IQ

An IQ Novel, Book 1

By: Joe Ide

Narrated by: Sullivan Jones

East Long Beach. The LAPD is barely keeping up with the high crime rate. Murders go unsolved, OAPs are getting hoodwinked, children are missing. But word has spread: if you've got a case the police can't or won't touch, Isaiah Quintabe will help you out.

They call him IQ. He's a loner and a high school dropout, his unassuming nature disguising a relentless determination and a fierce intelligence. He charges his clients whatever they can afford, which might be a set of tyres or some homemade muffins. But now he needs a client who can pay. And the only way to that client is through a jive-talking low-life drug dealer he thought he'd left behind. Then there's the case itself. A drug-addled rap star surrounded by a crew of flunkies who believes his life is in danger, a hit man who even other hit men say is a lunatic, and a monster killer dog. If he solves this case, IQ can put right a mistake he made long ago. If he doesn't, it won't just be the hit man coming after him....

©2017 Joe Ide (P)2017 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"Ide successfully makes his detective's brilliance plausible in this gripping and moving debut." ( Publishers Weekly)

"One of the most original thrillers of the year.... [A] sometimes scary, often whimsical, off-the-wall delight.... It's a mad world that late-blooming Joe Ide has brought forth from his past, a spicy mix of urban horror, youthful striving and show-business absurdity. His IQ is an original and welcome creation." (Patrick Anderson, Washington Post)

"Wonderfully quirky.... Exhilarating language and [an] oddball cast.... A total laff-riot." (Marilyn Stasio, New York Times Book Review)

"Joe Ide. Remember that name.... Mystery aficionados will remember it as the breakout debut of a major new voice in the suspense genre." ( BookPage)

"A few things I love about this...[IQ is] rooted in his community in a way that his inspiration never was...IQ is a small story in the way the best of Conan Doyle's were.... It's a detective story that plays out very close to home, on the streets and corners that Ide (who grew up in South Central) knows best. And Isaiah fits into those streets like they were made for him. A consulting detective for a time and a place that needs one." (Jason Sheehan, NPR)

IQ the review I don’t usually do.

My audible is large and varied with many excellent titles but I’m not a writer myself, so when it comes to reviews I stick with the star variety.

IQ by Joe Ide is not the best book I’ve ever read/listened to but it’s one of the most enjoyable and that counts.

Isaiah Quintabe comes into solving crime almost by misfortune. He’s left to bring himself up from an early age after the death of his older brother. Eventually he’s thrown into an unlikely somewhat disastrous, friendship/partnership with Dodson, a sidekick who often proves to be more trouble than he’s worth. Together they are employed to save a failing rap star from his would be assassins, who can’t seem to get the job done. The plot is thick, the laughs are many, there are even giant pit bulls.
Oh did I say the narration by Sullivan Jones is SUPERB probably 105 stars. It doesn’t get much better. Nor do my reviews. I’ll stick to stars.

Breath of fresh air

Great on all fronts. Story was tightly written, characters interesting, and for the majority well fleshed out. Performance was great, and hopefully in time, more titles will come up when I search under Sullivan Jones. 5/5 for author and narrator.

Great Story! Great Narrator!

Amazingly well narrated story! Isaiah Quintabe is an intriguing new detective for a new generation. Can’t wait to see where the story goes next.

Good book! Fantastic reader!!

I could really see all the characters in front of me. Sullivan Jones is a performer!! An artist! Recommended warmheartedly!