Ide’s follow up effort to the superb IQ fails to meet the promise of the original.  The old cast of characters is there—Isaiah, Dodson, Deronda—and the Long Beach gang banger culture continues to provide the background, but the story just doesn’t seem credible.  As in the first book, there are two parallel investigations which come together at the end.  Isaiah continues to hunt for his brother’s hit-and-run killer while he is also involved by Marcus’ old girlfriend, Sarita, in finding and saving her gambling addicted half sister Janine who has a bad news boyfriend Bennie.  The Triads and their human trafficking enter the picture and a gang war between the Chinese and the Locos ensues.  Some excellent fight narratives, but the plot is too thin to support the 300 pages it takes to get to the end.  Not likely to try a Ide #3.