Smoke: An IQ Novel

Edgar finalist Ide’s lackluster fifth novel featuring Isaiah “IQ” Quintabe (after 2020’s Hi Five) finds Isaiah driving north from his home in Long Beach, Calif., where he’s had enough of dealing with violent crime. He stops in Coronado Springs, a town near Lake Tahoe, where he ends up renting a one-bedroom house. His peaceful existence is interrupted by Billy Sorensen, an escapee from a neuro-psych facility who breaks into his house to steal food. Billy claims that a serial killer, known as AMSAK because his 17 victims were dumped near the Sacramento and American rivers, is headed to Coronado Springs—and that he knows AMSAK’s identity. Reluctantly, Isaiah investigates. Lengthy unrelated sections involving supporting characters, such as a person whose successful business is threatened by a blackmailer, only further mar the uninspired cat and mouse plot. Isaiah has little opportunity to display his considerable intellectual gifts, and at one point he only avoids serious injury by the tired contrivance of slipping on some dirt. Series fans can only hope for a return to form next time out. Agent: Esther Newberg, ICM Partners. (Feb.)