Fixit

IQ #6

by Joe Ide

In the latest installment in Joe Ide's "superb" series ( Washington Post ), the relentless, hard-bitten PI, Isaiah Quintabe, is faced with a nightmarish scenario when the love of his life is kidnapped by a maniacal hitman who bears a grudge against him.

Danger has always followed IQ, a reality he’s keenly aware of as he’s laid up in a hospital bed, recovering from injuries sustained in his last case. Isaiah cannot help himself from being the hero, and any misery he’s suffered as a result—wounds from a knife fight, gnawing paranoia—he’s suffered alone. Yet as IQ recovers, five hundred miles from East Long Beach, he’s unaware that Grace has been abducted by his sworn enemy, the professional hitman Skip Hanson. Skip is savage and psychotic, determined to punish Isaiah for sending him to prison and destroying his life. Now, Isaiah and his sometimes partner, ex-hustler Juanell Dodson, must track scant clues through L.A.’s perilous landscape as Grace’s predicament grows more uncertain.

A complication arises in the form of Winnie Hando, a homicide detective with something to prove. Stubborn and effective, Winnie sees Isaiah’s efforts as an obstruction to the investigation and a possible an unlicensed PI can’t be seen doing the department’s job better than the department. Winnie tries to stop Isaiah while pursuing the case herself, their struggles clashing and slowing their progress. As the desperate hunt winds on, Isaiah fears that even if he can bring Grace home alive, things between them will never be the same. This latest series installment is an explosive collision of drug dealers, thieves, maniacs, shotguns, vicious dogs, stampeding horses, and Ide’s signature energy, grit, and profundity

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Audiobook, Mystery Thriller, Thriller, Suspense

320 pages, Hardcover

First published May 9, 2023

About the author

Joe Ide is of Japanese American descent. He grew up in South Central Los Angeles, an economically depressed area with a largely black population. Gangs and street crime were rampant. Like a lot of kids, Joe wanted to belong and his speech, style, musical tastes and attitudes reflected the neighborhood.

His favorite books were the Conan Doyle Sherlock Holmes stories. That a person could make his way in the world and vanquish his enemies with just his intelligence fascinated him.

Eventually, he went on to university and received a graduate degree in education. He worked as a school teacher, a college lecturer, a corporate middle manager and director of an NGO that offered paralegal services and emergency shelter to abused women and children. He went on to write screenplays for a number of major studios but none of the projects came to fruition.

It was then he decided to write his debut novel, IQ, about an unlicensed, underground detective; a character inspired by his early experiences and love of Sherlock Holmes.

Joe lives in Santa Monica, California, with his wife and Golden Retriever, Gusto.

Reviews

[Tim · Rating 2 out of 5]

If only he'd spend more time being, "Fixit" instead of dwelling on one never-ending problem this would have the makings of good novel. Coulda, woulda, shoulda. 4 of 10 stars

[Lou Jacobs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fixit
Joe Ide
reviewed by Lou Jacobs


readersremains.com | Goodreads


This is the sixth book in this unique series. However, anyone can jump onto this fast-moving train and thoroughly enjoy this character-driven adventure filled with wit, heart, and emotion. Joe Ide (EE-DAY) spins a gritty trip into the world of Isaiah Quintabe (Queen-tah-bay) and effortlessly supplies the necessary backstory to allow the reader quick immersion into the complex narrative told from multiple points of view.

The main protagonist remains Isaiah Quintabe (“IQ”) and his best friend, sometimes partner, and sidekick, Juanell Dodson. Both are complex but relatable characters always seeming to be facing daunting crises in their lives, unrelated to their friendship and the present-day crime dilemma.

