Having a book-review column is new to me. Although I\u2019ve written an opinion column for the Tribune since 1999 and other pieces from time to time, having a regular column devoted to books is a novel experience. Pun intended. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
With extra reading time during the pandemic, I soon found that I\u2019d read all the books by my favorite authors. I started prowling through the online warehouse at Amazon.com, looking for new writers. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The process is different from browsing at a brick-and-mortar bookstore where one can flip through pages before making a decision. Purchasing a book by an author unknown to the buyer is something of a hit or miss situation. Fortunately, I\u2019ve had a lot of hits and only a few misses.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In this and future columns, I\u2019ll share them with you, beginning with Joe Ide, a crime fiction writer of Japanese American descent who grew up in South Central Los Angeles and incorporates his unique knowledge of the mean streets into his narration.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
His debut novel, \u201cI.Q,\u201d was published in 2016, and it was nominated for the Edgar Award for Best First Novel. The book centers on Isiah Quintabe (I.Q.), an African American high-school drop-out who is the Sherlock Holmes of the \u2018hood. He even has a Dr. Watson in the person of Dodson, \u201cthe hustler\u2019s hustler.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I.Q. takes on the cases that the local cops overlook or don\u2019t care about, and he usually works for in-kind payment. Maybe a pair of Uniroyals. He solves problems using his powers of reasoning and logic, displaying an intelligence that would hit the highest levels on a Stanford-Binet test. But, of course, that talent doesn\u2019t help when violence is involved. That\u2019s where Dodson comes into play. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In \u201cI.Q.,\u201d Isiah has just enough earnings from various sources to handle the bills, but he finally gets a case that will pay real money. Black the Knife, a rap mogul, has been threatened, and it\u2019s up to I.Q. to prevent his murder. I.Q.\u2019s genius and his demeanor leaves the reader wanting more, and Ide has not disappointed.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The second book in the I.Q series, \u201cRighteous,\u201d reveals that Isiah, like Sherlock Holmes, has his own Moriarty. Perhaps he\u2019s finally going to discover the person who killed his older brother. Perhaps. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In Ide\u2019s third book, \u201cWrecked,\u201d Dodson becomes I.Q.\u2019s full-fledged partner who insists that their private investigation business become more professional. Isiah leaves the business end to Dodson while he gets personally involved with a painter whose mother is missing. Somehow, Mr. Ide manages to work a dangerous paramilitary operation into the plot.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In \u201cHi Five,\u201d the fourth book, I.Q. has to deal with Christiana, a woman with multiple personalities. For me, the fascination with this offering by Mr. Ide is the process by which the protagonist assimilates clues from each of Christiana\u2019s personas.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I recommend that you read the books in order. You won\u2019t be disappointed. Enjoy.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u2022 \u2022 \u2022<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Puede contactar a Jim Glynn en j_glynn@att.net.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Having a book-review column is new to me. Although I\u2019ve written an opinion column for the Tribune since 1999 and other pieces from time to time, having a regular column devoted to books is a novel experience. Pun intended. With extra reading time during the pandemic, I soon found that I\u2019d read all the books […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_theme","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_angie_page":false,"page_builder":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[32,43],"class_list":["post-5431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-opinion","tag-culture","tag-law"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5431","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5431"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5431\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}