Blacktop Wasteland by S. A. Cosby

Blacktop Wasteland

A Novel

S. A. Cosby

Flatiron Books · Print & ebook · June 1, 2021

A New York Times Notable Books of 2020 Like Ocean’s Eleven meets Drive, with a Southern noir twist, S.

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Who it’s for
Fast-moving crime fiction with enough social texture to keep the page busy.
Themes
crime, family, redemption
Pacing
Fast

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Matched by what the books are about, then ordered by what their readers also loved. Most of these share its genre: Crime Fiction.

  1. All the Sinners BleedS. A. Cosby65% match
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  6. Bluebird, BluebirdAttica Locke54% matchAlso shares Suspense
  7. King of AshesS. A. Cosby67% matchAlso shares Suspense
  8. Red HarvestDashiell Hammett54% matchAlso shares Hard-Boiled Mystery

For younger readers: A Song for the Road, Diamond Park, Crash Into You

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About this book

A New York Times Notable Books of 2020 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. “Sensationally good—new, fresh, real, authentic, twisty, with characters and dilemmas that will break your heart.

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More than recommended.” —Lee Child A husband, a father, a son, a business owner…And the best getaway driver east of the Mississippi. 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.

Crime With Texture

Fast-moving crime fiction with enough social texture to keep the page busy.

Come here for

  • crime-fiction momentum with urban edge
  • a classroom-friendly fit for crime and cultural-literacy shelves

Expect

  • Black Mystery and Black Urban Fiction signals
  • a sustained narrative read for study or immersion

Where it sits

Crime Fiction55%
Hard-Boiled Mystery33%
Suspense25%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • Crime Fiction
  • Black Mystery
Authors
S. A. Cosby
Publisher
Flatiron Books
Published
June 1, 2021
Format
Print & ebook
Theme
crime · family · redemption
Reading lane
Crime Fiction