Pun Salad

The latest entry (number six) in Joe Ide's "IQ" series, chronicling the exploits of Isaiah Quintabe and his retinue. Reading the series in order is recommended; there are numerous (N) characters and their relationships (O(N²)) have been developing over the years.

IQ had a pretty offbeat gig going, one that seemed to suit him: an unlicensed private eye to his downscale neighborhood, delivering rough justice to the bilked and downtrodden, paid in tuna casseroles and the like. But he's developed a couple of deadly enemies too: Skip, a professional (and psychotic) hitman; and Manzo, a onetime powerful leader of a drug gang, embarrassed and broke thanks to Isaiah (in a previous book). Both want IQ dead, and he's developed a serious case of PTSD as a result. And things get much worse when Skip abducts IQ's love, Grace, to use as bait in a deadly trap.

Things move along pretty quickly. PTSD-hampered Isaiah comes close to rescuing Grace, but fails. It's a cat-and-mouse game, full of schemes, shifting alliances, drug abuse, and betrayals.