Manhattan Lockdown

August 1, 2016
At the start of this fast-moving if unconvincing terrorist thriller from Batista (The Borzoi Killings), New York City's mayor, Roland Fortune, is celebrating his birthday at the roof garden of the Metropolitan Museum of Art when a series of bombs detonated in food carts along Fifth Avenue claim hundreds of lives, including that of his significant other. As Manhattan is placed on lockdown, Fortune's police commissioner, Gina Carbone, the NYPD's first female leader, scrambles to find those responsible for the outrage, even as the terrorists strike elsewhere. Unlikely developments, such as the U.S. president flying into the city without the NYPD being told he was en route, could have been dispensed with without lessening the drama inherent in the book's premise. None of the characters have any depth, and odd turns of phrase (the doctor attending to an injured Fortune is described as a "sober man with the weight and presence of a rabbi") further detract from what could have been a suspenseful look at a plausible scenario.

May 1, 2016
At Manhattan's Metropolitan Museum of Art, during a star-studded birthday party in honor of the mayor of New York City, an apparent terrorist attack kills more than 1,000 people. This is followed by attacks on other NYC icons. The mayor, lucky to survive the museum attack, locks down Manhattan. Although there are several government agencies investigating the attacks, it's police commissioner Gina Carbone who vows to bring down the terroristsno matter what laws she has to break. The author takes a rather implausible storya police commissioner operating outside the law? Under the noses of the FBI and Homeland Security?and somehow makes it seem like it could, just possibly, happen. He uses his setting effectively, showing that, even 15 years since 9/11, the city is in many ways still recovering and, in the face of new terror, ready to accept someone taking a strong hand in its defense. A solid thriller that will keep action-craving readers interested.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)