Lola on Fire

September 1, 2020

British Fantasy nominee Youers goes hard-edged with the story of hapless Brody Ellis, who robs a convenience store so he can buy his sister's medications. But then he loses his wallet, which its finder will return only if he retrieves her late mother's diamonds from her mean stepmother. The bloodbath he finds at the stepmother's house bespeaks setup. With a 100,000-copy first printing.

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November 1, 2020
Mobster Jimmy Latzo is nursing a decades-long grudge against Lola Bear, the woman who nearly killed him. Now, after trying to beat Lola's whereabouts out of anyone who might know her, and failing miserably, Jimmy has a new plan. Or, rather, his daughter, Blair Mayo (who isn't really his daughter), has the plan: track down Lola's kids and make them lead Jimmy to Lola. The plan involves a certain amount of seduction, deceit, and murder, and it doesn't go exactly the way Blair envisioned it. The latest novel by the author of Halcyon (2018), The Forgotten Girl (2017), and Westlake Soul (2012) has a deliciously convoluted plot and a cast of splendidly corrupt characters. Lola herself is a (literally) kick-ass woman, a brilliant mixture of primal violence and keen intellect. Youers has always had a gift for character design, but here he's bumped it up a notch. And the story? A delight. If Jim Thompson and David Goodis were still alive and writing, they'd be looking over their shoulders.

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November 30, 2020
Brody Ellis, the hero of this rocket-fueled crime thriller from Youers (Halcyon), resorts to robbing a convenience store to settle debts and buy medication for his sister, Molly. As Brody flees with the money, he bumps into a young woman, and only later realizes he’s lost his wallet. He soon receives a call from Blair Mayo, the woman he ran into; to get his wallet back and keep her from going to the police, Brody will have to steal her late mother’s diamonds from her stepmother. Brody agrees, and once inside the stepmother’s house, he stumbles across a murder scene designed to implicate him. In an attempt to stay ahead of trouble, Brody and Molly hit the road, where they slowly realize they’re part of a revenge plan orchestrated by mob boss Jimmy Latzo to flush out their long-estranged mother, Lola, a onetime Latzo associate. Youers balances frenetic action with heartfelt character interactions. Fans of full-throttled cinematic action-fests of the Long Kiss Goodnight variety are in for a treat. Agent: Howard Morhaim, Howard Morhaim Literary.