The Ultimatum

Jeremy Fisk #3

by Dick Wolf, Peter Ganim (narrator)

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 threats are made by an anonymous third party 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.

Genres: Thriller, Fiction, Mystery, Crime, Suspense, Mystery Thriller, Audiobook

Audiobook

First published June 16, 2015

About the author

Richard Anthony "Dick" Wolf is an American producer, specializing in crime dramas such as Miami Vice and the Law & Order franchise. Throughout his career he has won several awards including an Emmy Award and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Wolf worked as an advertising copywriter at Benton & Bowles creating commercials for Crest toothpaste, all the while writing screenplays in the hopes of a film career. It was at this time that he briefly collaborated on a screenplay with Oliver Stone, who was also a struggling screenwriter at the time. He moved to Los Angeles after a few years and had three screenplays produced; one of these films, Masquerade starring Rob Lowe and Meg Tilly, was well received. He started his television career as a staff writer on Hill Street Blues and was nominated for his first Emmy for an episode (entitled "What Are Friends For?") on which he was the only writer. He moved from there to Miami Vice, where he was a supervising producer.

Wolf's Law & Order, which ran from 1990 to 2010, tied Gunsmoke for the longest-running dramatic show in television history, making it one of television's most successful franchises. It has been nominated for the most consecutive Emmy Awards of any primetime drama series. Wolf serves as creator and executive producer of the two current Law & Order drama series from Wolf Films and NBC Universal Television – Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Law & Order: UK – and did so for the three that have been cancelled – Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Law & Order: Trial by Jury and Law & Order: Los Angeles. In addition, he was the creator and executive producer of NBC's courtroom reality series Crime & Punishment, which chronicled real-life cases prosecuted by the San Diego District Attorney’s office.

Wolf's company also produced Twin Towers, the 2003 Academy Award-winning Short Documentary about two brothers, one a policeman and the other a fireman, who lost their lives in the line of duty on September 11, 2001. Wolf was also involved with the production of a theatrical documentary about the popular rock group The Doors, titled When You're Strange.

Wolf's personal honors include the Award of Excellence from the Banff Television Festival, the 2002 Creative Achievement Award from NATPE; the Anti-Defamation League’s Distinguished Entertainment Industry Award, the Leadership and Inspiration Award from the Entertainment Industries Council, the Governor’s Award by the New York Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, the 1997 achievement award from the Caucus for Producers, Writers, and Directors, the 1998 Television Showman of the Year Award from the Publicists Guild of America, the 2002 Tribute from the Museum of Television and Radio, and a 2003 Special Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America.

Wolf is also an Honorary Consul general of Monaco and is actively involved in the principality’s prestigious annual Television Festival, and is its primary liaison with the entertainment community.

On March 29, 2007, Wolf received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7040 Hollywood Boulevard.

In addition to having been a classmate of former US President George W. Bush, Wolf was an employer of Fred Thompson, who sought the Republican nomination for President in 2008 with help of the national attention he gained playing the district attorney on Law & Order. Wolf supported Thompson in his bid, as he did Bush, as it has been reported that he contributed money to Thompson even before he officially announced he was running.

Wolf was credited with "Special Thanks" for the episode "Basic Lupine Urology" from "Season 3" of NBC's "Community", an homage to the style of his Law and Order series.

Wolf developed Chicago Fire, an drama about a group of men and women working at the Chicago Fire Department. The series was picked up by NBC in May 2012, and premiered on October 10, 2012, with meek numbers in the ratings and minimal reviews.

Reviews

[Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The Ultimatum” by Dick Wolf reads like a “Law and Order” episode from the popular T. V. series. Dick Wolf was the screenwriter for the series. The book is well written and moves along at a fast clip. The characters are interesting, and the dialogue is crisp. Apparently, this is the third book of a series about Detective Jeremy Fisk, but it also works well as a stand-alone story. The book kept my attention through-out. My only complaint is the use of so many acronyms. Dick Wolf is a master storyteller. I highly recommend this story if you are looking for an exciting thriller.

I read this as a paperback. It is 415 pages published in 2015 by William Morrow Company.