Joe Ide, a Japanese-American, grew up in South Central Los Angeles, in an economically depressed area with rampant gang and street crime. Wanting to fit in and belong, his speech, style, and attitude reflected his neighborhood. As a youth, he became enamored with the books of Sherlock Holmes. It naturally followed that when he turned to writing novels, his hero would be inspired by Sherlock Holmes. His main protagonist would defeat his crime villains not by physical prowess, but by intellect and the power of deductive reasoning. Hence, the birth of Isaiah Quintabe, an underground street private investigator with excessive, near-genius intellect, and burgeoning skills of deductive reasoning. Aided by an almost photographic memory, it allows him to link seemingly unrelated facts together to understand motivation and behavior. At this juncture, he is suffering from a form of PTSD and is overwhelmed by the almost daily dealing with the infectious offal of humanity. Burnt out by the incessant dealing with gangs, killers, drugs, pimps, and the never-ending corrosive conflicts of street life, he is presently recovering at Coronado Springs Hospital from injuries sustained during his last case. He is 500 miles away from his home in East Long Beach when he receives a phone call. His first and greatest love, Grace, has been kidnapped, and the police refuse to acknowledge the situation. They say to call back in seventy-two hours if she is still “missing”… it’s policy!

Grace is an artist at heart… always with a pencil or paintbrush in her hand. She tries to eke out a living working at a food truck. Her relationship with IQ has ended with a rather cold phone call… like she was canceling a magazine subscription. She actually loves Isaiah. He is compassionate, loving in a quiet way, and courageous, but life with him is too dangerous. He is always surrounded by evil. She only wishes for safety, peace, and calm. Seemingly impossible with Isaiah. She has just finished a shift at the food truck and returns home. Just as she gets out of her beat-up Jeep, she is punched in the gut… doubling her over… as she drops to the ground, and just before losing consciousness, she sees a man with a dog collar around his neck.

Grace has been kidnapped by Skip Hanson, a cunning, brutal hitman with a side order of sadism and hell-bent on revenge. Isaiah sent him to prison and also put down his kennel of raised vicious dogs… his “family.” On his drive back, IQ receives a phone call from Skip… taunting him… he has to find Grace in time… if he gets tired of waiting… “I’ll kill her and stuff her body into a dumpster.” He reunites with his partner, Juanell Dodson, and the duo must track down the paucity of clues shrouded in mystery and deceit in an effort to save Grace. Her predicament grows more perilous as other forces intervene and complicate an already dangerous situation. Isaiah has a $25,000 bounty on his head, and a network of gangs across California are looking for him. Hot on his heels is Manzo Gutierrez, the leader of Surenos Locos 13 gang. Manzo feels betrayed by Isaiah and feels humiliated… he has lost everything because of Isaiah… his money, pride, stature on the street, and trust of the Sinaloa Cartel.

Joe Ide is the winner of the Anthony, Shamus, and Macavity Awards and nominated for multiple other awards. He crafts another complex and twisted narrative featuring his modern-day hero that gives justice to the powerless in an ethical and thoughtful manner. This expert storyteller effortlessly weaves multiple multi-layered quirky characters into an explosive denouement. Ide’s usage of dialogue is masterful, as he utilizes both satire, humor, and street language to develop tension, intrigue, and mystery. A mixture of pathos and comedy propels this into a page-turner. Each of his novels is a welcome and refreshing addition to the legacy of Sherlock Holmes.

Thanks to NetGalley and Mulholland Books for providing an Uncorrected Proof in exchange for an honest review.
Published at Mystery And Suspense Magazine .....

[Thomas Calhoun · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a big Joe Ide fan. I loved the first two books in the series. I don't know what happened with this book, but at times it seemed to have been written by more than one person. It was choppy. Plot was barely believable. I understand IQ was suffering from PTSD and was not himself, but I didn't feel the PTSD explained the bonehead things he did.

There were annoying plot inconsistencies (did the parole guy have 4 years or 6 years on the job; the cartridge Ide spent so much time describing isn't made in .22 caliber; if the hitman tossed the gun & silencer on his way from the house, how did it reappear later? etc.) OK, small stuff, but geez Joe Ide, get yourself a decent proofreader.

The descent of the villains into drug addled buffoons was silly as was the encounter, or lack thereof, with the hitman...because of a guy walking a dog. Seriously???? I really hope IQ's girl returns in the next book...I liked her, as well as IQ's other friends and supporters. And BTW, being a multiple Mustang owner (from a '65 GT350 to a SN95 Cobra), what exactly is is a 1968 Mustang GTI??? Don't believe there was any such beast. Anyway, looking forward to the next IQ novel; hope Joe has better proofreaders. Seemed like he was going through the motions on this one.

