Cristiana is the daughter of the biggest arms dealers on the West Coast, Angus Byrne. She's also the sole witness and number one suspect in the murder of her boyfriend, found dead in her Newport Beach boutique. Isaiah Quintabe is coerced into taking the case to prove her innocence. If he can't, Angus will harm the brilliant PI's new girlfriend, ending her career. The catch: Christiana has multiple personalities.
Usually, Ide walks the thin line between light and dark, playing off moments of caper-novel hilarity against outbursts of violence and the angst of misfired relationships, but this time angst wins by TKO. No matter. Ide goes dark with the skill of a noir master, leaving Isaiah in a very bad place and the reader gasping for breath. A stunning change of pace from one of crime fiction’s new stars.
The author is skilled at developing the humanity of every character, regardless of their perspective. It’s a hallmark of Ide’s evolving style that allows Hi Five to stand on its own for first-time readers, even as the series deepens longtime fans’ engagement ... Most affecting is the journey of Juanell Dodson, IQ’s ride-or-die sidekick ... Dodson’s resentment of, yet yearning for, connection with IQ and fulfilling his destiny as a slickster Watson to IQ’s more cerebral Sherlock is one of the novel’s many ancillary pleasures. Hi Five offers a rich tableau of community stalwarts and criminal riff-raff. But with so many characters and plot points to manage, the novel sometimes lags in it[s] pacing and stumbles over some nuances of geography even as it dares readers to keep up with IQ’s Holmesian inductions. But these are minor quibbles because High Five succeeds on so many fronts as it sets IQ and the series’ characters on an uncertain path down darker roads.
Mr. Ide is a remarkable writer, inhabiting the personae and rendering the back stories of a diverse assortment of characters ... “Hi Five more than earns its triumphant title.
