Hot Wax

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.)