Blacktop Wasteland

Author: S.A. Cosby
Genre: Grit Lit, Southern Noir
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Release Date: July 14, 2020
Purchase Link: Amazon

5 Gritty Hearts

*A special thank you to Flatiron Books for an arc of this book.

A husband, a father, a son, a business owner…And the best getaway driver east of the Mississippi.

“Sensationally good—new, fresh, real, authentic, twisty, with characters and dilemmas that will break your heart. More than recommended.” —Lee Child

(Synopsis & Author Bio following review.)

Review:
I finished reading Blacktop Wasteland knowing I wouldn't be able to write a review that would come close to doing this amazing book justice. It's that good! To say this book's release is timely is an understatement, but the release date doesn't matter.  In my opinion, this story was destined for the best seller list the moment Cosby penned "The End".  Blacktop Wasteland is raw, graphic, and authentic.  It seeps into your heart and soul refusing to turn loose, always calling, much the same way Beauregard (Bug) Montage's ghosts whisper in his head, luring him back to a life of crime first learned at his father's side. One that fuels his need for high speed, screaming tires and motors, curvy roads - all for just one more high-octane adrenaline rush and some much needed funds. Bug's tried to go straight - to break the chains of poverty and make a good, honest living for his wife and kids, but the mortgage on his car shop is due, his mother is one day away from being kicked out of a nursing home, and his money is funny.  One more driving job will get him out of debt so he rolls the dice one more time. Will it be one time too many?  

S.A. Cosby held me in the palm of his hands from the beginning to the end of Blacktop Wasteland.  I couldn't look away or stop reading as he wrung every drop of blood, sweat, and tears out of these characters imprisoned by poverty, race, and reality. The story is emotionally draining, the anguish real, and the author doesn't pull any punches in delivering it.  With a plot line more twisted than a curvy, southern back road, readers ride shotgun in a souped up car on a trail of desolation.  Cosby nails the setting - rich with the scent of motor oil, sound of screaming tires and grinding shifters, and trails of smoke in taillights.  Bugs point of view drives home the dire situation he's facing - the hopelessness and desperation, the need and determination.  Blacktop Wasteland is a fantastic example of grit lit done right.  It will knock you down and break your heart . . . and yet somehow, leave you with a ray of hope.  A fantastic story that deserves all the attention and accolades I hope it receives.  Highly Recommended! 

My Rating: 5 Gritty Hearts

Cross My Heart . . . xxx

♥Sandra♥

Synopsis:

Beauregard “Bug” Montage is an honest mechanic, a loving husband, and a hard-working dad. Bug knows there’s no future in the man he used to be: known from the hills of North Carolina to the beaches of Florida as the best wheelman on the East Coast.

He thought he'd left all that behind him, but as his carefully built new life begins to crumble, he finds himself drawn inexorably back into a world of blood and bullets. When a smooth-talking former associate comes calling with a can't-miss jewelry store heist, Bug feels he has no choice but to get back in the driver's seat. And Bug is at his best where the scent of gasoline mixes with the smell of fear.

Haunted by the ghost of who he used to be and the father who disappeared when he needed him most, Bug must find a way to navigate this blacktop wasteland...or die trying.

Like Ocean’s Eleven meets Drive, with a Southern noir twist, S. A. Cosby’s Blacktop Wasteland is a searing, operatic story of a man pushed to his limits by poverty, race, and his own former life of crime.

Author Bio:

S.A. Cosby is a writer whose work has been published in numerous magazine and anthologies. His story "Slant-Six" received an honorable mention in Best Mystery Stories of 2016. His life experiences include being a retail manager, a bouncer, a forklift driver, a landscaper, a roadie, a construction worker, a mortuary attendant, and he once wore a cow suit when he worked for Chic- Fil-A. He majored in English at Christopher Newport University and now lives in Gloucester, Virginia.

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