Isaiah Quintabe has had some wild cases in the past, but nothing like this latest gig working for notorious criminal and all-around bad guy Angus Byrne. The odious Angus strong-arms IQ into investigating the murder of fellow criminal, Tyler Barnes, who was killed in his daughter Christiana Byrne’s Newport Beach shop. Christiana is the lone witness and naturally the prime suspect, and Angus threatens to harm Isaiah’s girlfriend, Stella, if IQ doesn’t find out who finished off Tyler. It’s difficult enough to work the case under duress, but Christiana suffers from multiple personality disorder and each personality saw something that night but not one of them saw it all go down. In the midst of this mess, Isaiah’s lost love Grace has returned to town, wreaking havoc on his heart. Add to that a Cambodian street gang and some illegal arms dealing and you’ve got just another day in the life of East Long Beach’s most acclaimed private eye.
VERDICT With a convoluted plot that is hard to keep straight, as well as numerous overt political screeds against the current administration, Ide’s fourth IQ novel (Wrecked; Righteous) forsakes a winning cast and excellent storytelling for something less satisfying than a compelling mystery. [See Prepub Alert, 7/8/19.]
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