Wrecked by Joe Ide

First Line: "Do you know what Abraham Lincoln said after a six-day drunk?" Jimenez said.

Isaiah Quintabe-- IQ for short-- is learning that success is no cure for loneliness. A series of successful solutions to high profile cases means that he can't even go to his neighborhood store without being recognized. His sidekick, Dodson, is now his partner and has decided that he's going to straighten out the company finances. No more chickens, sweaters, or lawn mowing in exchange for IQ's services.

But this is a concept that IQ just can't get his head around. When a young artist asks for his help in finding her mother, it's not the fee he's looking to earn, he wants the human connection. Unfortunately, that human connection leads him right into the middle of a deadly paramilitary organization, and everyone's life is now in danger.

Before I go any farther, I'll issue a warning. If you cannot tolerate or have a low tolerance for torture, you might want to give Wrecked a miss. None of the scenes are graphic-- Ide knows how to let your imagination supply most of the details-- but neither does he pull any punches in telling readers what happened. I have a high tolerance for such things, but even I was uncomfortable at times. Also, the torture is not gratuitous; it illustrates just how bad the bad guys are... and that IQ isn't Superman. But enough of that.

One of the reasons why I enjoy this series so much is that Joe Ide takes me right into the heart of the 'hood. It's a place I'd never think of going on my own, but I'm in good hands with him. I see how people live, how they think, how they talk, and how they behave. My entire visit is an emotional roller coaster. Sometimes I'm disgusted. Sometimes I get tears in my eyes. And sometimes I laugh myself silly... but that happens when I read books set elsewhere. You see, there are a lot of similarities between the 'hood and the "normal" parts of town. Some folks just don't want to admit it.

Wrecked isn't just about torture. It's also about love. How does IQ fare with the woman he loves? You'll have to read the book. How does Dodson fare with his ladylove when he keeps doing things she disapproves of? You'll have to read the book. Joe Ide's one-line descriptions may be the soul of wit and observation, but it's his characters that I love the most, and boy, there's a character in this book that made me laugh so much I was almost howling. Junior is a bad guy. A very bad guy. But he's also Mrs. Malaprop on steroids and methamphetamines. How Junior made me laugh! He's almost worth the price of admission all by himself.

But there's an engrossing story here, too. The bad guys were loathsome, and I couldn't wait to see how IQ and his posse made them pay for their crimes. What a ride! Fortunately, I don't have long to wait for the next book in the series. Long live IQ!

Wrecked by Joe Ide

eISBN: 9780316509497

Mulholland Books © 2018

eBook, 352 pages

Private Investigator, #3 IQ mystery

Rating: A+

Source: Purchased from Amazon.


 

Righteous by Joe Ide

First Line: Isaiah was seventeen years old when his older brother, Marcus, was killed in a hit-and-run.

It's been ten years since Isaiah Quintabe's brother was killed in a hit-and-run, and Isaiah ("IQ") is as determined as ever to find the driver of the vehicle. But the bills do need to be paid, so he and his sidekick Dodson take a case in Las Vegas where Chinese gangsters are after a young DJ and her boyfriend. If IQ doesn't find the two first, the gangsters will kill them. Impatiently waiting in the wings is the love of IQ's life who just happens to be the DJ's sister. What Isaiah doesn't know is that-- through all the twists, turns, and treachery of this case-- he's going to be led straight to the mastermind behind his brother's death.

For many readers, the world of Joe Ide's Isaiah Quintabe might as well be on another planet. Isaiah is a brilliant young man who lives in the 'hood-- the East Long Beach section of Los Angeles. He helps the people who live there by taking on cases that the police won't bother with, and he gets paid in a variety of ways: homecooked food, a live chicken, whatever people can afford. In Righteous, Ide's character-- known by everyone as IQ-- is the voice of the 'hood; he tells the truth, and he tells it straight out, often in very poetic language.