[LeastTorque · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh, well. I was hoping the previous installment was a misstep that would be corrected. Nope. This one is almost as phoned in and drafty. I quit (pun intended).

[Joshua Glasgow · Rating 2 out of 5]

There was a long while between college and middle age during which I didn’t do much reading at all, preferring to spend my time watching movies or television. When I rediscovered my love for reading, one of the first things I got into was Joe Ide’s IQ series, about ‘Encyclopedia Brown’-style “detective from the hood” Isaiah Quintabe. I remember feeling really positively about some of the earlier books in the series, but I’m starting to wonder if I was too impressionable at the time; that is, as a “new” reader, was I more impressed by something that may not have actually been that great? I don’t like having these thoughts, but they are what reading the sixth in the series, FIXIT, inspires. This book is so limp that it has me wondering if the series has in fact always been like this and I was too green to see it.

This book picks up where the last, SMOKE, left off, with Isaiah’s girlfriend Grace kidnapped by Skip Hanson, the villain from an earlier book in the series who is a hitman that previously raised attack dogs. The bulk of the book from there is about Isaiah and Dodson’s attempts to track Skip and save the damsel in distress. The previous book made a point of highlighting Isaiah’s trauma from having been put in so many different life-threatening situations over the years and that remains a factor here. I do appreciate the acknowledgment of how emotionally and psychologically draining being targeted by numerous killers would be, but the result is that here Isaiah doesn’t really do the IQ thing. There is precisely one scene where he uses his preternatural detecting skills, as he tries to identify a stash house among three seemingly identical properties and then has to decide which way a getaway van went. Beyond that, he stumbles around at the mercy of Skip with no plan whatsoever. Again, okay, maybe there’s a point to be made here about the numbing effect his trauma is having on him, but it makes for an unsatisfying read.

The other big element of the story which I found unsatisfying is Dodson’s subplot. For six books now, it seems, his story has been about not knowing his worth and then by the end finding he is capable in some business-savvy way that has value. Nevertheless, here we are right back at Dodson thinking he has nothing of worth to contribute to his family or the world again, going through the motions of the same tired story. This time he’s asked to resolve a dispute between two rival church ladies who are pulling increasingly disturbing “pranks” on one another because of how much each dislikes the other. It’s such an inconsequential conflict, made worse by the fact that Dodson meets the women once, decides there’s nothing he can do, and then the subplot is essentially dropped until the very end when he saves the day by—SPOILER—suggesting his own wife be named choir director at the church so the Reverend can avoid naming one of the two cantankerous women to the role. This, by the way, is the meaning of the title FIXIT. Because Dodson is apparently a “fixer” and this is how he does it. Like the Isaiah story, it’s so lifeless and deeply unappealing.

Thirdly, this book like all of them after WRECKED flits between different characters’ perspectives: Isaiah, of course, but also Dodson, TK, Grace, a kid named Andy, etc. A new character who appears in this one is Winnie Hando, a “good cop” who is working the case of Grace’s kidnapping and is frustrated (and somewhat charmed, perhaps?) by Isaiah’s refusal to work within the system. Simultaneous with this investigation, she’s stumbled upon evidence that her partner may be corrupt—she’s certain he stole cash from a crime scene—and she’s trying to confirm this in the most inelegant way, not far removed from how IQ functions in this book: by straight-up asking him whether he’s corrupt or not. This series has heretofore avoided the trap of humanizing police officers that other mystery series have fallen into, and I resent the fact that a portion of this one is dedicated to the boo-hoos of a rich girl cop, and I loathe the “good cop” trope. Beyond this, there are references to her love life—she’s got super high standards which has resulted in a lack of action on that front!—which is so transparently a wink-wink nudge-nudge indication that she and Isaiah are on the road to a relationship as soon as Grace is out of the picture (which she is by book’s end, having left Isaiah for being too dang dangerous for her to be around). I don’t like the Winnie character and I do not look forward to her being more involved in subsequent books. Also, her subplot about the corrupt partner? He shows her his daughter, whom he claims has some inoperable cancer and gives her a sob story about how he promised her he would pay her way through college and that’s why he’s been stealing money from crime scenes. She resolves this by giving him MORE money and not turning him in. 🤨 I guess the moral is supposed to be about how motives may differ from what it seems is happening on a surface level, but this still feels like such a dumb and absurdly naive way for this supposedly smart character to conclude this story.

