Book Review

By Derryll White

Ide, Joe (2016).  IQ.  

This is Joe Ide’s first published novel, quite remarkable for its distinct and singular voice. There have been lots of L.A. novels, from Raymond Chandler through James Ellroy, but none that have featured the intellect so clearly above brawn.

Isaiah Quintabe, as his street name IQ suggests, relies on his reasoning and intuitive powers to bring solutions to complex problems.  IQ carries no weapons, even when moving through the gang-controlled territories of Los Angeles.

Joe Ide is subtly funny throughout the text and will keep the observant reader in stitches.  He also produces in IQ a superb social conscience which we don’t often see these days in the mystery/thriller genre.

I will look for more of Joe Ide’s work as it is released.

****

Excerpts from the novel:

DEDICATION – “I know your classes are hard,” Marcus said, “but they’re the pathway to your dreams.  Lots of folks can’t stay on their pathway or their dreams don’t make sense.  Look at those kids on American Idol, the ones that don’t make the cut.  Can’t sing worth a damn and what do they always say after they’ve been humiliated?  But it’s my dream and Mariah Carey said I shouldn’t give up!  Yeah, well, you don’t have Mariah Carey’s voice so get that dumb-ass dream out of your head.  What Mariah Carey should be telling them is to follow their abilities and make a dream out of what God gave them.”

PET STORE – They took a tour, Dodson not believing what people bought for their pets.  “Keep your dog’s breath fresh?” he said.  “You can smell your dog’s breath you standing too close – rat food?  Is that what that says?  Somebody needs to tell these people you don’t need no special food for a goddamn rat – oh Lord have mercy, that can’t be right.  Monkey diapers?  Monkey diapers?  You got a monkey wearing diapers you went to the wrong delivery room.”

MUSIC INDUSTRY – But then Steve Jobs came along with his fucking iTunes that strangled the CD to death and sucked the blood out of Bobby’s revenues. And pirating. A goddamn college kid would be pissed as hell if he got his iPod stolen but had no qualms about downloading Bobby’s music for free. Overseas was a joke. The Chinese didn’t know music was something you had to pay for.”

– Derryll White once wrote books but now chooses to read and write about them.  When not reading he writes history for the web at www.basininstitute.org.

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