Title: Blacktop Wasteland
Author: S.A. Cosby
Published: July 2020, Flatiron Books
Format: ARC E-copy, 304 pages
Source: Netgalley via Publisher
Summary:
IT’S A CRIME THAT HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF.
Beauregard
“Bug” Montage: husband, father, honest car mechanic. But he was once
known – from North Carolina to the beaches of Florida – as the best
getaway driver on the East Coast. Just like his father, who disappeared
many years ago.
After a series of financial calamities (worsened
by the racial prejudices of the small town he lives in) Bug reluctantly
takes part in a daring diamond heist to solve his money troubles – and
to go straight once and for all. However, when it goes horrifically
wrong, he’s sucked into a grimy underworld which threatens everything,
and everyone, he holds dear . . .
From a stunning new voice in
fiction, BLACKTOP WASTELAND is a dazzling, operatic crime novel that
holds up a cracked mirror to the American dream. The perfect
page-turning read for fans of acclaimed writers such as Don Winslow,
Attica Locke, Bill Beverley and Thomas Mullen.
My thoughts: I read a lot of crime fiction but never have I read a book that kept me as engaged as this one did. And not only did it have action, but it had heart. This is a book that should be on everyone’s reading list – it for sure will be one that I will be talking about for a long time!
Right from the start, I was pulled into this book and I never felt that intensity let up. This book kept me engaged and completely invested in all the characters we meet, but most especially Beauregard “Bug” Montage. Here is a man trying to do the right thing, to stay true to his family and keep his past and those demons from getting out, but times are tough and when opportunity comes knocking it’s hard to say no. Can you ever keep your past from your future? Is it possible to completely change who you really are? This is something Bug thought he had done, but once a getaway driver, always a getaway driver. The problem is, will be risk be worth the cost?
This book is dark, gritty and full of action. At times, it is a pure adrenaline run, and at other times, you feel the suspense and tension dripping off the pages as you are not sure what is going to happen next. It’s as much a thrilling read as it is an emotionally charged one. You find yourself rooting for Bug to figure things out without doing too much irreparable damage to himself or his family.
The characters leap off the pages in this book. They might not all be likeable, but they will be memorable. My favorite is Bug. His loyalty to his family is so evident and his internal struggle with what to do is palpable. I loved that he was such a take-charge guy. His desperation was causing him to make choices between who he was and who he wants to be and he finds that that line between the two is not as clear as he wants it to be.
This book is one that will stay with me for a long time. It’s got so much to unpack and one that I think would make a fantastic book club pick. While it might not be a read for everyone, it certainly is one for those who can handle dark, gritty tough reads or who want to challenge themselves. I highly recommend picking up this one…you won’t regret it!