I also read some other reviews on Goodreads which pointed out some continuity errors, although I’ll admit I did not catch them myself. The most damning is that TK is shot, then appears unharmed later during a scene in which Dodson is trying to gather money together so Isaiah can pay a ransom to get Grace back (this is not part of some larger plan that they have… they literally just plan to pay Skip off and hope that works), and then at the end of the book he’s on life support in the hospital from the bullet wound. Yikes.

So yes, altogether I was left unhappy with FIXIT. It feels like the series has gone far astray of what it originally purported to be and to me seems like it’s spinning its wheels quite a bit. I will probably (?) still read the next one, but I don’t know how much longer that will be the case.

[Chip · Rating 3 out of 5]

Parts of this were riveting, but other parts choppy and inconsistent. For example, I think after one of the main characters was hurt, there was a scene where he was simply at a meal with other characters as if nothing had happened - and then after that in the hospital. An editing problem? Or did I just misread? Similarly the plot line with Skip and his mom seemed almost comically absurd, and same too re Manzo’s. Just not up to par with the promise of earlier books - came across more like a high action, high octane, less intelligent story Ide pumped out for TV.

[Richard Bankey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd like the thank the publisher, author, and Goodreads for sending me this book in exchange for a fair review. This novel is part of a series. I really don't think that it is required to have read all of the previous books, but I think that you would probably enjoy it more if you had. The book is a pretty quick read and a really good story. The main character is really unique and all of the storylines are concluded at the end in a satisfying way. The only thing I would like to see is more developed characters. 4.25 🌟

[Karl Jorgenson · Rating 4 out of 5]

IQ returns with more intensity, more action, and more raw emotion. All the vividly drawn characters from previous books are back and the story races from crisis to crisis, from threat to threat, from close escape to close escape. Sprinkled with IQ's brilliant deductions, the book makes a fitting continuation of the series. It's fairly important to read the series from the beginning; all the characters and their present situations are derived from earlier books.

[Leane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ide’s IQ series is an excellent PI procedural and from the beginning a masterful dance with strong and unique CHs, serpentine Plotting, a variety of Tone from heartbreaking to over-the-top adrenaline which also infuses Pace but with interludes of deep meditative breaks, all supported by a realistic look at Long Beach, CA and environs in all its gritty humanity including the drug and violent cultural detail with a rainbow of diversity. IQ, his friend Dodson, girlfriend Grace, and assortment of friends and the villains he needs to deal with are all fully developed. Dodson is often the co-star in these adventures and adds the majority of the humor to the books. The intro of a new homicide detective and her issues really added to the ensemble and tenor of the series. The dialogue is realistic in cadence, language, and written in the urban vernacular with rhythm and, sometimes, great understatement. I laugh out loud and shed a few tears in each book. Fixit could be a standalone but readers new to this series will greatly benefit from reading the first, IQ or the previous one, Smoke. This plot is all about IQ getting the kidnapped Grace back as one of the gangs' leader has a price on IQ’s head. Riveting pacing, plotting, and tone from the start. RED FLAG: Vulgar language, graphic violence, drug use, child abuse, sexual abuse and mistreatment of animals. Fans of Pelecanos’s DC series, Don Winslow, Gary Phillips, and Rachel Howzell Hall’s Det. Lou Norton series may want to take note.

