Item: Righteous
Rating: 3.00
Author: heather

by Joe Ide

"Isaiah Quintabe has, against many odds, built a proper life for himself: a respected detective in his hometown of East Long Beach, a well-kept home, a growing library, and even a rehabilitated horse-sized pit bull (courtesy of his previous client). But something is wrong: the death of his older brother nearly a decade ago has sent him down a dark path, one that he's never truly been able to escape. RIGHTEOUS is the story of Isaiah's investigation of his brother's death, a quest that will lead him to his greatest adversary, a man who may be IQ's own Moriarty. RIGHTEOUS is also the story of Sarita, Isaiah's older brother's girlfriend, for whom Isaiah feels a lasting, troubling love. Sarita's younger sister, an erratic DJ and gambling addict, has gone missing in Las Vegas, with a frightening bookie, Chinese Triad gangsters, and her own deadbeat boyfriend hot on her tail. On the case once more with Dodson, Isaiah's fast-talking, don't-call-me-a-sidekick partner, mayhem is sure to ensue. With gun battles, car chases, and twice as many mental puzzles as before, RIGHTEOUS is a rollicking, ingenious, and thrilling roller coaster ride. It swerves from the streets of South Central to the hotels of Beverly Hills, from the casinos and massage parlors of Las Vegas to the mountains of the desert Southwest. IQ is back, and he's badder than ever"--

Isaiah Quintabe has built a proper life for himself: respected in his hometown of East Long Beach, a well-kept home, a growing library, and even a rehabilitated horse-sized pit bull. But the death of his older brother nearly a decade ago sent him down a dark path, one that he's never truly been able to escape. IQ has a lasting, troubling love for Sarita, his late brother's girlfriend. When Sarita's younger sister, an erratic DJ and gambling addict, goes missing in Las Vegas, with a frightening bookie, Chinese Triad gangsters, and her own deadbeat boyfriend hot on her tail, mayhem is sure to ensue.

I read the first book in the series, IQ, after I picked up a copy at BEA in 2016. I kept meaning to pick up this one but the time was never right.

There are several different gangs operating in this story. There are Rwandan gangsters, a Latino gang, and several branches of the Chinese mafia. What they all have in common is their misogyny. This reminds me why I don't often read stories that center men.

The Chinese gangs are trafficking young girls for sex
The Rwandans have a history of shooting the girlfriends of people who wrong them. One also refers to a person who bit him in a fight as "a woman" and this is meant to be a grave insult.

SPOILERS

And then, and then, it turns out that a major part of the backstory of the series was set in motion because of a woman. It wasn't anything this woman did. She is pretty much completely unaware and the main character isn't going to tell her because why worry her pretty little head.

She went to Cambridge to go to school and ended up getting stalked by one of the Rwandans who was also in school there. It was bad enough that she came home early to get away. Soon after she met Isaiah's brother and they started dating. She gets into law school and Isaiah's brother decides he needs to go to college to be at her level. He steals money and kills someone in the process. Unbeknownst (great word) to anyone the Rwandan followed this poor lady to California. He kills Isaiah's brother in a hit and run for dating the woman he believes belongs to him. Now eight years later she comes to Isaiah for help with her sister which is the main mystery in this book. But, Isaiah gets it into his head that now they are going to live happily ever after because she is so grateful for him solving the crime. When she doesn't fall at his feet, he gets all up in his feelings and starts to act stupid. Eventually, another man tells him off for this and his assumptions which is good but really? The author puts all this on a woman who is just trying to get her education and live her life. These fools are all running around thinking she's either perfect or needs punished based solely on what is in their own imaginations. GRRR!

Righteous (IQ, #2)

by Joe Ide

Reviewed by Heather on Feb 8, 2019

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