Justice

Starred review from June 30, 2003
Ex-cop Mahoney's eighth masterful police procedural (after The Protectors) again brings together New York's most famous sleuth, the brilliant but unassuming Det. Brian McKenna, and his infamous sidekick, gifted but boorish Cisco Sanchez, who doesn't always play by the rules. Called back from their Florida vacation to investigate the assassinations of a Colombian drug lord and two of his legmen, McKenna and Sanchez arrive just in time to learn that the vigilante killer—signing himself "Justice"—is sending letters to a reporter that reveal hidden drug caches and plans to execute other drug dealers. Suspecting Justice may be a former cop, McKenna and Sanchez strike a deal with the reporter, agreeing to provide him with inside information about the case if he will keep them informed of the contents of Justice's letters. The executions continue and the case takes on a political dimension as the public sides with the vigilante for intervening where the law has been powerless. This hero worship is heightened when the vigilante gives millions of dollars in laundered drug money to religious orders. Suspecting his smug, egotistical partner may know more about the killer's identity than he is willing to share, McKenna is torn in his loyalties and increasingly frustrated. When the vigilante's identity is finally unveiled, a fast-moving series of shootouts and heart-wrenching decisions make for a spectacular climax. Mahoney is a genius at transforming the details of the workaday police grind into a spellbinding thriller, and he is in top form here. His characters are fully human, their moral quandaries wrenching.