No Second Chances

Youers’s (Lola on Fire) new thriller is an action-packed and character-driven adventure set in the Hollywood drug trade. Luke Kingsley (a washed-up actor who’s been accused of murdering his wife) and Kitty Rae (an aspiring actress–turned–drug runner) are neighbors. Kitty helps Luke during one of his lowest moments, and he vows to return the favor when she shows up on his doorstep battered from a confrontation with a drug dealer. Luke and Kitty are more closely linked than they realize: her drug connection may be related to the death of Luke’s wife. Youers details the landscapes of Hollywood and Los Angeles as Kitty skateboards as a courier through the city; when the situations become darker, so does the scenery, culminating in a desert showdown, compete with rattlesnakes. The plot starts out slow but soon picks up pace and never loses momentum. Vividly detailed and sometimes gory fight scenes are prevalent, but each has a purpose, either advancing the plot or fleshing out the characters.