[Michael J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the sixth novel in the IQ series, and the third one I've read. I believe it's the best one so far, because it delves even further into the character of Isaiah Quintabe (IQ). He's faced with the greatest challenge yet, to save someone (Grace, his girlfriend) from death, a person being used for no other reason than to get to him by people that want revenge.
IQ is suffering from PTSD (a result of incidents in the last novel) and is off his game, mis-stepping several times, enough to make him question how and why he's spent his life this way. There's plenty of action and chase scenes, and Ide always includes interesting secondary characters that seem realistic. A new character, homicide detective Winnie Hando, is introduced - - and she has issues and layers of insights to explore. I expect to see her in future installments of the series.
This one is explosive. Also, you don't have to have read any other of the IQ novels in order to enjoy and be entertained by what's going on here. I love this series.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just perfection. I love everything about these books, and now a tv series is being made, which is something I’ve been hoping for and dreading, in equal measure. When I read the first one, I pictured Donald Glover as IQ, but lately I’ve been thinking LaKeith Stanfield would be better. Yes, I’m a big Atlanta fan. Can’t wait to see who they actually choose.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not the best in the series but still enjoyed it.

[Bob Box · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fast-paced crime drama featuring IQ. Ide throws caution to the wind and pushes the boundaries of believability. The serendipitous meeting of two villains was too much.

[Gregory Mele · Rating 5 out of 5]

After what was largely a missed step with the fifth IQ novel, and an embarrassingly mad attempt at reimagining Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe, Joe Ide returns to form with all cylinders firing in this fast-paced story that begins mere hours after its predecessor ended. Tying characters and story lines that go back all the way back to volume 1, Fixit serves as something of a capstone in the series, resolving many of the meta plots and character relationships we've been following thus far.

While the introduction of a new character in police detective Winnie Hanno and the final scene suggests a road map for the next chapter in IQ's journey, the resolutions here could very much stand as a satisfying resolution to the entire series.

[Anna Quilter · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

I was a bit lost at the start....
Not because I didn't "get" the story ...but because I thought I was reading another author more interested in forging ahead with plotline/story and with no mind to characters..
However...once it took a breath....
And the idiosyncratic characters re merged all felt right with the world.....

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

So not my favorite in the series. Sure I like dark but I’m struggling with the places IQ went and perhaps where I think he might be going.

[Ruby · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's rare that a series pulls me in as deep as this one has. The first four books were good, the fifth.. it was good, but something about it just didn't sit with me as well as the others. This one? This was as good as all five of the previous put together and then some.

Absolutely stellar. Packs a punch, pulls back, waits a minute or two, and slams you again. Repeatedly. Just when you think you can breathe, it gets you in a choke hold and doesn't let up.

I recently read Snoop was working on developing this into a series. There is one particular scene in this book that's so well written and brutal that I can not imagine the awards said hypothetical series would win if they nail that scene alone. Fingers crossed this will eventually come to fruition.

I hope like hell this series keeps going for years to come. I've eyeballed it in stores for years and years and finally took the plunge and regret waiting so long.

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have been a fan of the IQ books ever since the first one in the series. Fixit picks up on some of the dangling plot lines from the previous book. I have begun to lose interest in the ongoing storyline as IQ and his friends reel from one crisis to another that have a certain sameness. His rocky romance continues to teeter, much like the relationships in certain TV series that keep viewers tuning in to see if the characters find true happiness. This is not a bad book, but the competing plot lines and ultimate denouement, if you can call the rushed ending a conclusion, were in the end really unsatisfying, clearly teeing up for the next round in the continuing saga of IQ. I may read #7, but that's starting to feel unlikely. I rounded up from 2.5 to give it a three.

[Craig C · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is more of a 2.5 book than a 3 star book. This is probably the longest "fridging" of a girlfriend plot anyone has ever attempted. And you know you have story issues when there are multiple time jumps and flashbacks that are completely unnecessary. It almost feels like Mr Ide wants to write a complete book based on Dodson or on IQ but decided to smash them together anyway, just didn't have enough story for one or the other. All in all, the last three books really didn't live up to the beginning of this series.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the first several of the IQ books but they have gradually gotten darker and less "IG"-ish. I'm not sure if the author is trying to show how PTSD affects IQ, but it just doesn't feel as unique and intelligent. To some extent, I felt the same about book #5 but thought that might just have been a one-off.

[Susan Tunis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been a fan of this series since the first book. And one of the things I've most enjoyed about the series is the humor that seems to naturally arise from the delicious mix of characters. But lately, Isiah and Joe Ide have been going to some dark places. Never has this been more true than in Fixit.

