A disappointing entry in the IQ universe

This is not Joe Ide’s best work. I feel that there were inconsistencies in the character of IQ from previous works that were not well substantiated by the plot or the storyline.

More so than any of his other works, we are left with huge unanswered questions. I’m very hopeful that the author is able to reclaim the character work he did in the first three novels of the series. This novel, however, did not fit in the universe he had so well-established. In fact, it seemed to have nothing more than ill will toward that universe and the desire to blow it up.

I don’t expect authors to keep turning out the same stories over and over, and I appreciate this authors attempt to deal with some serious issues, including racism and gang violence. I was disappointed, however, to find that so many established characters seemed to have lost their way or changed significantly in the interim between this and the previous novel, most especially the main character.

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An all right installment

At first I was disappointed to have a new narrator, but once I heard him do Deronda I knew he was just right. I’d be happy to listen to any book he narrates.

A few things:

1) Malleable is not pronounced “male-eable” and the “bas” in bas-relief is pronounced “bah,” not like “bass” that rhymes with “ass.”

2) I know that sometimes errors are made in recording and it may be necessary to punch-in to record over a mistake.

But we are living in modern times with audio tools like iZotope’s RX7 that can duplicate the ambient background of the recording environment and match the EQ on the voice before and after the punch-in so it won’t be so jarring.

That will not, however, fix differences in the narrator’s cadence and intonation. Instead of having the narrator read cold the fragment that’s going to be stuck in to repair the passage in error, it would be far better to have the narrator double track the problematic passage starting a few sentences or an entire paragraph before so that by the time he reaches what needs to be fixed he will have adopted the existing cadence and intonation. Then, after that, match the ambience and clone the EQ. Otherwise it sounds like those stock recordings made with a blank space to stick in the name of whichever city it’s being sent to. That was used to humorous effect in Drop Dead Gorgeous, but it’s just jarring here.

3) The story lacked the more unified feel of the previous books. Dodson and Deronda made their appearances but they weren’t integral to the story and were wasted. It was nice to see TK falling for Dodson’s mother-in-law, but that, as well as Grace’s former artist boyfriend, as well as the back story of the lesbian killers, seemed to be space-filling and peripheral, though not as peripheral as the “Oh, Isaiah got a new girlfriend since the last book that we learn just enough about for her to be used as a plot device to drive the central action of the story,” though as soon as that’s established she disappears to practice Vivaldi for her upcoming solo performance as first chair violinist in the local symphony but without the slightest knowledge that she may not if her hand is broken first should Isaiah fail to uncover the identity of the murderer of some brutal and brutally ugly thug’s much beloved right hand man. And the next time we hear from her is right before the performance, gushing about finding things in the passage she had never heard before, the performance Isaiah missed trying to save her hand from a mangling threat about which she knew nothing and then getting bent out of shape at Isaiah for missing it and then dumping him for having put her in danger.

Grace, who is a smart and resourceful girl and as hard as she needs to be for any challenge, somehow becomes amnesiac when Isaiah is snatched by the white supremacists and driven off toward his death at a location unknown to her and entirely forgets to call Dodson for assistance, a guy she knows quite well from the previous book to be a quite resourceful ally of Isaiah and who would have been all too eager to help spring him.

Remember the movie The Secret Life of Pets? Remember how unified that story was? Then remember the sequel splitting the action between almost nothing happening with the main characters away in the country and the supporting characters burning up a screen time back in the city until the evil circus trainer with his wolves pursue them to the country where they all just happen to intersect briefly on the circus train before everyone going back to the city for some, presumably unified storyline there that will occur out of sight of us, the viewers? High Five was sort of like The Secret Life of Pets 2, though not as tight.

But, given the set-ups for the next book with Dodson and with the peril posed to Deronda, I will still buy the next installment. It has a better than average chance of being as good as the first three. And, hey, not all Thanksgiving dinners with the relatives are as good as others, but you don’t give up on your family.

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6 people found this helpful

all over the place

I enjoyed the first books but they have progressively started to get nonsensical and bounce all over the place. This one started to get into politics and it was a snooze. I enjoyed the first books more don’t think I’ll go onto the next one. Less of what makes IQ, IQ was in this book, what happened to the inductive reasoning?

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multiple personalities explain in an audiobook

what in the world was the author thinking this might've gone over better in print I don't know and I don't really care it was my first time engaging with this author and I probably would not do it again although the performance was great kudos to the narrator but there's nothing you can do with this terrible story there's nothing you can do with it great narration or not there's nothing you can do with it

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Disappointing

Loved all the others. This one was disjointed and the prose was often clumsy. Too much going on, not enough continuity. I like the characters, so I'd read any others, but this one is just not up to par.

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I love this series!

Another suspenseful well written and thought provoking novel by joe ide. Can’t wait for the next one.

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Left-wing propaganda

What I liked most about this title was the narration. I even enjoyed the plot up to a point. But when it became apparent that the author is spinning the race hustlers’ narrative and hysteria about an growing threat of white nationalism’, my feelings for the story soured. If a host on a Certain News Network, Lon Demon, were to write a mystery this could be that book. I was disappointed with the protagonist’s decision making throughout this story. I mean, how can he call himself IQ and be this stupid? If it weren’t for the false narratives involved, which we so often hear from the lying liberal news media, i might have been interested in the next book. But I’ll pass.

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feels rushed and unedited

Joe Ide and his character Isaiah are always entertaining, this book is no exception. however, it felt rushed to me. I found there to be a lot if inconsistencies and the book jumped around too much. The new narrator for the IQ book was not as bad as a lot of the reviews claim but it also wasnt the same. I really did not like how this book ended but it did seem to set the stage for many more IQ books. I look forward to reading them.

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I love IQ

I’m a total fan of Joe IDE and IQ. His characters and words just jump to life. I can’t say Hi Five is my favorite, however, but I fully believe it’s due to the absence of Sullivan Jones as the narrator. Sullivan is IQ! Zeno Robinson’s performance isn’t horrible by any means but he just doesn’t bring IQ ‘s character, humor and style to life.
That being said, don’t miss this latest installment in the series. Interesting concept and storyline as usual.

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8 people found this helpful

Where is Sullivan Jones???

Here’s the thing - by the fourth book in a series with the same narrator, the narrator and the character become so intertwined that any other voice makes you feel that the character is a stranger. Zeno Robinson isn’t bad, and I’ll look for something else he’s narrated to give him a fairer chance. The change in the voice made the book grate for me - couldn’t find my listening groove and so kept losing the details of the plot.

Regrettable switch.

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