Review: Smoke (IQ #5) by Joe Ide

Smoke (IQ #5) by Joe Ide

Blurb from Amazon:

Isaiah Quintabe is no longer IQ, the genius of East Long Beach; instead, he’s a man on the road and on the run, hiding in a small Northern California town when his room is broken into by a desperate young man on the trail of the state’s most prolific serial killer.

 

His old partner, Juanell Dodson, must go straight or lose his wife and child. His devil’s bargain? An internship at an LA advertising agency, where it turns out the rules of the street have simply been dressed in business casual, but where the aging company’s fortunes may well rest on their ability to attract a younger demographic. Dodson—”the hustler’s hustler”—just may be the right man for the job.

 

Ide is the crime writer’s crime writer, and he’s filled his best novel yet with desperate souls, courageous outcasts, an ex-stripper who’ll do anything to protect her son, and wild half-brothers who may be the very incarnation of evil.

 

With deft plotting, lacerating humor, and a keen eye for the ways in which characters rise or fall based on their ties to one another, Smoke is Joe Ide’s crowning achievement.

My Review:
This series has definitely solidified itself as one of my favorites.  Not only is Isaiah, IQ, one of my favorite characters of all time but each book is fresh and new.  Just when you think maybe there is light at the end of the tunnel, a new wrinkle presents itself and I love this series for always keeping me on my toes.  How I wish someone would adapt this book into either a TV series or movie.  My one request?  Please please please cast Lakeith Stanfield as Dodson!

Smoke came out last month on February 23, 2021, and you can purchase HERE!  I am in love with this series; you can read my reviews of book 1 HERE; book 3 HERE; and book 4 HERE.

If somebody asked him what music he liked he'd say jazz and leave it at that. Nobody knew shit about jazz.