Reservations

Lola Wicks #4

by Gwen Florio

Journalist Lola Wicks would much rather pursue a story than spend time with people she barely knows. So when an eco-terrorist bombing escalates the controversy surrounding a new coal mine on Arizona's Navajo Reservation, she's almost relieved to have the distraction from meeting her in-laws.

But as the violence gets worse and Lola digs deeper, she can't escape the feeling that her husband's family is somehow involved—a suspicion that jeopardizes not only her marriage, but also her life.

Praised by the New York Times as "a gutsy series," the Lola Wicks mysteries captivate readers with compelling characters, gritty tension, and page-turning action that builds to a thrilling finish.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Adult Fiction

312 pages, Paperback

Published March 8, 2017

About the author

Gwen Florio is the author of the Lola Wicks crime series ("gutsy," says the New York Times) as well as SILENT HEARTS (Atria, 2018), a standalone set in Afghanistan. A new crime series starts in November 2020 with the publication of Best Laid Plans (Severn House). Her first novel, MONTANA, won the Pinckley Prize for debut crime fiction, and a High Plains Book Award. Florio is a veteran journalist who has covered stories ranging from the mass shooting at Columbine High School and the Oklahoma City bombing trials, to the glitz of the Miss America pageant and the more practical Miss Navajo contest, whose participants slaughter a sheep. She's reported from Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia, among other countries, as well as Lost Springs, Wyo. (population three). She lives in Missoula, Montana. She is represented by Richard Curtis,

Reviews

["Avonna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Check out all of my reviews at: http://www.avonnalovesgenres.com

I love the descriptive writing, plotting and characters of the Lola Wicks mystery series, but this fourth book emotionally wrecked me and yet I had to keep turning the pages and reading late into the night to the end. RESERVATIONS (Lola Wick, #4) by Gwen Florio deserves 5 BIG stars!

Lola hasn’t been the same since her last adventure. Charlie decides it is time to take a honeymoon and visit his brother, wife and niece on the Navaho reservation in Arizona. Charlie has a strained relationship with Edgar, but when they arrive there is an underlying tension in the entire family.

There is an eco-terrorist setting off bombs to try to get rid of the main employer, the coal mine on the reservation. The water and air on the mesa has become so polluted, people can no longer live there. Edgar is an executive for the mining company and his wife Naomi is an attorney for the Navaho and hates the mine, but wanted Edgar to work there so that they have inside information on the company. Naomi and Edgar are both Ivy League educated, but returned to help the People and they use this as a way to demean Charlie and Lola.

Lola begins to return to her hard-driving reporter mode as there is another bombing and death. The tension builds and as Charlie seems to side more with his brother and family than Lola, she does everything she can to figure out what is really happening on the reservation, even as the danger escalates for herself and family.

I was so wrapped up in this plot. It is intricate, fast paced and I did not figure out the whole picture on my own. The descriptions in the writing of the Arizona land, with its natural and deadly beauty take you there and make you feel every bit of the heat.

Lola is taken through extreme physical conditions in this story as well as emotional. If you are like me and have a personal stake in your favorite characters, get the tissues ready! This book is a great read on a mystery/thriller level and an emotional roller-coaster for one of my favorite characters. Excellent!

Thank you very much to Midnight Ink and Net Galley for allowing me to read a free eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. It was my pleasure!

[Skip · Rating 3 out of 5]

How can Lola Wicks get herself and family in deadly peril so easily in every book? Boggles the mind. She, Charlie and Margaret go to Arizona, ostensibly on their honeymoon, to visit Charlie's estranged brother, who met a Navajo women at Dartmouth and never returned to Montana's Blackfeet tribe. The bombing of a coal company's billboard, accidentally killing an Elder, followed by the detonation of a company trailer truck, has everyone searching for the culprit, including Gar (Charlie's brother) and Naomi (Charlie's sister-in-law), a tribal attorney. The highlight of the book, besides the new desert setting, are the chapters narrated by the perp, but the perp's identity is cloaked until the denouement when Lola arrives to save the day. I'm glad that Florio did not have the perp kill Bub (family dog) as she misled readers.

[Theresa Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Florio keeps getting better and better. In the latest installment of the Lola Wicks mystery series, Lola, her husband Charlie, their seven-year-old daughter Margaret, and their three-legged dog Bub head to Arizona to spend time with Charlie’s brother’s family.

