Lola

A Novel

By: Melissa Scrivner Love

Narrated by: Roxana Ortega

WINNER OF THE JOHN CREASEY DEBUT DAGGER AWARD
Nominated for the Edgar Award for best first novel

An astonishing debut crime thriller about an unforgettable woman who combines the genius and ferocity of Lisbeth Salander with the ruthless ambition of Walter White

The Crenshaw Six are a small but up-and-coming gang in South Central LA who have recently been drawn into an escalating war between rival drug cartels. To outsiders, the Crenshaw Six appear to be led by a man named Garcia . . . but what no one has figured out is that the gang's real leader (and secret weapon) is Garcia's girlfriend, a brilliant young woman named Lola. Lola has mastered playing the role of submissive girlfriend, and in the man's world she inhabits she is consistently underestimated. But in truth she is much, much smarter--and in many ways tougher and more ruthless--than any of the men around her, and as the gang is increasingly sucked into a world of high-stakes betrayal and brutal violence, her skills and leadership become their only hope of survival.

Lola marks the debut of a hugely exciting new thriller writer, and of a singular, magnificent character unlike anyone else in fiction.

I didn't connect with it.

Perhaps it's my age (69), but the story didn't touch me. And the book isn't meant to be anthropological study, so it doesn't interest me.

Yes

nice twist!

It was nice to flip the script... female hero, female villain, maternal undertones, family dynamics, and just some good ole gangsta shit!

Eye opener

I thought this was good! I'm super naive and it was very eye opening. The narrator was interesting.

Review from Boyle Heights

How the F did she get it all right? Right pace, good story, great characters.

A Brown Woman's world

Great great read. With drama and cunning this story spoke volumes on so many levels