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Rio (If We Were Villains) captures the joy and danger of rock 'n' roll in her raucous latest. Photographer Suzanne, 41, is adrift in Florida, having left her straightlaced and possessive husband, Rob. Her car, a 1968 Ford Ranchero that belonged to her recently deceased father, Gil, is on its last legs. Despite her years apart from Gil, a Cuban immigrant and rock band frontman, he loomed large in her imagination: "the world felt deadly empty now that he was gone." Suzanne is not just grieving her dad, but a childhood of innocence lost too early. Flashbacks to 1989 reveal Suzanne as an independent 10-year-old, waiting for her rockstar father to return home from tour. When her mom remarries and leaves for her honeymoon, she gets a dream come true: life on the road with Gil & the Kills for a summer. On tour, she witnesses an act of violence that she's still trying to understand as an adult. In the present day, Suzanne gets help with the Ranchero from 20-something bohemian couple Simon and Phoebe, in return for towing their Airstream trailer. As Suzanne hits the road with Simon and Phoebe, the pair helps her move on from Rob and reckon with the truth of what happened three decades earlier. Rio keeps the reader guessing--and turning the pages--while shining a light on Suzanne's emotional scars. This electrifies. Agent: Arielle Datz, Dunow, Carlson & Lerner. (Sept.)

The daughter of a mysterious rock icon flees her present to untangle the tragedies in her past. Rio follows her successful venture into dark academia (If We Were Villains, 2017) with a novel about rock 'n' roll and life on the road. In alternating narratives called "A Side" and "B Side," we meet Suzanne on two sides of a 30-year divide. In 1989, she's a precocious 10-year-old living with her mother in Baltimore; her father is on the road pursuing fame and fortune with his band, Gil and the Kills. She works her way into an unpaid job helping out at a record store in the mall and is ready to roll when her mom remarries and leaves on a long honeymoon, sending her on tour with her dad and his band. In the second narrative, Suzanne is 41, trapped in a boring suburban life with a man named Rob. When she learns that her long-estranged father has died and left her his car and some memorabilia down in Florida, she's once again more than ready to hit the road. Before long, she is part of a throuple with an itinerant pair who hunt and resell vintage clothing. With their Airstream attached to her father's old Ranchero, they are on their way cross-country so Suzanne can talk to her dad's widow--with a furious Rob hot on her trail. Ominous threats of violence in both time frames keep the pages turning to a double-barreled bloody climax. Along the way, much ink is devoted to the on and offstage dynamics of Gil; his guitar player, Eric "The Hands" Skillman; their band; and other musicians: It has the feel of a mockumentary likeThis Is Spinal Tap, but played with deadly seriousness rather than humor. While it's a bit hard to accept that Suzanne went from being the coolest 10-year-old in the world to a totally shut down mouse, it's satisfying to watch her refind her freak flag. A bit of a hellride, but metal band--loving readers (hopefully not an oxymoron) may enjoy the scenery. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.