Charlie and his brother Edgar have had a strained relationship for years. Charlie still lives in Montana working as a cop outside the Blackfeet reservation. Edgar married a Navajo woman, and his wife Naomi persuaded him to take a job in the mines that employ much of the Navajo people in the area. Naomi repeatedly tells Lola that even though they have Ivy League educations, they returned to work for the Indians. She insinuates that they could be making more money elsewhere, but they seem to be doing pretty well for themselves, particularly compared to the other folks on the reservation.

The mines have rendered the drinking water useless and the air not much better. When the bombings begin, it’s unclear if it’s an environmental group or a member of the Navajo nation or just a rogue environmentalist. Lola’s investigative journalist’s instincts go on high alert, as do Charlie’s cop instincts.

I adore all the members of Lola’s immediate family, but I particularly adore Lola. It’s like Florio is writing about me—Lola has an aversion (and lack of ability) for anything domestic, she wears clothes that are comfortable and functional rather than fashionable, and she is terrified of heights.
The mystery that unfolds is extremely well done. I’m generally not a huge mystery fan, but I love Florio’s work because of the high literary quality.

Highly recommended.

To read more of my reviews, please visit: http://theresaalan.net/blog/

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the best one yet. I love this series! Lola has grown into a strong, vibrant character with flaws, warts, and all. Those are the best protagonists. I hate perfect main characters who are overly noble and seemingly capable of doing no wrong. Give me a sloppy mess any day! Florio does a great job of changing locations, and I love how the lore of the First Nations is woven into each tale.

[Jim Crocker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fannnntastic story by Gwen Florio featuring the adventures of Lola, Margaret and Bub (the irresistible trio). If you have never tried any of these books, you are missing out. Start at the beginning with Montana or just pick this one and have at it. Another one is on the way soon....

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is volume four in Florio's series featuring Lola Wicks, a journalist who spent time in Afghanistan and is now living in Montana with her Blackfeet policeman husband Charlie, and their young daughter.

As part of a delayed honeymoon, the three travel to the Navajo reservation where Charlie's brother and his family live.

But a coal mine run by an international company is causing dissention on the res. Although the jobs are greatly appreciated, the natural beauty of the reservation has definitely been disturbed. Charlie's brother works for the mine; his wife is a Navajo lawyer and often represents the tribe.

Just before they arrive an explosion kills a tribal elder. It's believed to be an act of Eco-terrorism. Not surprisingly, Lola jumps in to the middle of a very dangerous situation.

As always with Florio's mysteries I enjoyed the realism of reservation life. Racism and hard feelings between factions are not glossed over: whites and Indians, Indians against whites, and even hard feelings among Indians belonging to other tribes. It's a place of beauty, but also of great poverty; economic opportunity is rare.

What I didn't like about this installment, is that she whacked one of my favorite characters in what I have come to call 'The Game of Thrones' meme. Like a character? Dead next week. No, no, no, Gwen! Will I trust you with my heart again? Well, probably. After all, there is another volumes out and a sixth waiting to be released. Beware of major spoilers in the blurbs for volume # 5

[J.J. Hensley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love everything about this series. This addition may be the best of the bunch.

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Journalist Lola Wicks gave up her job as a foreign correspondent to be
a reporter for the local Magpie Daily Express. She is dreading
a trip to Arizona’s Navajo Reservation, with husband Charlie and daughter Margaret,
to visit Charlies brother and his family.
Just before they arrive, there's a bombing that escalates the controversy surrounding a new coal mine.
Lola feels that her husband’s family is involved which jeopardizes their relationship.
As the Violence escalates, she digs deeper and her life is put in danger.
I enjoyed the book and was kept me in suspense throughout.
It was well written, a lot of action and tension, with a heartbreak ending.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This new addition to the Lola Wicks mystery series is slated to come out next year and you won't be sorry to put it on your "to-read" list.

This series has wonderful characters, beautiful settings and enough thrills to keep you engrossed until the very end. Even though you may think you have the bad guy pegged, like I did, you will be surprised at the ending.

I am going back and read 2 & 3 that for some unknown reason I have missed.

Enjoy!