If I'm being honest, I wouldn't mind if things lighten up a bit, but this is the journey his characters are on. Thankfully, we've always got Dodson, not only for welcome comic relief, but as support for Isiah as he struggles with his better angels and his personal demons. What I described as darkness in this latest installment didn't come out of nowhere. Isiah has been courting danger for a while now. It was bound to catch up. He's a fantastically well-drawn character, and now we're seeing new, and not always likeable, facets of him. This, too, shall pass. Hopefully.

Regardless, I'll be grabbing book #7 upon publication. Joe Ide is going to have to work a lot harder if he wants to get rid of me.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the 6th installment of Joe Ide’s IQ series. IQ (Isaiah Quintabe) learns that his estranged girlfriend, Grace, has been kidnapped by a sadistic hit man, Skip Hanson, who is seeking revenge against IQ because his vicious pit bull was killed by IQ. IQ and his sidekick, Juanell Dodson set out to piece together scant clues to track down and rescue Grace. Complicating matters are IQ’s PTSD, the bounty on his head which is attracting every lowlife in California and the leader of the Surenos Locos 13 gang who is looking to restore his reputation in the Sinaloa Cartel. This book is explosive, tense and riveting!

[Jaybee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am think this series has been in its course for me. There’s nothing wrong with the book, it just didn’t suck me in.

[Brent Wilson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have read this whole series and while I have had relatively significant criticisms with the previous books, I would still give each a more or less positive review. The characters are compelling, especially IQ, and that carries them.

This one, however, is really just a meandering and chaotic mess. Without giving anything away, I swear there are more than a half dozen subplots, only some of which are even loosely related to the main storyline. And even the main storyline itself feels haphazard and sloppy.

Whatever issues I have had with previous entries, I do think Ide is a really good writer. I very much appreciated his take on Phillip Marlowe in The Goodbye Coast for instance. So I don't really understand what happened here.

[Johanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Joe Ide’s series about the private detective IQ. When I finished the last one, I was beyond frustrated that it ended with a cliffhanger and I had to wait a year for the next book. As expected, it was worth the wait but I did have some problems with it.

At one point someone is using a backpack but then starts using a shopping bag. But after that they’re talking about the backpack rather than the shopping bag.

No mention was made about what happened to the money donated by friends. Was it returned to them?

The colors for left and right (aka, port is red and starboard is green) are backwards.

Okay, these are minor quibbles but I found them distracting. That said, I love the IQ series and will always jump into the next book.

[Chris Lehmann · Rating 2 out of 5]

That Joe Ide can right is undeniable. But I'd like him to *like* his characters a little more.

IQ is a good person in a flawed world trying to do good things, and Ide just absolutely puts this character through hell for the effort.

Fixit felt deeply cruel to his Isaiah, and I found myself hating the book for what it does.

I love IQ as a character. I love the world Ide has created.

I'd love to know why he seems to hate his main character so much.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

IQ with no time to get Healy after last adventure, is thrust into a cat and mouse game against the hitman that’s kidnapped Grace.
Dodson starts new career as a Fixer.

[Sherry · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5
In January 2023 I first read “IQ” and enjoyed his story so much that I wanted to follow how he develops; I have finally caught up to 2023 publication. I thought the series might end with this one, but now I see that is not to be. These are not “cozy” crime mysteries; they have brutal and violent people, sometimes beyond the pale. I enjoy the authenticity of the prose. (I say “authentic” but I don’t know anyone in East Long Beach to confirm this. For instance, the F word isn’t much used.) IQ series can be read as standalone... Ide recants necessary information to be able to follow the main characters and their relationships. IQ has brains and heart in abundance; maybe called quirky by those who meet him?

IQ has a neighborhood full of quite the characters to add humor to counterbalance the gang mayhem. Once upon a time movie theaters used to have cartoons (and news) before the film. These characters might be the cartoons and wartime news IQ’s misadventures.