[Glen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A wikileaks type leaker leaks Jeremy Fisk's home address, and Fisk finds himself hunted by criminals. A journalist, of course refuses to give up her source to help law enforcement. Meanwhile, a serial killer is randomly killing people throughout the city, and Chicoms are spying on everybody.

Pretty good stuff. I'm surprised the series ended at three books.

[The Celtic Rebel (Richard) · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the first book I read in the Jeremy Fisk series, I quickly chose Dick Wolf as one of my favorite authors. I was already in love with his writing from his TV shows and movies. I absolutely loved the first 2 Jeremy Fisk novels and although I liked this one a lot I felt it was the weakest in the series.

I still loved Jeremy Fisk and getting to look even further into the character's development, but I felt the other characters here just didn't live up to their full potential. I liked Chay Maryland but didn't even like her as much as Fisk's former love interests in the first 2 books. There just didn't seem any chemistry that leapt off the pages between Fisk and Chay as there was in the female counterparts in the previous two books.

I loved that there were many twists and turns, and a lot of action as Fisk fought off assassination attempts from the cartel and searched for the identity of the killer called The Yodeler. By the end though it got very predictable to me. I was hoping that Wolf would prove my predictions wrong but sadly it happened just as I saw it.

I still hope that Wolf will continue the series, and I look forward to reading more. I just hope the next entry will be as strong as the first two.

[Mike French · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very enjoyable read. Equal to first book of series and much better than the second! Best to read books in order, so start with The Intercept.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the third book in this series and to me wasn't the best as far as the story goes. As we all know Dick Wolf is associated with the Law and Order series and we do know how long that has been on the air. The story continues with Fisk being the main character but this time he has a hit man after him because his personal data was put on the internet. Remember Fisk is after terrorists but before that he was assigned to that department it was a regular detective in NY so he mad a lot of enemies. Fisk is trying to stay hidden so he doesn't get killed but he also has to find a sniper that is killing people at random. It has a lot of twists and turns and a surprised ending.

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won a copy of The Ultimatum by Dick Wolf through a Goodreads First Reads giveaway. Detective Jeremy Fisk is an interesting main character, with a great combination of street smarts, intelligence, and tenacity. The place where this book fell short, however, is in the story itself. The action sequences were great, but the author spent too much time on the technical aspects and too little on character development. Besides the fact that most of the decisions made by the police would never have been done in real life, there was too much piled on that decreased the believability factor. With regards to Jeremy's information being leaked, the police department would have done more to protect him. The police department would not have made certain decisions, despite the fact that ordinary citizens were being targeted. There is no way that Jeremy would have been allowed to work so closely with a reporter, although I can believe that the police sometimes use the press to help catch criminals. Author Dick Wolf can clearly write, as is evident by his successful television writing career, so my hope is that this book is not a representation of his abilities to write fiction. I look forward to reading more by this author in the future, as I feel that character Jeremy Fisk is interesting enough to deserve a second reading.

[R J Mckay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book from Goodreads in exchange for an honest review.
Detective Jeremy Fisk attracts danger like a trouble magnet. He dodges murder at every corner throughout a book with more twists and turns than a plate of spaghetti. I’m amazed at how logically he dissects his attackers and uses their own actions against them… Absolutely Amazed!
Even more amazing is how Dick Wolf always grabs today’s headlines and weaves them into a deadly what-if scenario. First he takes a well discussed wiki-leak topic and turns it into a plot that drives Fisk far underground just to survive while losing every cent and possession he owns. Then he evolves inexpensive drones that we see as simple play toys into a murder platform that panics millions of people. Intertwined with this twisted, devilish plot we follow Fisk and Chay Maryland, a devious, secretive reporter, attempting to unmask and catch a brilliantly smart and evil sniper. But before they can catch him they must figure out what he really wants and what drives him to kill.
This book enthralled me, thrilled me, and scared me half to death! Very scary and very, very good!

