Michael Sloan created and wrote the 1980s TV series The Equalizer, about a character who was part retired James Bond, part street justice vigilante. In 2014, about the time Denzel Washington re-created the character for the movie based on the TV series, Sloan published The Equalizer, a novel giving the Equalizer's back story.
Robert McCall has recently retired from his deep black CIA division and settled into a New York apartment. He wants to live a simple, quiet life, but when he sees someone in trouble, he can't resist helping out. He befriends a young lady who is a regular at the restaurant where he tends bar. A paid dancer at a night club, her boss is pressuring her into prostitution. McCall gets involved, and gets in deeper than he ever imagined. The contacts from his past life are not as far away as he would have liked.
The Equalizer flashes back to his covert days, and brings those past days into the present, as he contacts old friends and confronts old enemies. While there are many parallels to the TV show and movies, McCall in the novel feels like a different character. This novel is not the basis for the movie. I'm not sure about the TV show; I have seen a few episodes, and I didn't recognize the plot from any episodes I've seen. So it's best to view the novel as a stand-alone work.
In some ways, McCall reminds me of Jack Reacher, without the drifting. Sloan has clearly updated the Equalizer character from the TV show, and added lots of 21st century pop culture references and use of technology. He weaves sub-plots together with the major plot, and fills in McCall's networks around the city, in the back streets, subway tunnels, restaurants, and specialty shops. It's an entertaining read that fills out the enjoyment of the small screen and big screen versions of Robert McCall.
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