IQ must be IQ in spite of himself... He did try to escape from himself and from East Long Beach in the prior novel, then was hospitalized for helping someone once again, when DORANDA calls the hospital to tell him that his lady love, GRACE is kidnapped by SKIP HANSON aka MAGNUS VESTERGARD. The man is a savage, psychotic hitman who wants revenge on IQ for putting him in prison and destroying. his life.

JUANELL DODSON, sometimes IQ’s investigative partner - thinks that IQ would have been dead on every case if not for him. He can be annoying with constantly trying to be “top dog” in their investigations. His wife, CHARISE, is always on him to get and keep an honest job. Charise’s mother is always on him for anything and everything he does or does not do. Now Charise wants him to prove he wants to help people the way IQ used to do... Charise’s minister needs his help. Will Dodson find religion? Maybe not, but he does have soul.

IQ started out just helping neighbors and friends solve little mysteries, fixing their problems out of the kindness of his heart if they couldn’t pay. Then he sought bigger challenges. RUFF is the pit bull IQ rescued from an early case (featuring SKIP, the psycho) that has his own unique pit-bull character, eschewing heredity.

WINNIE HANDO is a LAPD homicide detective who wants to prove police are better than IQ, a mere unlicensed private detective, by catching the kidnapper herself. This is futile; she, the designer-dressed and coifed arrogant rich-b--ch cop is sick of hearing people tell her IQ is smarter than she is. (Winnie, for a woman who loves horses? And whose parents who can’t spell.)

Must be my mood on a rare bright, sunny day because this is more humorous than tense if you can ignore Grace’s predicament; the way vicious Skip is slow-witted and lonely, Grace slyly manipulates him and his mommy-dearest JESSICA. Also hiring a hit on “Raymond Burr,” the attorney for class action suits, made me laugh. Dodson’s affectations are always humorous -- He’s a lot of things, mostly loyal and effective. He invents some amusing ways to get people to do what he wants and ensure their cooperation.

It’s about survival on the mean streets... With generous humanity for contrast, philosophy and psychology. It’s impossible to not like IQ and Dodson and care about them.

Every ending leads to the next story and repeating characters introduced in this novel and every novel. IQ must remain IQ no matter what: “Right back with the killers, crazies, gangbangers, and pedophiles.” We haven’t met any pedophiles yet and I personally hope Ide doesn’t go there.

The Final Showdown is worthy of movie special effects.

[Bookreporter.com Mystery & Thriller · Rating 4 out of 5]

PI Isaiah Quintabe fixes things for people. Is someone threatening your mom? Talk to IQ. Did that guy down the street steal your car? Talk to IQ. But now Isaiah wants to quit being IQ. He’s lived on the edge for too long. It’s seeped into every part of his life. So he would like to retire while he still can.

If Isaiah endangered only himself, maybe it wouldn’t be such a problem. But being IQ puts everyone he cares about in danger. When he goes after the bad guys, they go after his friends as well. At this point, Isaiah simply wants to live quietly with Grace, the woman he loves. But just as he’s deciding this, Skip Hanson, a ruthless hitman whose entire life IQ ruined (according to Skip), is kidnapping Grace. It’s all about revenge on Isaiah. This is not a good start to IQ’s retirement.

Isaiah was in the hospital, recovering from some nasty injuries, when he heard the news, so he’s not at the top of his game. And the more he struggles to find Grace, the more he realizes how much he’s messing up. That’s where his vast group of friends and people from his past step in to help. His close buddy, Juanell Dodson, drops everything to try to keep him thinking straight and be his voice of reason. But Isaiah is blinded by his passion --- passion that causes a hot rage yet blurs his mind with a cold fog. It seems he’s one step behind Skip at every turn. But he must save Grace. He’s done it before. He can do it again.

In the meantime, Grace --- one tough woman who is not to be underestimated --- is hoping and praying that Isaiah will come to her rescue. However, she’s not depending on it. Using all of her wiles, she plays Skip any way she can in an effort to free herself. But it seems she encounters one hitch after another. Freedom is right within her grasp but snatched away, over and over again. Why can’t she catch a break?

