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American Heroin

'A rip-through-it-in-one-sitting thrill ride that will leave readers hooked' Joseph Knox

Published by Point Blank
Distributed by Simon & Schuster

About The Book


American Heroin is the eagerly-awaited sequel to Lola, featuring a ruthless woman who will stop at nothing to protect her growing drug empire

It took sacrifice, pain, and more than a few dead bodies, but Lola has clawed her way to the top of her South Central Los Angeles neighborhood. Her gang has grown beyond a few trusted soldiers into a full-fledged empire, and the influx of cash has opened up a world that she has never known. But with great opportunity comes great risk, and as Lola ascends the hierarchy of the city’s underworld she attracts the attention of a dangerous new cartel who sees her as their greatest obstacle to dominance. Soon Lola finds herself sucked into a deadly all-out drug war that threatens to destroy everything she’s built.

But even as Lola readies to go to war, she learns that the greatest threat may not be a rival drug lord but a danger far closer to home: her own brother.

Edgy, complex, and breathtakingly propulsive, Melissa Scrivner Love has crafted a novel sure to please not only those who loved her first book but everyone who enjoys a gripping thriller.

About The Author

Melissa Scrivner Love was born to a police officer father and a court stenographer mother. After earning a master's degree in English Literature from New York University, Melissa moved to Los Angeles, where she has lived for over a decade. She is an Edgar Award-nominated screenwriter who has written for television shows, among them Life, CSI: Miami and Person of Interest. Lola is her first novel.

Product Details

  • Publisher: Point Blank (February 14, 2019)
  • Length: 304 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781786075376

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Raves and Reviews

'The story of Lola, the Latina Los Angeles drug kingpin, reaches its second book, taking the narco novel into unfamiliar areas: family ties and female friendship. But it's still a tough, violent world, and Lola must outsmart friend, foe and lover to remain on top. Long may she reign.'

– Sunday Times Crime Club, pick of the month

‘A shot in the arm. Melissa Scrivner Love delivers the goods with a pure fix of adrenaline that doesn’t subside until the final page. In Lola, we have a character who feels all too rare in contemporary crime fiction – a protagonist who’s prepared to fight tooth and nail for everything she holds dear, including her own compassion. American Heroin is addictive. A rip-through-it-in-one-sitting thrill ride that will leave readers hooked.’

– Joseph Knox, author of Sirens and The Smiling Man

‘Melissa Scrivner Love has done the near impossible: She’s made us care deeply about a gang-leading drug dealer, her friends, her enemies, and her world. And done it beautifully. Lola is a marvellous creation, brave but soft, smart but not mistake-proof, unique but completely believable. In short: American Heroin is a terrific book.’

– S.J. Rozan, author of Absent Friends

‘Raw, gritty, and excruciatingly real, Melissa Scrivner Love’s American Heroin features one of the most brutal and conflicted anti heroines in new crime fiction. Lola Vasquez is a ruthless gang leader and a protective mother, funneling heroin to her South Central Los Angeles neighbourhood in order to finance a life for her daughter and her mother away from the mayhem she herself inflicts. A can’t-look-away, just-one-more-page thriller, American Heroin opens a window into a pitiless world where loyalty is rewarded and betrayers pay the price.’

– Karen Dionne, author of The Marsh King’s Daughter

‘Melissa Scrivner Love’s latest has an engine that won’t quit and a heroine I couldn’t help but love. Damaged, brilliant, loyal to a fault, Lola lives by her own code, straddling a chasm between motherhood and drug queenpin that runs down the center of her own heart. American Heroin is a white-hot bullet of a book that blasts its way under your skin and stays there – do not miss this ride.’

– Joshilyn Jackson, author of The Almost Sisters

‘Hardboiled crime fiction with a twenty-first century twist; fast, gritty, aware and explosive with an anti-hero who breaks the mould…. Lola is a class act. A bleak noir that plays the theme of male dominated gangs and the toxic macho atmosphere on the streets. Take a deep breath before you start, it might be a while before you come up for air.’

– NB Magazine

‘A fascinating read….adds increasing depth to an already unforgettable character.’

– Crime Time

Praise for Lola:

'A tough, enterprising and vulnerable heroine, Lola gives the reader an unvarnished insight into ghetto life.' Sunday Times Crime Club

‘A fine, brutal debut thriller.’ Mail on Sunday

'A brilliant debut, a bleak and cynical noir set in the patriarchal gangland world of LA's South Central.’ Irish Times

'A worthy sequel to the author's debut and continues Lola Vasquez's story nicely.'

– Crimenovelreader

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