[Aaron Cochrill · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was given a free pre-copy of this book for my honest review. This book is extremely well written as usual. The situations offered are scarily realistic possibilities that are utterly believable. Wolf's character development of Fisk is terrific, as he wrestles with his past demons and continues to move on with his life. For those who haven't read the first two books, the story intertwined with them without leaving those who haven't read them lost and confused! The ending also provided a twist I hadn't anticipated. I couldn't put this book down, to the effect that I didn't get anything done one day and stayed up way too late the next. I can't wait for the next one!!!

[Kathy Heare Watts · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won a copy of this book during a Goodreads giveaway. I am under no obligation to leave a review or rating and do so voluntarily. I am paying it forward by passing this book along to a family member who I think will enjoy it too.

[Scott Mather · Rating 1 out of 5]

First 2/3 of the book: 0 stars
Final 1/3 of the book: 1 star
Generously rounded up to an overall rating of 1 star

[Shelley · Rating 1 out of 5]

No, just no. Stick with the Law and Order shows and skip this.

[Bea · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Although it's the third book in the series you can read this as a stand-alone, but it would be best appreciated if you read the other books first. Much of what happens stems from events in book two, "The Execution". My favorite is still the first book, "The Intercept".

In "The Ultimatum", Fisk is living off the grid, hiding out from people who want to kill him for events that happened in the previous book. Fisk gets involved with two different but related cases - a hacker who leaked government secrets and a killer who's randomly murdering people until the hacker is released. He is forced to work with a reporter and it's an uneasy alliance, with neither trusting the other. Wolf explores, though not deeply, the issues of public safety, the public's right to information, and the government's need/desire to withhold information in the interest of national security.

The story is full of twists and turns and kept me guessing. Full of action, the story is also a dream for readers who technology and gadgets. I'm not sure how many are real and how many were created for the story but some are scary, Big Brother in the extreme. In fact, much of the story was scarily plausible though a few things stretched credibility. There was a lot of techno babble, and government agency abbreviations were thrown around and most not explained. When we were given explanations, they were sometimes dry.

The book is light on character development and heavy on action but Wolf also has a keen eye for people's foibles and a quirky, sometimes dry humor. Fisk, despite working for New York City Intel and working with various government agencies is very much the lone, rogue hero, doing his own thing to solve his cases and bring about justice. When he works with others, he does so reluctantly and is usually disdainful of them. In the end, he gets the job done, but how many people will die first?

"The Ultimatum" wasn't quite as thrilling for me as the first book, but it's definitely suspenseful and kept me on my toes. The pacing could have been tighter and some of the professional speak toned down but it was an interesting story, and supremely relevant to our time.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

To the point: It's a high action, fast paced thriller that will keep you reading with a fast heartbeat until the very end.

Review: What can I say, Dick Wolf knows how to write and everyone knows that. Of course his book would be brilliant. The writing is wonderful and it's so flawless you can actually get lost in the book and forget reality. The imagination to create this plot is genius and the crime and action are so dramatic it makes this book non stop excitement.

There's also a lot of mystery, trying to find out who wants Fisk dead and why and what they need to do about it. It's almost like this book was written to be on the screen. The characters are developed really well and the plot is dramatic and complex with not a single word wasted.


It's a big book but you won't want to stop reading. Finding a place to close the book for the night is incredible difficult because you'll need just one more page, just one more detail. But it won't end there, that next page will just draw you in further and you wont get any sleep that night. Everyone loves a hero. And this book delivers. This book gives you so many characters that you will connect with you'll feel like you met a whole new world of people.


Five stars, Dick Wolf is fantastic, flawless what else can I say? It's the perfect book for it's genre.


Recommendation: I recommend this for action seekers, lovers of public service and government agencies and thrill lovers.

The Ultimatum by Dick Wolf. William Morrow (June 16, 2015). 357 pages. Fiction: American, thriller. I received this copy through a Goodreads giveaway.

www.amandanicolebooks.wordpress.com

[Gloria Feit · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[David V · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bottom line: I thought this book was terrible. I've read the three books in the series and gone from 4 stars to 3 stars to 2 stars, so I think I'm done. Technical wizardry, gadgets, and acronyms do not make up for a barely-there plot. I was praying for an editor during particular chase in a garage which felt interminable with layers and layers of description of walls, elevators, and every corner that was turned. Unlike the author, I will get to the point - I definitely wish I had passed on this one.

