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Antigone's Reviews > Righteous
Righteous (IQ #2)
by
by
Ide's second outing for his young Long Beach private eye is a bit of a righteous mess.
Caught between the loose ends of his brother's death in a hit-and-run accident and the reappearance of that brother's girlfriend (for whom he still carries a torch), Isaiah Quintabe enters a vortex of conflicting goals and emotions, none of which are clearly or directly pursued.
In accordance with our author's style, we are once more bouncing from past to present, introduced at length to characters both new and old, and traveling from location to location as the many eruptions of action take hold. This siren of a girlfriend has a sister who's in trouble. Welcome to the seedy side of Las Vegas; the Chinese gangs, the loan sharks, human trafficking, and the desperation of gamblers who simply can't push the chair back and fold. Alternately, it appears this golden figure of a deceased brother had some unaccounted time, mysterious professional activities, and questionable motivations in the days leading up to his sudden death - hence we have dealings with the Latino gangs of Long Beach, some Rwandan muscle one shouldn't be trifling with, and a long-avoided storage locker that will open up possibilities entirely too uncomfortable to contemplate. (There is, in addition, a half-hearted attempt to contend with the issue of PTSD in gangster life, though this is so poorly developed I half-hesitate to mention it.)
Way too much on the plate here. Let's hope it's a "Surprise! We're paying you for a sequel!" hiccup because Joe Ide, bottom line, is possessed of talent to burn.
Caught between the loose ends of his brother's death in a hit-and-run accident and the reappearance of that brother's girlfriend (for whom he still carries a torch), Isaiah Quintabe enters a vortex of conflicting goals and emotions, none of which are clearly or directly pursued.
In accordance with our author's style, we are once more bouncing from past to present, introduced at length to characters both new and old, and traveling from location to location as the many eruptions of action take hold. This siren of a girlfriend has a sister who's in trouble. Welcome to the seedy side of Las Vegas; the Chinese gangs, the loan sharks, human trafficking, and the desperation of gamblers who simply can't push the chair back and fold. Alternately, it appears this golden figure of a deceased brother had some unaccounted time, mysterious professional activities, and questionable motivations in the days leading up to his sudden death - hence we have dealings with the Latino gangs of Long Beach, some Rwandan muscle one shouldn't be trifling with, and a long-avoided storage locker that will open up possibilities entirely too uncomfortable to contemplate. (There is, in addition, a half-hearted attempt to contend with the issue of PTSD in gangster life, though this is so poorly developed I half-hesitate to mention it.)
Way too much on the plate here. Let's hope it's a "Surprise! We're paying you for a sequel!" hiccup because Joe Ide, bottom line, is possessed of talent to burn.
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Reading Progress
December 2, 2021
–
Started Reading
December 2, 2021
– Shelved
December 9, 2021
– Shelved as:
mystery-detective
December 9, 2021
–
Finished Reading
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Charles wrote: "... gamblers who simply can't push the chair back and fold. ...Typically, you fold, then push your chair back from the table. Folks might become alarmed by the reverse order..."
But the phrase doesn't sound so good in reverse order—and that matters too. I read Antigone's reviews because her sentences are so well constructed!
Charles wrote: "Folks might become alarmed by the reverse order. 😉"As happened so often in the Wild West? Fair point.
Though Fionnuala, as she frequently does, has caught on to my rhythmic choices here. It's so often a dance, and the words are the steps, their connectives the energy, their silence a flourish. I might have been less Fosse here and a little more Martha Graham, however. I'll give you that. ;-)
Fionnuala wrote: "But the phrase doesn't sound so good in reverse order..."It didn't! And, well, I was in a bit of a fret about the old-hold-fold progression. Another pandemic Christmas. Sometimes I simply need to remember to take a deep breath.
!!
Antigone wrote: "... I might have been less Fosse here and a little more Martha Graham, however. I'll give you that."It was a rare instance of you getting tangoed-up in the words. 🙂
Typically, you fold, then push your chair back from the table. Folks might become alarmed by the reverse order. 😉
You sure this book isn't a hot mess and not a righteous one?
Good review.