A review by jmatkinson1
Smoke by Joe Ide

5.0

IQ is on the run - he has just about every gang faction in LA after him and he needs to lie low. He heads into Northern California and won't tell any of his friends where he is. However trouble just seems to find him and this time he runs into two serial killers. Meanwhile in LA Dodson is pushed into taking a white-collar internship, he proves to be a genius at advertising but the 'Hood still calls. Deronda is facing the loss of her reputation when her purported 'baby daddy' tries to blackmail her.
There are so many strands to the IQ novels that a new reader must start at the beginning to see how the lives of the protagonists link and intertwine. Each narrative in this book is different and yet they all work so well together. There is humour, violence and pathos on every page, enough heart-pounding action to keep the thriller fan happy but also enough intelligent plotting to satisfy high literature. Joe Ide is a great writer!