[Jeff · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is an extremely disappointing and formulaic book. After reading the first Fisk novel and somewhat enjoying it, I gave this one a try. Big mistake.

While the plot was somewhat interesting, it was also ridiculous and the ending was awful. It is as if Mr. Wolf was forced to finish the book in x number of pages and he tried to close out both plotlines in a tidy, quickly conceived insane manner.

I will be skipping any further books in this series.

[Connie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good read but not a great one. There are drones killing people in this one so it was a bit scary given all the drones in the news that are invading air space for planes attempting to land at various airports in the US. I have read Wolf's two other Jeremy Fisk books and I think they were better.
Recommended but not to buy. I got my copy from the local library.

[Tulay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good written book.

Dick Wolf spend so much time on operation logistics and detailed description on everything. You hear and smell the New York city. Hope using this kind of technology doesn't give any ideas to evil people that lives among us.

[John Hanscom · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author is known for the TV "Law and Order" franchise. The book is like watching an extended episode - long on action and detail, not much depth, and lots of fun.

[Jerry Jares · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dick Wolf is a fine writer with a great sense of moving a story along with dispatch.  Jeremy Fisk is an NYPD detective; this is a stand-alone novel that is the third of three novels in this series (see below).  Jeremy's home address is leaked through a WikiLeaks type leaker (Verlyn Merritt).  Within hours, Jeremy is accosted in his Sutton Place apartment and his bank accounts are emptied.  Jeremy's life is getting turned upside down, but why?  Then, someone starts demanding that Merritt be released or he will start killing people randomly. Before long Jeremy suspects that folks are being killed by a drone.

I had two major problems with this book.  A technophile will love this book; me, not so much.  I thought it was too wordy (the author was showing off how much he knew about drones and other sci-fi technologies).  Second, I just don't buy into Armageddon-type thrillers.   However, I have to give the author his due; the pages flew past, plus the dialogue and characters were interesting.

Jeremy Fisk Series  
1. The Intercept(2012)  
2. The Execution(2014) 
** 3. The Ultimatum(2015)

[Steve Edelman · Rating 5 out of 5]

An Amazing Trio

I love finding an Author who writes a series with compelling characters, great plot twists and vivid dialogue & descriptions. That’s what I found in Dick Wolf’s Jeremy Fisk Novels.

When I finished the first novel, “The Intercept”, I immediately purchased the second and third books in the series - “The Execution” and “The Ultimatum”. I took five-days to finish the 3-book series.

The Protagonist, Jeremy Fisk, is part of the NYPDs Intelligence Division currently assigned to the Joint Terrorism Task Force - a Federal, State & Local Governmental Agency tasked with rooting out domestic & International Terrorists targeting NYC.

Mr. Wolf’s stories are extremely vivid in fleshing out plot lines that keep the reader constantly trying to unravel the ‘whodunit” before the end of each book. His descriptions of people, places and events play on the reader’s imagination so that every page is transformed into a visually graphic depiction of what’s happening.

The only “negative” comment I have is that there are currently no more books in the series… an omission I hope Mr. Wolf rectifies at his earliest possible date.

[Wanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite an involved thriller. Jeremy Fisk, an NYPD detective, has his personal information broadcast on the web and some killers from a drug cartel are hunting him. His bank accounts have been drained and he can't stay in his apartment. He confronts a reporter who is interested in releasing more information that a guy has obtained and would put lots of law enforcement people at risk. Then some people are murdered and Fisk is investigating and they find out it is related to the man arrested for obtaining all the confidential information. The killer is using drones. Fisk has the reporter assigned to shadow him and he goes about trying to find the killer.
He ends up becoming involved with the reporter, foiling several attempts on his life, and works on saving the citizens of New York City. Story involves lots of technical details about how law enforcement works in New York City and operations of drones. Describes well how a terrorist can instill panic, how the police go about trying to find the terrorist. Keeps you on the edge of your seat.