As usual, Isaiah elects to trust himself above everybody else. With the possible exception of Dodson, that is. But no cops. He doesn’t believe the police can do a better job than he can. Until he runs out of options. Slowly realizing he can’t save Grace by himself, he learns how many in his community genuinely care about him…and Grace. More people come forward to aid in her rescue than he even thought he knew. Friends and acquaintances open their wallets, raid their savings, and sign checks for eye-popping amounts. But without IQ, those people might not even be there. The sheer enormity of their generosity truly touches Isaiah’s heart.

All the while, Grace is fighting for survival. She’s hanging on by her wits, and cursing Isaiah for getting her into this. She knows it’s not his fault. And yet, she believes it is. Skip is using her as bait to get to Isaiah. That’s her only value to the hitman. Grace is tired of this cat-and-mouse game. She can’t take it anymore. She loves Isaiah and knows he loves her. But she doesn’t want to forever live in fear. What to do?

Joe Ide’s FIXIT is far more than a fast-paced suspense, or even a heart-wrenching race to rescue Grace and, by extension, Isaiah. It is a demonstration of the power of working together, the value of friendship, and the meaning of love. And loss. IQ is a complicated personality all to himself. He is a knight in shining armor, as much as he is an ordinary man. But days have changed. He has played with fire and gotten burnt. Has he lost his edge? Has he waited too long to retire? Well, the answer is no --- at least for readers.

Reviewed by Kate Ayers

[Joe Kucharski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Author Joe Ide has given IQ six books of exploits. Maybe it is time for that final chapter to conclude.

IQ, that is, Isaiah Quintabe, the Sherlock Holmes of East Long Beach, has been through enough trials and tribulations to make the Reichenbach Falls look like a lazy river outing. Yet instead of performing a Dave Grohl-worthy second act, Isaiah doesn’t pick up the guitar to rock out, rather drums a single beat of repetition. This time when Isaiah proclaims that IQ is over, it comes across as relief instead of a threat.

Leading into Smoke (the previous IQ novel from 2021), IQ had lost his way. Shunning friends and the SoCal way of life, IQ chose to hide up north. He was restless. He was hurt. Then? Because crime fiction, friends, IQ stopped a serial killer and found his groove. Smoke ends with the cliffhanging surprise return of dog-breeding assassin Skip who kidnaps IQ’s lady-love, Grace.

Fixit – the IQ series latest (last?) – should have been a 90-minute epilogue to a five-season show with Isaiah saving the day and returning a hero, ready for business. Instead? Fixit is a twelve-episode beast of a program that is as long as the day is hot. And one, take note, where IQ plays guest star for easily the first third. Fixit could have been titled Grace: Hostage because that is all you get.

Ide has a wonderful and fun style to his prose. During the course of this series, IQ and the hip-talking, sometimes-partner-sometimes-sidekick Juanell Dodson have become detailed, deep, and enjoyable characters. But the downward spiral of pain (pretty much since Hi Five) churns on in a cycle of repetition that makes the joy of the narrative a chore to read. Even moments of action and excitement, such as the takeover of TK’s junkyard, are washed away with insignificance.

Ide attempts to lighten the load as Dodson – the fixit of the title – tries to find purpose in his life by transforming his con artist backstory into a neighborhood white hat. However, Dodson’s antics are drowned out by the unrelenting yelling that every character broadcasts. Grace, Skip, ganglord Manzo, and Skip’s mother Jessica, all yell and scream. Constantly. Aggravatingly to the point where the reader becomes pummelled with italics and exclamation points. That, along Skip’s profanity-heavy term of endearment for IQ, wears out its welcome by page nine. Ide’s usually fresh style becomes muddy and, sadly, spoiled.

IQ deserves a victory lap. Instead, before the sun sets behind the PCH, there is a quick moment. Where once open wounds are now scars with stories as Isaiah and Dodson catch a smile. A little of that Kirk/Spock, Holmes/Watson, Dre/Cube familiarity through friendship finally shines through. Fixit needed more of that comradery.

“Fixit” should have been a command for Ide.

The ending works as IQ gets to spin a new tune. But sometimes? That classic beat is something you’d prefer to hear.


Beats and comradery a plenty - by the way - over @ Joe's. Dig it.