Blacktop Wasteland
the acclaimed and award-winning crime hit of the year
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4.2 • 20 Ratings
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
*GUARDIAN BEST CRIME AND THRILLERS OF 2020*
*LA TIMES BOOK PRIZE WINNER 2020*
'BLACKTOP WASTELAND may be the book of the year.' MICHAEL CONNELLY
'Sensationally good' LEE CHILD
'I loved BLACKTOP WASTELAND' STEPHEN KING
'Stunning. Can't remember the last time I read such a powerful crime novel' MARK BILLINGHAM
"Bug" Montage: honest mechanic, loving family man. He's no longer the criminal he was - the sharpest wheelman east of the Mississippi.
But when his respectable life crumbles, a shady associate comes calling with a one-time job promising a huge payout. Inexorably drawn to the driver's seat - and haunted by the ghost of his outlaw father - Bug is yanked back into a savage world of bullets and betrayal.
Like Breaking Bad in a high-speed collision with Drive, this dazzling novel holds up a cracked mirror to the American Dream - and tells the story of one man pushed to his limits by poverty, race and a self-destructive masculinity.
'Every once in a while a writer comes along with an incredible voice...add S. A. Cosby to that list.' STEVE CAVANAGH
'An urgent, timely, pitch-perfect jolt of American noir' DENNIS LEHANE
'A superb character study wrapped up in a high-octane heist novel' Guardian
'The action sequences are superb, the dialogue wouldn't shame Elmore Leonard, and Bug's experiences recall Walter Mosley at his most powerful...fantastic' Sunday Times
'Spectacular....a voice as stark and distinctive as Elmore Leonard's, and a humanity that touches the soul.' Daily Mail
'A delicious slice of country gothic wrapped in smart, hard, contemporary neo noir.' ADRIAN McKINTY
'The book will leave you breathless, but also desperate to know where Cosby will take us next.' LAURA LIPPMAN
'...S. A. Cosby reinvents the American crime novel. Blacktop Wasteland thrums and races - it's an intoxicating thrill of a ride'. WALTER MOSLEY
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Former wheelman Beauregard "Bug" Montage, the hero of this high-octane neo-noir thriller set in 2012 Virginia from Cosby (My Darkest Prayer), has attempted to put his criminal past behind him, and is now married with children and the owner of his own auto shop. But as his financial woes pile up his business is failing, his terminally ill mother is being kicked out of her nursing home, his oldest child is almost in college he's forced to take a potentially lucrative job as a getaway driver in a jewelry heist with people he doesn't trust. Somewhat predictably, the robbery goes wrong, and Bug is soon fighting for not only his own life but also the lives of his wife and children. The example of his own failed father dogs him throughout. The gritty, brutal narrative is complemented by the author's sublime use of sensory description and regional imagery. In addition, the epic, jaw-dropping chase sequences that figure prominently are reason alone to read this pedal-to-the-metal but profoundly sorrowful novel. Cosby is definitely a writer to watch.
Customer Reviews
Page Turner,
Action packed and fast moving. You can smell the petrol fumes and hear the screech of tyres! A thrilling ride.
Done and dusted
4.5 stars
Author
African American. From Southeastern Virginia. Won the 2019 Anthony Award for Best Short Story for "The Grass Beneath My Feet." Previous books include Brotherhood of the Blade and My Darkest Prayer.
Plot
Beauregard "Bug" Montage is a devoted husband and father, who runs a car repair business in a small town in rural Virginia. Money is tight since a new autoshop chain set up locally, and because all the money he made as a wheel man for armed robberies is now gone. (His father was a wheel man too). Our boy wants to go straight, he really does, but he and the family lives in a double wide, he can't make loan repayments, or even utilities, one of his boys needs glasses and the other needs braces, his Mom owes her nursing home $48,000 because Medicaid cut her off. When a good ole boy he's worked with previously (unsuccessfully) approaches him about a jewellery store heist two counties away, he can’t say no. They get away thanks to out boy's fancy driving (think Fast and Furious #78659), but the store owner gets shot and a bystander get dead. Stuff happens. Twisty stuff. Resolution of sorts follows.
Characters
Bug the sympathetic villain is evoked superbly. The supporting cast is highly convincing as well.
Narrative
Third person from protagonist's POV
Prose
Gritty, Southern noir that uses pace superbly.
Bottom line
This book has been called 'Ocean's Eleven' meets 'Drive,' and 'Breaking Bad' meets 'Drive.' There may be other mashups proposed as well. Whatever the case, it's a wild ride and a tale well told.