I have seen this novel posted on my Instagram feed recently and several Goodreads friends posted about the book and I had to read it.īeauregard “Bug” Montage is an excellent mechanic, devoted husband and father. Cosby was trying to answer that question in his thrilling third novel, Blacktop Wasteland. Powerful & Thought-Provoking Crime Novel!ĭoes a son have to repeat his father’s transgressions and life choices? 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. The gritty, brutal narrative is complemented by the author's sublime use of sensory description and regional imagery. The example of his own failed father dogs him throughout. 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. 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. 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.įormer 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. Like Ocean’s Eleven meets Drive, with a Southern noir twist, S.

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. And Bug is at his best where the scent of gasoline mixes with the smell of fear. 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. 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. 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.

'One of the year's strongest novels.' -Sun SentinelĪ husband, a father, a son, a business owner.And the best getaway driver east of the Mississippi.īeauregard “Bug” Montage is an honest mechanic, a loving husband, and a hard-working dad. “A roaring, full-throttle thriller, crackling with tension and charm.” - The New York Times Book Review fast-paced, bareknuckle thriller.” -Stephen King

Sun Sentinel’s #1 Best Mystery of the Year.

BookPage’s #1 Mystery and Suspense of the Year.

Blacktop wasteland