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review originally published in Looking For a Good Book. Rated 3.0 of 5

Lola Wicks is a journalist who loves to follow and dig deep into a story. When she learns that there's an eco-terrorist setting off bombs near a new coal mine on the Navajo Reservation she can't help but get involved. But her family connections in the area could prove to be a problem and people on both sides of the issue have a problem with her investigations.

This was my first foray into a Lola Wicks mystery (this is the fourth book in a series) and my first time reading author Gwen Florio. I was attracted to the book because of the location of the story - I love the American Southwest.

Florio does a very fine job of bringing this region to life, making us believe we are right there on the reservation with Lola and all the other characters. She's also made Lola Wicks a character that rings true and someone we might believe truly exists and researches her stories in this way.

The story is oddly current and relevant, with eco-terrorism taking place because of a major corporation operating on Native American land and causing pollution so bad that no one can safely live in the area any more. As I read this book the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation stand-off was just coming to an end, with major business winning and putting in a pipeline across the land. I couldn't help but make the connection to this big business/Native Reservation story.

Yet for all that I liked about this book - and I liked a lot of it in individual sections - the entirety of the work, the way everything was put together, just didn't capture my attention. Although it all felt very authentic, or real, reality is often boring and I was tremendously bored through much of this book.

I liked Lola, and yet I didn't care about her. It seems strange, this dichotomy, but I really couldn't get into this story and I wanted desperately for some other character to show up to bring something a little more powerful, with a little more passion to the story. As things got more and more personal for Wicks, the story did get more and more interesting, but it was difficult to get to that point.

I'm glad I read this, but I found it to be quite an average read and it certainly did not make me want to run out and get caught up on the series.

Looking for a good book? Reservations by Gwen Florio is a deeply involved mystery on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona. It captures the spirit of the environment but moves along a bit too slowly to keep this reader truly interested.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

[Wytzia Raspe · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The day that would see Ben Yazzie transformed into shreds of flesh in too many evidence bags began with a rare strong and satisfying piss. Ben leaned back against the stream, a veritable Niagara, not his usual dribble and hitch that put youth farther in the rear-view mirror every day"

This is the opening of the novel to be published in March 2017 and which NetGalley asked me to review.

From the opening you are hooked....

Lola is a former war correspondent who now lives with her Indian Blackfeet husband, the local sheriff, and their daughter in Montana. Her husband Charlie wants to go on a belated honeymoon all the way to his posh brother Edgar who lives nowadays in Arizona with his Navajo-wife Naomie.

While they are exploring the tourists sites of the Navajo reservation one tribal elder, Ben Yazzie, is blown to pieces by a bomb that seems to have been aimed at a billboard of the local mine. This mine is hurting the environment of the mesa, turning the water poisonous and driving people from their homes but on the other hand is the main source of employment in the rez. Then the next bomb explodes....

The writer has a beautiful style of writing and the book is a real pageturner. It is not only a very well written mystery but also sheds light on the living conditions in the reservation and Navajo culture and makes you almost see the tourist sites yourself.

What she is also good in is making you bond with Lola. You can feel her unease to have to spend time with a brother in law who does not like her and an almost perfect sister in law. You can feel her love for her daughter and her husband. I hardly ever weep reading a book but I did with this one.

Really recommend it: a 5 out of 5 stars

[Livy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just finished this book and I actually disagree with the majority of the ratings below. I have not read Florio's other novels, but I was a bit disappointed with the predictability of this book and the unrealistic events. I want to start by saying that I did enjoy her focus on Native American culture and the problems that they still face today in a "white man's world". However, I do not believe that any of the characters showed enough development. Lola just seems kind of sad throughout the entire novel and the family members don't appear to have distinct personalities. Florio states what they are passionate about as opposed to showing it. The only exception to this is Betty, who I would have liked to see more. I also don't believe that some of the situations, such as bringing young children to dangerous places and a portion of the end of the novel where a character spends some time in the desert without water (no more details on this so I don't give spoilers) are believable. Since there are only a few characters, we know that the perpetrator of the crime has to be one of them and it is VERY easy to narrow it down. This could have been fixed by eliminating the chapters that Florio included from the perspective of the bomber. The reader can tell from the beginning who it is and it is not difficult to figure out who else is involved. There are a couple surprises in the last chapters, but the fact that I figured out the criminals 250 pages ago dulled the experience for me.

