors.

MIKE DALY is a journalist and crime thriller enthusiast.

Cite as

(2013) 38(2) AltLJ 136