'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