Smoke

By: Joe Ide

Narrated by: Zeno Robinson

Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's Summary

Isaiah Quintabe - an unlicensed detective for all seasons - and his best friend and masterful sidekick, Juanell Dodson, are at a crossroads in this latest installment of the "aggressively entertaining" IQ series (New York Times). This time, their lives may never be the same.

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.

©2021 Joe Ide (P)2021 Hachette Audio

Ugh

I'm an LA boy so read IQ as soon as it came out. Just terrific. I read the second one. It wasn't quite as good as the first but still enjoyed it lot. The third book was depressing. The plot had several major holes. I decided to ignore them because I liked IQ and his buddy, Dotson, so much. Then came the fourth book in the series. There were warning signs in the first third of the book. Still, IQ and Dotson were intriguing so I plodded on. Then the plot started winding around in circles. How characters behave is important to me and by the fourth book I knew the characters pretty well. Ide then began to twist a yarn that made little sense. Incredible violence didn't help. By the end of the book (which wasn't the end forcing the reader the wait for number 5 to see how one of the three primary subplots plays out). I don't appreciate that. If Ide had admitted that it was part 1 I could get around that but no, he blindsided the reader. Also by the end the plot was all over the place. Every minute or so I found myself eye rolling all over the place. Really disappointed.

Agonizing listen.

So, I've listened to all of the IQ novels and have to say this one was agonizing to listen to. Mr. Robinson's narration during the arguments and "heated" discussions was like fingernails on a chalkboard. Literally screaming the lines into my ears! A couple of times I had to lower the volume. I appreciate the zeal of interpreting this novel, but this was way overboard in his enthusiasm. I only wish Sullivan Jones' velvet voice was chosen to do this one.

Not really an IQ book

I was really looking forward to this book as I have really enjoyed the other books in the series, but this was more of a Juanell Dodson book which I would be into but just not what was advertised.

The majority of the book centers around some of the other characters from IQ’s world in their own stories. These stories were great for what they were but it is just not what I had come to expect from the series.

IQ’s story felt like 20% of the book and was my least favorite of the 3 stories.

Too much rage

I've read all in this series and am afraid this will be the last. Increasing these book have plot lines driven by characters acting out of immediate emotional reactions (often unfiltered rage) - over-riding the most basic logic. Unfortunately the loss of logic or even common sense seems to have overtaken the protagonist as well.

It's too bad because the pantheon of characters in these books is great and some of the side stories are wonderful. But the over-riding ugliness of the most recent books is just corrosive.

normally I like the narration

narrator getting into character and screaming so much was really irritating... BLAM BLAM BLAM!!! apart from that I think his voice work is great.

I SO LOVE this series!!!!

I've been reading this series since the VERY FIRST book & I've never been disappointed!! if you love action, thrillers & mysteries....THIS IS the series for you!!!

Oooof, I was hoping for better.

I really liked Ide’s first IQ novel but they’ve declined in story, plot and character development. The new characters around IQ are flat and simple. Strangely that best storylines involve Deronda and Dobson. I enjoyed those but found the main narrative not compelling or innovative.

Book 5 brings the series roaring back

Ide recovered from whatever cloud of nihlistic gloom overcame him in book #4 and is back with a rip-roaring adventure with IQ, Dawson, and the really cool women who inhabit the IQ books. IQ has fled Long Beach to get away from the villans on his tail, and encouters both the grace of his landlords and the racism of small town cops in his stopping place. Dawson takes on a bigger role in this book, turning his street hustle into marketing genius, which is a lot of fun. Deronda conquers a no-count, trifling ex who's trying to blackmail her. And Ruffin, everyone's favorite slobbery love-pit, becomes part of the cliffhanger that is this book's ending. (I don't mind cliffhangers if the next book is published soon after, so get busy, Joe Ide! No one wants to wait another two years to find out what happens to Ruffin!)

Stay Tuned

I enjoy reading the stories about IQ. This book had the stories of several different characters in it and made it difficult for me to stay engaged and follow the various plot lines. In the end the author does deliver, however, the end is not the end. There clearly will be another IQ book, that one focusing on IQ’s girlfriend Grace

Great story, and narrator put in work!

Captivating story and spirited narration. Can’t wait for the next one! One of my new favorite series!