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reillykid7's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
radioactve_piano's review against another edition
3.0
Overall, interesting plot and themes -- Ide grapples with some real shit, and this book has some of the realest: white supremacy and mental health. It felt slightly more sloppy than previous books somehow, though -- there were scenes that had minor inconsistencies, and the word choices were a bit more repetitive. Still a good read, but not as good.
And IQ is a major asshole again, in a surprising way. Guess maybe I shouldn't be surprised? But book one set him up in a way that every time he's such a giant asshole, it's still jarring.
And IQ is a major asshole again, in a surprising way. Guess maybe I shouldn't be surprised? But book one set him up in a way that every time he's such a giant asshole, it's still jarring.
misscazz1224's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
2.0
The storyline was good, but there were just so many slurs that I couldn't really like it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Gun violence, Racial slurs, and Homophobia
hmuraski27's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
rainbowbookworm's review against another edition
4.0
After a lackluster third book Ide and IQ are back in full form. This time the amateur sleuth is trying to solve a murder in which the only witness is a woman with 5 personalities. Yes, the ending was a bit predictable, but the journey sure was fun!
cchartier's review against another edition
4.0
I love Isaiah and this is a great, contemporary detective series (I miss his dog Ruffin though).
The IQ books have a lot of the signifiers of traditional American detective books (brilliant and ethical detective with a traumatic past, beautiful but troubled love, quirky cast of surrounding characters, coincidences that make some things work out right), but still read fresh. This fourth installment is fast-paced, solid storytelling, with rival gangs for the drug trade shooting it out while IQ tries to solve the murder of a arms dealer when the only witness suffers from multiple-personality disorder. That should be a terrible premise, but it Ide makes it work.
The IQ books have a lot of the signifiers of traditional American detective books (brilliant and ethical detective with a traumatic past, beautiful but troubled love, quirky cast of surrounding characters, coincidences that make some things work out right), but still read fresh. This fourth installment is fast-paced, solid storytelling, with rival gangs for the drug trade shooting it out while IQ tries to solve the murder of a arms dealer when the only witness suffers from multiple-personality disorder. That should be a terrible premise, but it Ide makes it work.
plantbirdwoman's review against another edition
4.0
I decided to give Joe Ide another chance after being somewhat disappointed by Righteous which I read a couple of months ago. I'm glad I did. This one was a definite improvement. It had an interesting plot and well-developed characters and Ide's protagonist, Isaiah Quintabe (IQ), comes into clearer focus in this one.
Angus Byrne is one of the biggest, maybe the biggest, dealers in illicit arms sales on the West Coast, and his right-hand man has just been murdered, mowed down while in Angus's daughter Christiana's boutique shop where he was having a suit fitted. There seem to be few clues and the police are focusing on Christiana as their number one suspect.
This is an unacceptable situation for Angus for several reasons; first and foremost because she is his daughter. He is desperate to have her cleared and free of the police's gaze because she really could not withstand such investigation. Christiana was abused as a child and the result is that now she suffers from multiple personality disorder. She is inhabited by at least five distinct personalities. She was present and a witness at the murder, but the first question is, which personality was actually there and what did she or he see?
Angus is not content to simply approach IQ and hire him to investigate; instead, he must coerce him. IQ has a new girlfriend who is a talented violinist. Angus threatens to crush her hands so badly she'll never be able to play again unless IQ can clear his daughter.
Isaiah has no doubt that the old man will fulfill his threat and he sets about trying to find out what really happened at the shop and hoping that that will prove Christiana innocent. At first, he doesn't understand that she has multiple personalities. When he does come to understand that, he is flummoxed. How will he ever be able to even interview all the personalities to find out which one was there and what she or he saw?
In his desperation, he calls on his old friend and former partner, Dodson, to help out. Then, to complicate matters even further, Grace, the love of Isaiah's life, returns to town from Arizona. And it turns out that Angus is deeply into the white supremacist movement and he and his followers are constantly at war with the Hispanic and Asian gangs, as well as the African-American gangs in the East Long Beach area of Los Angeles. Why then did he go out of his way to hire a black detective to clear his daughter? Maybe there were no lily whites available or maybe IQ is the best and Angus only hires the best.
Joe Ide tells a complicated tale, maybe even a little more complicated than it had to be, but he hooked me early on and I was engrossed right up to the conclusion. Yes, this one was definitely better than Righteous.
Angus Byrne is one of the biggest, maybe the biggest, dealers in illicit arms sales on the West Coast, and his right-hand man has just been murdered, mowed down while in Angus's daughter Christiana's boutique shop where he was having a suit fitted. There seem to be few clues and the police are focusing on Christiana as their number one suspect.
This is an unacceptable situation for Angus for several reasons; first and foremost because she is his daughter. He is desperate to have her cleared and free of the police's gaze because she really could not withstand such investigation. Christiana was abused as a child and the result is that now she suffers from multiple personality disorder. She is inhabited by at least five distinct personalities. She was present and a witness at the murder, but the first question is, which personality was actually there and what did she or he see?
Angus is not content to simply approach IQ and hire him to investigate; instead, he must coerce him. IQ has a new girlfriend who is a talented violinist. Angus threatens to crush her hands so badly she'll never be able to play again unless IQ can clear his daughter.
Isaiah has no doubt that the old man will fulfill his threat and he sets about trying to find out what really happened at the shop and hoping that that will prove Christiana innocent. At first, he doesn't understand that she has multiple personalities. When he does come to understand that, he is flummoxed. How will he ever be able to even interview all the personalities to find out which one was there and what she or he saw?
In his desperation, he calls on his old friend and former partner, Dodson, to help out. Then, to complicate matters even further, Grace, the love of Isaiah's life, returns to town from Arizona. And it turns out that Angus is deeply into the white supremacist movement and he and his followers are constantly at war with the Hispanic and Asian gangs, as well as the African-American gangs in the East Long Beach area of Los Angeles. Why then did he go out of his way to hire a black detective to clear his daughter? Maybe there were no lily whites available or maybe IQ is the best and Angus only hires the best.
Joe Ide tells a complicated tale, maybe even a little more complicated than it had to be, but he hooked me early on and I was engrossed right up to the conclusion. Yes, this one was definitely better than Righteous.
jhbandcats's review
4.0
The fourth in the IQ series, this one isn’t as tight as the other one. There’s a lot of mayhem and chaos, various gangs trying to kill each other, no one very clever (except IQ, of course). There’re some poignant parts, in particular a late-life romance. I’m eagerly looking forward to the fifth book which is due out in about six months.