On tour with a hard-living rock ‘n’ roll band is no place for the faint of heart, the easily offended, or a 10-year-old girl. But what if your dad is the frontman, and life on the road usually keeps you apart? What begins as an exciting family adventure just might end in violence and result in decades of bad memories and emotional turmoil.

Such is the trajectory for Suzanne --- the now forty-something daughter of Gil Delgado, the recently deceased lead of the punkabilly band Gil and the Kills --- in M.L. Rio’s new novel, HOT WAX. A tale of debauchery, the pursuit of stardom, love of music, family and escape, the book follows Suzanne in two timelines as her younger self moves toward a devastating event that continues to haunt her in the present. 

Even before Suzanne’s parents, Gil and Nora, split up, she didn’t see much of her father. Gil traveled a lot, from gig to gig, hoping to make it big with his band. But when Nora remarries and takes a long honeymoon, Suzanne finally has a chance to spend a whole summer with him. What Nora doesn’t know, though, is that Gil is taking Suzanne on tour with the Kills.

"M.L. Rio has packed so many great elements in this story... HOT WAX is a big, bold novel by turns frightening and redemptive."

This is great fun for Suzanne at first. She gets to see her dad in action on stage as a wildly costumed and charismatic figure doing what he loves. And offstage she learns about the hard work that goes into making music professionally. She becomes a keen observer of the adults around her, and her nascent photography skills provide a bit of distance from some of the chaos she witnesses.

However, as the weeks go on, life with the Kills becomes increasingly tense. There are band disputes and even violence at shows as the group’s fame rises. When they join the more popular and volatile Babel Mouth for some big concerts, everything begins to spiral out of control. 

Suzanne never fully recovered from that tour. She’s been at loose ends for years despite having published a book of photography and settling into marriage with a man named Rob. After finding out that her father died, she takes his beloved Ford Ranchero and hits the road again, leaving Rob behind. On this journey she hopes to finally understand her father and the summer of 1989 when everything went wrong. Along the way, she hooks up with a young nomadic couple and once again escapes a violent episode.

M.L. Rio has packed so many great elements in this story --- from the exploration of fame, the dangers of drugs and nihilism, and the variety of loving and harmful relationships examined, to themes of maps and the power of music. But there are perhaps too many ideas that leave readers wanting more explanation and motivation for the actions and feelings of the characters. The young Suzanne timeline jumps around a bit, which can be confusing, and the big reveal comes so late that there is no time to see the consequences or read about the characters processing it.

HOT WAX is a big, bold novel by turns frightening and redemptive. There are a few missed opportunities here, but the writing is always interesting and stylish.