Smoke

Smoke by Joe Ide, 323 pages

After a slew of dangerous, high-tension situations Isaiah "IQ" Quintabe is ready for a break from the real world and heads out of Sacramento for a taste of small-town life. Unfortunately, the danger seems determined to follow him in the form of an escaped psych inmate, a pair of ex-cons who may also be serial killers, and a cop who seems much more interested in the new Black guy in town than an actual threat to his community. Meanwhile, Isaiah's friends have their own dramas to deal with: Dodson's wife, Cherise, has gotten fed up with her husband's "street" antics and secured him an internship at an advertising agency; Deronda's baby daddy has popped up demanding partial custody — or half her successful food truck business; and Isaiah's ex-girlfriend Grace is being stalked by a creepy guy who thinks she'll lead him to IQ.

This is a great mix of storylines and characters, and Ide weaves them together well. My biggest complaint is directed at myself: why did I have to read this before any of the other IQ books? I can tell from this one that I'd love them, and I'm sure they'd provide plenty of the necessary backstory that was missing here. Guess I'll have to move them up my TBR list before the next IQ novel comes out...

Gathering Dark

Gathering Dark by Candice Fox, 319 pages

A year after being released from prison, former pediatrician Blair Harbour is trying to keep on the straight and narrow, in the hopes of regaining custody of her young son. However, the appearance of her strung-out former cellmate, who is looking for her missing daughter, throws a wrench in Blair's plans. Meanwhile, LAPD detective Jessica Sanchez (who coincidentally put Blair behind bars) has recently inherited a multi-million-dollar home from a man whose daughter's murder she helped solve, and the bequest is causing more than a little animosity with her colleagues. Soon, Jessica and Blair's lives cross paths again in a twisty tale of ex-cons, a man on death row, a missing kid, and a possibly fictitious buried treasure.

While I loved both of the main characters in this book, the twists and turns seemed a little much for me. It's an easy read, though I feel like either Blair or Jessica could've carried the book on her own. This seems to be the first in a series though, so hopefully future entries are a little clearer.