Author: S.A. Cosby
Shawn Cosby’s “Blacktop Wasteland” is an exceptional crime novel that kept the petal to the metal, my ears laid back and a tremendous urge to piss my pants in both a literal and a figurative way while reading such an intense crime action thriller.
I “fast read’ through this book in one weekend! This somewhat unique thriller accelerated to the top of my list as one of my Top 10 favorite books. It will definitely be one of those books I plan to either re-read or listen to on audiobooks. It was captivating and mesmerizing with a non-stop thrill ride.
Okay, enough with the fast car wordsmithing puns. Blacktop Wasteland was phenomenal…but now, what could possibly compare?! I may as well have won the lottery by finally reading this unusual crime thriller novel. It was both a blessing and a curse because it was “unputdownable!” Cosby is a clever writer - he managed to create a very flawed, but very sympathetic hero in Beauregard, “Bug”, a very smart and ingenious badass, a business owner and a family man who’s just trying to get ahead with his legitimate black owned business in racist Southern ‘redneck’ Virginia; only to get himself (and his family) in deeper trouble with his efforts to pay their bills.
Another unexpected hero was Bug’s 1970’s Plymouth Duster, an American muscle car. Bug’s driving scenes as a ‘wheel man’ are exhilarating, breathtaking and invigorating. It’s hard not to root for Bug, despite the things that he has done and is forced to do.
The story also had plenty of cynical one-liners that I found enjoyable and hilarious. I know some readers may not have liked these types of one-liners, but again, I loved them!
They are black culture dialogue at its finest and Cosby did an outstanding job in incorporating them strategically throughout the story. If you only read one book for the rest of the year, make it this one! I liked Blacktop Wasteland, a lot!
Comments