[Ric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cinematic mystery thriller, 3rd in a series.

New York City apparently has its own anti-terror spy organization, and Jeremy Fisk is its leading agent. Two events start out the main threads of the novel. In one, a Snowden-like character has released classified information that included Fisk's home address, and within a few hours a hit squad is knocking on Fisk's apartment intent on a cartel style execution. In the second, a murder in the park gets Fisk's department's attention as it seems to have been perpetrated using a weaponized drone. In this action-infused narrative, both threads quickly develop into major violent situations involving the main character who must use his detective skills and lots of luck to resolve both.

I liked the book for its detailed exploration of drone technology, with the unfortunate applications and consequences to crime and terrorism, and existing and potential countermeasures. The material is handled with the attention to detail of a hard science fiction novel, in the spirit of Heinlein's exploring the scenarios to the extreme. For this alone, I kept on with the book right through the foregone conclusion.

The drama and action of the book however seem a bit theatrical --- unlimited number of bad guys willing to shoot it out with high powered weapons in the middle of NYC, a beautiful reporter who falls for the taciturn OCD-ish Fisk, a genius villain who is one step ahead of the alphabet soup of state and federal authorities --- all of which probably works in a movie, but did not work for me in the slower form of the audiobook. There's too much time to consider if the actions taking place actually make sense

Anyway, this is a solid 4 stars, maybe even 4.5. For me, I will have to go back to book 1 (The Intercept: A Jeremy Fisk Novel ) to see what all the fuss is about.

[Kaitlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This had been sitting on my 'Want to Read' shelf longer than any other book, so I feel accomplished that it has finally been marked as 'Read'.

This one is not as memorable as the first two. I feel that years later I still think of scenes of the first and second in this series but this one takes longer to recall. Additionally, I was icked out by the description of the female characters while reading; it was glaringly obvious that it was written by an old, white male.

I don't think that this was a super satisfying ending to the series; but I feel that police procedural series are hard to end in a satisfactory way in general.

[Warren Whitmire · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another excellent thriller by Dick Wolf. Some of the situations strain credibility, but it's an exciting and, in some ways, realistic thriller. Why only three stars? Well, there are a couple of points at which the book seems disjointed, and a couple of points at which it is not immediately clear how much time has passed between significant events. Still, I strongly recommend it if you like thrillers with realistic details sprinkled into the story. Note: the details on surveillance technology are good.

[Read Ng · Rating 3 out of 5]

For some reason I just couldn't really get into this one. Parts were fine, but overall it just did not seem to flow together right. I guess there were too many subplots going on that seemed thrown in just to add chaos to the situation. Perhaps this is where the TV portion of Wolf's background creeps in and take control. Anyway, read the first two and just assume this one doesn't exist and you will be just as happy.

Have a GoodReads.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intel detective Fisk and others had their private information leaked and now is a constant victim of identity theft. His leaked data is also helping an assassin, hired by a cartel to get their revenge, to track his whereabouts. Meanwhile, New York City residents are being killed by a serial killer by drones. Fisk and a New York Time reporter, who is also being targeted, team up to stop the pardoned attacks while trying to avoid being killed. Over the top action but a good read.

[Mhd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as the first two. Lots of characters to keep track of and more than one crime in process. Just kind of ends...as though the director ran out of film and they needed to tie it up quickly without all the development and explanation that had gone on earlier. What's interesting is how FISK is able to see clues that others missed and figure out connections.

[Stewart Cotterill · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were four or five strands to this story and at least three of them were brought into a story where the master storyteller who is Dick Wolf dealt with them with his usual brilliance. However there were at least two strands which, whilst woven into the story successfully, had, in my mind, unsatisfactory conclusions.

[Carylanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

sorry to see this series came to an end. I listened to three back to back audiobooks, and can say with clearity they are great. I left them all waiting to see how Dick Wolf would top the first, then #2 and finally three, Well written, catch ya in the first chapter and the ball rolled on well into 11 hours. Thanks to a special cop and all the well defined characters, you just can't go wrong.