Lola on Fire

"Brody Ellis is down on his luck. His mom walked out when he was a kid, his father recently committed suicide, he's behind on his rent, and now he needs medication for his sister, Molly, who has cerebral palsy. In a desperate bid for some fast cash, Brody robs a convenience store, but he bumps into a young woman as he makes his escape, and realizes too late that he dropped his wallet at the scene of the crime. Just when he expects the police to break down his door, the phone rings. It's the woman he bumped into at the convenience store. Her name is Blair Mayo, and she has his wallet. Blair says she won't hand Brody's wallet over to the police, but he'll need to do her a favor first. She wants him to steal her late mother's diamonds, which are now in the possession of her wicked stepmom. Brody reluctantly agrees, but when he gets to the house, he finds himself in the middle of a gruesome crime scene. He also notices the security camera in the hallway, and knows he's been framed. Soon after, Blair calls Brody and tells him that her father has not submitted the security camera's footage to the police, planning instead to exact his own form of justice on the killer, which he is very capable of doing. He is, after all, the notorious mobster, Jimmy Latzo. As Brody and his sister Molly take off in search of safe harbor, they begin to suspect that they're pawns in an even greater game-one that involves a notorious enforcer named Lola Bear who brutally crossed paths with Jimmy Latzo twenty-six years before. . . and also happens to be Brody's mother"--
Blackmailed by a witness after robbing a convenience store, a desperate man is forced to commit a burglary before realizing that a young woman and he have been rendered pawns in an organized crime dispute. 100,000 first printing.
Arthur Ellis Award finalist Rio Youers combines vengeance and deceit, love and bullets, secrets, and twists in this high-octane action thriller with a vibrant emotional core.Brody Ellis is short on luck and even shorter on cash to buy the medication his sister Molly needs.Desperate, he robs a convenience store, but on the way out, he bumps into a young woman and loses his wallet. Just when he expects the cops to arrive, the phone rings. It&;s Blair Mayo&;the woman he bumped into&;and she&;s got the missing billfold.Brody will get it back, but only if he does her a favor: steal her late mother&;s diamonds from her wicked stepmom. But when he gets to the house, he finds a gruesome crime scene&;and a security camera. Brody knows he&;s been framed.Back home, the terrified young man gets another call. The police won&;t get the incriminating video footage, Blair says. Instead, her daddy, the notorious mobster Jimmy Latzo, will exact his own kind of revenge. Brody and Molly realize that they&;ve become pawns in a mysterious game&;one that involves a notorious enforcer named Lola Bear who brutally crossed paths with Jimmy Latzo twenty-six years before. . . a ghost from the past who is intimately connected to their lives.