[Cheryle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Journalist Lola Wicks would much rather pursue a story than spend time with people she barely knows. So when an eco-terrorist bombing escalates the controversy surrounding a new coal mine on Arizona’s Navajo Reservation, she’s almost relieved to have a distraction from meeting her in-laws.

But as the violence gets worse and Lola digs deeper, she can’t escape the feeling that her husband’s family is somehow involved—a suspicion that jeopardizes not only her marriage, but also her life.
Montana author with a great series.

[Chet · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rapid-paced story of sabotage, murder and exploitation set on the Navajo reservation in northern Arizona, I really enjoyed the author's style, characterization and plot. Rife with conflicts arising from the hardscrabble existence on sacred land, the need to provide for extended families and the intrusions of the white man and corporate greed further complicate their lives. I highly recommend this book and will definitely read more from this author! If I could give a 1/2 star higher rating I certainly would!

[Lois Tomlinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I couldn't put it down! What a thriller!

I liked this book because it is a novel that also reveals a lot of truth about Native American reservations. I recommend it to anyone who likes a fast-paced mystery with a twist at the end that surprised even me, a mystery buff all my life. Gwen Florio has done it again with Reservations, and I highly recommend all of her other books, too.

[Colleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lola Wicks is my kind of gal! Reservations is the fourth book in the Lola Wicks Mystery series and is real page turner. I've followed Lola through all four books and always look forward to new adventures with her, Charlie, Margaret and Bub. This one is a real gut wrencher and I'd love to ask Florio why she did what she did with this one - can't say more or it'll spoil your read.

[marla · Rating 3 out of 5]

bombings taking place around and thru an Indian reservation has everyone on high alert as Lola Wicks (journalist from this series of books) comes with her family for a vacation. Read for a book club - not sure why they would pick a book from a series as there is history with this character. Interesting read about Indian heritage and reservations.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sorry, but I have reservations about Reservations. Poor character development. Stilted writing. I bought it because of its setting on the Navajo reservation, but I found the story line a stretch and shallow. Meh.

[Carol Bedin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to love this, a regional book by a female author. But none of the characters liked each other and all the sniping put me off. I did learn about life on a reservation, such a tragedy, wish it was being addressed.

[Kathy Sales · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good series.

[Maggie Meredith · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you like her other books, you'll like this one. Warning! Don't read anything about her next book in this series, serious spoilers!

[Jackie R · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed the perspective of a white woman married to a Native American, the various reservations involved, the cultural backgrounds and the twist ending. A good read.

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow! Surprise ending!

[Gretchen Stein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely the best one in the series...sad though.

[Andy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can't believe how this ended, I'm still shocked. Did not see that coming, so sad. I wonder if the series is over too, because with that ending.....

[Karen Curran · Rating 5 out of 5]

A heartbreakingly great read!

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A most excellent 5 star read! love, love, Lola! really got ticked with the Bub thing and then all I wanted was to get to the end to see what happened, not a good idea Gwen!

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many thanks to Midnight Ink via NetGalley for the opportunity to read a free Amazon e-book; Reservations: A Lola Wicks Mystery #4 by Gwen Florio. The following is my honest review:

A fictional novel; "Reservations" uses fiction to highlight century long issues Native Tribes face. This book shows some ways European occupation brings toxicity and loss to the health of Native bands and families.

The focus of important topics is woven artistically and with strength throughout "Reservations." The European idea of wealth goes against the Native idea of value and life. This well written novel shows this.

At the end of "Reservations," I did a bit of research on author Gwen Florio. Her resume lists stories gotten from horrific scenes and incidents. Realizing her ilk, it is an honor to read her fiction.

This is the fourth in a series, but stands alone. It is my earnest prayer that she is cover the war going on at Standing Rock, ND. (Oct 2016).

Gwen Florio is a powerful writer who does not sugar coat. She tells both sides of a story with fairness. The ending is not a fairy tale happy-ever-after, but life rarely is.

Gwen Florio has a new constant reader. Thank you.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This book was absolutely incredible and heart wrenching. Keep an eye out for my full review at www.coffeeandtrainspotting.wordpress.com.

[Faizan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review on netgalley...