Book review : No second chances

No Second Chances by Rio Youers, published Harper, 2022. Reviewed by Manus in Kilbeggan Library.

At the center of No Second Chances is a villain you love to hate. The bearded, tattooed Johan Fly performs a hipster-Viking persona on social media, where he has a horde of adoring fans. But in his less public life he sells designer drugs to Hollywood stars. And beneath that persona there is another, still more secret: he hears the voices of his ‘Viking ancestors’ in his head. And that replica medieval axe he owns? It’s not just an ornament.

Johan is on a collision course with two very different – and far more likeable – characters. Kitty is an aspiring star working as a drug courier to make ends meet, and Luke is an older washed-up actor. His career is over because everyone believes he murdered his wife.

When Luke and Kitty become friends (never more than friends, which is a good call), Kitty’s sister warns her to stay away from him. When a woman is murdered, she says, ‘Ninety percent of the time it’s the husband or boyfriend. Maybe ninety-nine.’

The narrator contradicts this: ‘Female homicides connected to a significant other were closer to fifty percent. Kitty had already looked it up.’

So No Second Chances introduces us to a semi-famous actor who, it seems certain, killed his wife. But the author contrives a far-fetched situation where we know from the start that Luke is actually innocent, in spite of all appearances. It’s a classic clearing-his-name story, but it seems naïve. For rich and famous men, there are plenty of second chances in Hollywood.

It’s a fast-paced and gritty story. There are chases, very tense scenes, moments of mortal danger. The writing has a way of making the sweat, dirt and blood seem immediate and real. Through it all, the characters have depth and substance.

There are lapses. At one stage Luke and Kitty try to trick Johan and his goons with an elaborate and deeply silly plan. But Youers gets away with it: somehow it’s enjoyable rather than annoying to watch characters try to fool a murderous drug kingpin with make-up, costumes, acting and photography.

The pop culture references are also fun. The characters rub shoulders with (while selling drugs to) real celebrities. Rio Youers has made up titles for fictional blockbusters: Smoke Street, A Derelict Life, Echoes Fade, The Zero Faction, Dynamite City... This is fun, but in real life there would be more colons and numbers in those titles; half would be superhero movies and the other half would be prequels, sequels and remakes.

About half-way in, Kitty and Luke end up on a road trip, pursued into the Nevada desert. The novel is gripping all the way, but these latter parts are particularly tense. There’s something nail-biting about watching characters with limited information making mistakes.

But for all the grittiness, the payoff and ending are satisfying. The tension means this feels more than earned. But it’s a comfortable read in the sense that no questions are left unanswered and no promises broken. If you’re looking for a page-turning thriller that feels as current as it is possible to be in this rapidly-changing culture (I don’t think Johan is on TikTok), you will be satisfied with No Second Chances.

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