Unlicensed PI and South-Central LA’s respected get it done expert, Isaiah Quintabe (aka IQ), is having a tough time getting it done . . . at least in his personal life. His long-time girlfriend, artist Grace, left him and LA to get away from the streets and drama that surrounded Isaiah. Two years ago, she took off for the artist mecca of Santa Fe. Since then, Isaiah had been with Stella, an up and coming violinist with the Long Beach Symphony recently promoted to first chair and preparing to be the featured soloist in the next concert. Great woman, but she’s not Grace. And there is still the streets and drama of his life.
His rep around Compton, Carson, etc. is stellar. Solves your problems and he won’t let go until said problem is fixed. But Angus calls him, and Isaiah isn’t pleased. Angus is the biggest arms supplier to LA gangs. Christiana, his daughter, is soon to be (wrongfully) charged with murder and Angus wants Isaiah to stop that from happening. Stop it or Angus will have Stella’s hands destroyed by his crew.
Isaiah goes to meet Christiana. She runs a custom suit shop and lives with her mother. Turns out Christiana is one of those rare multiple personality disorders. Five of ‘em live in her head and continually battle each other for dominance. Angus’ right-hand man was in for a suit, but was ambushed in the shop and murdered in front of her. Isaiah has to interview each of the ‘alters’ to get all the details.
And old Angus is still doing business. Wants one last sale to send him off into retirement. And it’s a big one. He’s managed to acquire a Gatling gun. One of those 4000 rounds per minute monsters. A Mexican cartel wants it and is willing to pay the $1 million price tag. Not to mention that some other local gangs want to intercept the sale and get the gun for themselves.
Seeing the errors of Angus’ ways, Isaiah wants to stop the sale of the gun while not pissing off Angus who’d then ruin Stella’s life and hands whether Isaiah got Christiana off or not.
Can you say rock and a hard place? Add to the mix Cambodian gangs, neo-nazi skinheads, a couple dozen Latino gang members. And an old junkyard (make that 'wrecking yard') owner looking for love in his church (which is actually a very compelling subplot).
This is Joe Ide’s fourth IQ book and I think at least two earlier books have been reviewed here on MRB. Ide has been a screenwriter and has the chops for telling a story, presenting the street life around Long Beach, keeping a number of balls in the air so that all the secondary stories come off smoothly. Highly recommended for those of us who like mysteries and suspense novels. Noir? Maybe. It’s got the gumshoe, femme fatales, multiple bad guys circling each other in scattered stories and the resulting violence that pulls all the stories together.
ECD
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