Starred review from November 11, 2019
In Edgar-finalist Ide’s stellar fourth IQ novel (after 2018’s Wrecked), genius detective Isaiah Quintabe, who usually helps those in need in his impoverished East Long Beach, Calif., neighborhood, takes on a paying client. Angus Byrne, a vicious white supremacist who’s also a major arms dealer, wants Isaiah to investigate the shooting murder of an employee of his, Tyler Barnes. The obvious suspect is Byrne’s daughter, Christiana, who was found next to Barnes’s body in the store she owns in Newport Beach. Byrne tells Isaiah that unless Christiana is cleared, the detective’s significant other, violinist Stella McDaniels, will have her fingers broken. The stakes rise when Isaiah meets Christiana and learns that she has multiple personalities, each with separate recollections of the events leading to Barnes’s murder. The unexpected return, after two years, of Isaiah’s true love, former client Grace Monarova, complicates his task. Readers will root for Ide’s distinctive lead every step of the way. This innovative series continues to show promise for a long, high-quality run. Agent: Esther Newberg, ICM.
April 1, 2020
Isaiah "IQ" Quintabe is a self-styled detective in Long Beach, CA. IQ is coerced by Angus Byrne, a black-market arms dealer, into clearing his daughter Christiana from blame in a murder that took place in her Newport Beach boutique. Christiana suffers from multiple personality disorder, and no one personality saw the entire incident. To find out what really happened the night of the murder, Isaiah must piece together clues from each of the personalities. If he can't, Angus will end the career of IQ's new girlfriend. Zeno Robinson, a Disney voice actor, gives personality to a huge cast of characters and enables the listener to empathize and understand their motivation and entrapment in a very desperate society. VERDICT This is a fast-moving, violent story with lots of sociopolitical commentary, and is highly recommended for adult audio fiction collections.--Cliff Glaviano, formerly with Bowling Green State Univ. Libs., OH
Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
November 15, 2019
Unlicensed, untrammeled, uncensored South Central shamus Isaiah Quintabe's fourth case could be his toughest--and not because it's so hard to figure out whodunit. Nobody says no to arms dealer Angus Byrne, and he certainly doesn't intend for IQ to be the first. So when East Long Beach's premiere unofficial investigator, who's been kidnapped and marched into the dealer's presence after declining an earlier invitation from his goons, indicates in no uncertain terms that no, he's not interested in clearing Angus' daughter, custom tailor Christiana Byrne, from suspicion of shooting Tyler Barnes, Angus' very best employee, Angus promptly turns up the heat, threatening to break the hand of IQ's girlfriend, violinist Stella McDaniels, if Christiana is so much as arrested for murder. Not enough pressure for you? Well, IQ's attachment to Stella is about to be seriously tested by the return of his lost love Grace Monarova, who took off for New Mexico with IQ's dog in the wake of his last adventure (Wrecked, 2018). And Christiana turns out to be not one but five suspects, including homebody Pearl, seductive Marlene, adolescent Jasper, and guardian Bertrand, all fighting for attention and control inside Christiana's tormented psyche. Figuring out which of the five personalities witnessed which events on the night of the murder and which of them can remember and describe anything about what really happened would be a tall order for any sleuth. But although he isn't just any sleuth, IQ has to juggle a record number of subplots and distractions, from his buddy Thomas Kahill's sudden yearning for true love to the maneuvering of Angus' lieutenants for control of his arms empire to a series of increasingly intemperate skirmishes over a particular prize, a modern rendition of a Gatling gun. Mystery and detection compete with a gorgeous swarm of supercharged personalities on their own wild rides.
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Starred review from December 1, 2019
Isaiah "IQ" Quintabe, the Sherlock Holmes of East Long Beach, usually winds up taking on two kinds of investigations: pro bono cases in which his friends from the neighborhood pay on the barter system, and the other, not-so-amiable kind, where serious bad guys threaten bodily harm, either to Isaiah or those closest to him, if he doesn't solve whatever seemingly inexplicable problem they face. This is that kind, and it's a doozy. The sleaziest of arms dealers, Angus Byrne, corrals Isaiah into finding the murderer of one of his associates (both of Isaiah's girlfriends, new and old, are at risk if he doesn't deliver). This is no everyday murder investigation: Angus' daughter, Christiana, is the likeliest suspect, but that's only the beginning?Christiana suffers from multiple personality disorder, and, while she was present when the murder took place, she and her four other personalities, also present, saw only pieces of what happened. Naturally, "they" all tell different stories. Usually, Ide walks the thin line between light and dark, playing off moments of caper-novel hilarity against outbursts of violence and the angst of misfired relationships, but this time angst wins by TKO. No matter. Ide goes dark with the skill of a noir master, leaving Isaiah in a very bad place and the reader gasping for breath. A stunning change of pace from one of crime fiction's new stars.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)
November 15, 2019
Isaiah Quintabe has had some wild cases in the past, but nothing like this latest gig working for notorious criminal and all-around bad guy Angus Byrne. The odious Angus strong-arms IQ into investigating the murder of fellow criminal, Tyler Barnes, who was killed in his daughter Christiana Byrne's Newport Beach shop. Christiana is the lone witness and naturally the prime suspect, and Angus threatens to harm Isaiah's girlfriend, Stella, if IQ doesn't find out who finished off Tyler. It's difficult enough to work the case under duress, but Christiana suffers from multiple personality disorder and each personality saw something that night but not one of them saw it all go down. In the midst of this mess, Isaiah's lost love Grace has returned to town, wreaking havoc on his heart. Add to that a Cambodian street gang and some illegal arms dealing and you've got just another day in the life of East Long Beach's most acclaimed private eye.
VERDICT With a convoluted plot that is hard to keep straight, as well as numerous overt political screeds against the current administration, Ide's fourth IQ novel (Wrecked; Righteous) forsakes a winning cast and excellent storytelling for something less satisfying than a compelling mystery. [See Prepub Alert, 7/8/19.]--Amy Nolan, St. Joseph, MI
Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.