Onyx reviews: Lola on Fire by Rio Youers

Reviewed by Bev Vincent, 6/18/2021

Lola Bear isn't on fire at the beginning of this fast-paced thriller, but someone ends up in flames by the end of the captivating opening, set in 1993. Lola has been an enforcer for Jimmy Latzo's organization for a long time and now she wants out. Her boss and erstwhile lover don't want to let her go so she needs to burn his criminal empire to the ground. And she has the skills to do so.

A quarter of a century later, Brody Ellis has an apparent chance encounter with a young woman that sets the contemporary plot into motion. While he's robbing a convenience store (his motives are pure—he needs money for rent and to buy medication for his sister Molly, who has cerebral palsy), he loses his wallet. The woman, Blair Mayo, calls him after the heist to say she has it and will return it if he commits another robbery for him. It's a trap and, in the aftermath, Brody and Ellis find themselves on the run from the cops and from some very bad people. Lola's former boss, as it turns out.

What's the connection? Brody hasn't heard from his mother for a decade, but Latzo (severely injured but far less dead than Lola believed) has never given up looking for her to get his revenge for what she did to him. It took him a long time to recover to the point where he could seek her out, but now he's determined to settle the old debt. Lola has been off the grid for years, but if anyone could possibly smoke her out, it's her children.

Blair Mayo could be a younger version of Lola Bear. Deadly and resourceful, she stays on Brody and Molly's trail as they seek the one person who might be able to help them get out of their desperate situation. The siblings, who have limited resources, always manage to stay one step ahead of their pursuers—but it soon becomes clear that Blair and her accomplices aren't really interested in Brody or Molly. It's all about Lola.

The trail leads them to their mother and the inevitable confrontation with Latzo and his forces. Lola has been off the grid and has kept up her skills as far as possible, but she's twenty-six years older and up against ruthless people who are at the top of their game. Does she dig in and wait for the inevitable assault or will she take the battle to them on their home ground?

The novel is brutal from beginning to end, but not needlessly so. Youers spends plenty of time developing Brody and Molly's characters and reintroducing them to the woman who left so they would be safe. The novel drives relentlessly to the ultimate confrontation between the old and the young, Lola vs. Blair. It's fast-paced, well-written, perfectly orchestrated and a whole lot of fun. Fans of Michael Koryta's Never Far Away should love this one.