Abu Ghraib was one horrible curse on the military. Guard
abusing prisoners. But what the public saw was just the tip of a sick iceberg. Enlisted
soldiers took the blame and the jail time while officers got, at the worst, a
reprimand. An uninvolved guard, Charles, takes some clandestine pics and puts
them in his personal cloud account. Call it insurance. But a home invasion gone
wrong prevents Charles from cashing in.
Captain Walczak was the head of one of the most torturous
units. Back home, he now heads a mega security company. When threatened with extortion,
he goes after Charles’ wife Sarah. She must know the password to that cloud
account. Ten years ago, Sarah went underground and off the grid to protect
herself and her daughter.
Meet Grace. She is a mid 20s artist who, during routine
visits to a coffee shop, has caught the eye of Isiah Quintabe - IQ for short.
IQ helps people too far down the food chain for more formal private detectives.
He’s pretty well known around the Long Beach area and has garnered considerable
respect. IQ tries to start up conversations, but is he is tres awkward around
women.
Out of the blue, Grace hires IQ to find her mother, missing
now for 10 years. He reluctantly agrees to take on the case but takes it more
seriously and personally when he and Grace narrowly escape when her apartment
is trashed.
Walczak is after her. Trying to use Grace to get to Sarah. Being a government contractor, he has
access to databases, manpower, and weapons. IQ has a bunch of homemade tools.
Not a real fair fight. But IQ is street smart. Much smarter than Walczak or his gang of ex-Abu Ghraid guards. The chase degenerates further to some pretty severe
torture, dog maulings, knives, axes, a riot at the Burning Man festival, and more
torture.
This book isn’t for the squeamish, but that horror is tempered a bit with
some humorous escapades including a low rent crook who destroys the English language while
trying to sound smart (after Junior stops someone trying to steal a stash of
his cash, he proudly announces, “This is the aftermath of deliberating with my
mentality.” Or when someone ignores Junior’s caller id, “Are you disqualified
from deencryptin’ your caller ID?”).
Joe Ide made an auspicious debut with “IQ” a few years ago (favorably
reviewed by MRB). I missed #2 (Righteous). This is #3. While it really is quite
violent and rife with detailed descriptions of what one person with power can
do to the powerless, you really do like IQ and the people who gather in his
universe. Not to mention the unrealized possibility of a relationship between
IQ and Grace. While only 3 books into his writing career, Ide already has a shelf full
of awards for his unique and literate view of LA noir. More awards will be coming, I’m
sure. Ide and IQ are both winners.
ECD
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