In a way, the hate felt good. You were righteous, godlike, the dispenser of justice. Hate dispelled your fears and forged every disappointment, setback, loss, humiliation, and failure that ever happened to you into one massive steel sledgehammer of rage, poised to obliterate, and for one brief, purifying moment, give you relief.

Even though IQ's world may be alien to many, it is populated by characters that jump off the page. There's Dodson, a young man of dubious abilities who nevertheless wants to advance from being IQ's sidekick to a full-fledged partner. Fortunately, Dodson has moved in with the kickass Cerise who will help keep him on the straight and narrow. A favorite of mine is Deronda ("I'm not impulsive. I just make up my mind fast.") who's not waiting for her shapely behind to lead her to fame and fortune. No, not Deronda. She has a food truck now. One of the most interesting is Manzo, who sees that the way his gang has always conducted business is going to kill them all. He's trying to make changes, but there are members like Ramona who are so deep into the life that they can't see anything else.

There are characters who want something better and are willing to sacrifice and change to get it, and there are those who seemingly have all the advantages-- like DJ Janine and her boyfriend Benny-- who are traveling full-throttle down the highway to hell. Yes, I do love Ide's characters. They make me think, and they make me feel.

But the author isn't just a wizard who creates marvelous characters. He knows how to construct a plot that keeps you guessing, and he knows how to keep it moving fast. I probably wouldn't survive very long in Isaiah Quintabe's world, but I certainly do appreciate Joe Ide letting me visit.

Righteous by Joe Ide

ISBN: 9780316267779

Mulholland Books © 2017

Hardcover, 336 pages

Private Investigator, #2 IQ mystery

Rating: A

Source: Purchased at The Poisoned Pen.


 

IQ by Joe Ide

First Line: Boyd parked his truck across the street from the school and waited for the bell to ring.

The Los Angeles Police Department can't keep up with crime in East Long Beach, but someone in the neighborhood has decided to solve the cases the police can't or won't touch. Those in the know call him IQ. His status as a loner and high school dropout disguise his fierce intelligence and determination. He charges his clients whatever they can afford to pay, whether it's a set of tires or a homemade casserole, but to make ends meet, Isaiah Quintabe must take on the occasional client who can pay him in cash.

This time the paying customer is a millionaire rapper whose life is in danger. The more Isaiah digs, the more people he encounters who want the man dead-- including a hit man universally acknowledged to be a lunatic. It's not going to take IQ long to discover that the price of this investigation may be higher than he can afford to pay.

From the very first pages of Joe Ide's debut novel IQ, I was in inner-city Los Angeles. From my safe fly-on-the-wall perspective, I found Isaiah's neighborhood to be alien, fascinating, and uncomfortable-- and I didn't want to stop reading. I witnessed this young man's transformation from a scared, grieving boy in the traumatic 2005 aftermath of his brother's death to a private investigator for the disenfranchised in 2013.

One of his clients paid him with a rooster Isaiah names Alejandro, and he gets along better with the chicken than he does with most people, including Dodson, who worms his way into Isaiah's apartment and his business. One of the strengths of this book is that we never really know whether Dodson is just another drug dealer or an actual good guy.

Ide's story kept my interest from first page to last, but what gave it an emotional depth  was Isaiah's fight to uphold the teachings of his beloved older brother, Marcus. How many children in inner-city America are taught what Marcus tries to instill in Isaiah:

You could make a difference, Isaiah. A big difference. I'm talking about raising people up, easing their suffering, bringing some justice to the world. Money don't enter into it, you understand what I'm telling you? God didn't give you a gift so you could be a hedge fund manager.      

What makes IQ real is the fact that Isaiah doesn't always measure up to Marcus's expectations. I was only a couple of chapters in when I began hoping that we'd hear from Isaiah Quintabe again. When I closed the book after reading the last page, I felt the exact same way.  Joe Ide has created something special.

 

IQ by Joe Ide

ISBN: 9780316267724

Mulholland Books © 2016

Hardcover, 336 pages

Private Investigator, #1 Isaiah Quintabe

Rating: A

Source: Purchased at The Poisoned Pen.