Blacktop Wasteland

A Novel

By: S. A. Cosby

Narrated by: Adam Lazarre-White

2020 LA Times Book Prize - Winner
2021 Anthony Awards - Nominee
2020 Amazon.com Best Books of the Year
2020 Library Journal Best Books of the Year
2020 NPR Best Book of the Year
2020 New York Times Book Review Notable Books of the Year
2020 LA Times Book Prize - Finalist

"Narrator Adam Lazarre-White's voice exudes confidence and depth; his performance is an example of how the best audiobooks deliver pure storytelling." (AudioFile Magazine, Earphones Award winner)

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

This program includes a bonus conversation with the author.

Beauregard “Bug” Montage is an honest mechanic, a loving husband, and a hardworking 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.

A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books

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

"A fast-paced, fresh take on noir that tears through the underbelly of Virginia." (New York Times)

“Blacktop Wasteland is a guaranteed thriller-of-the-year with muscle and heart and characters who will linger long after the last page is read. S.A. Cosby writes with grit and grace. Do not miss this one.” (Michael Koryta, best-selling author of Those Who Wish Me Dead)

©2020 Shawn A. Cosby (P)2020 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"Narrator Adam Lazarre-White's voice exudes confidence and depth; his performance is an example of how the best audiobooks deliver pure storytelling." (AudioFile Magazine, Earphones Award winner)

Needed this one

So glad to have come across this one, it really snapped me out of the doldrums

Gripping

Red clay, white lines, black hearts. Gripping story that races from the first page. The narrator and characters make this poverty-soaked story oh so rich.

Exceptional.

I cant wait to listen to other works. Vivid, thrilling. Also cant wait for the movie.

Bug pissed me off

I really enjoyed listening to this book, but Bug really pissed me off. This book is a very good way to show someone how every decision that one makes has consequences, and one cannot blame someone else. Bug was the one who agreed to be the getaway driver for Reggie and his friend. Everything that happened with Lazy is on him. All those senseless deaths were a consequence of his decision. The young man who died, that was on him, and that death really upset me because it was his fault that he died. This book was good, but Bug really pissed me off because he was smart and dumb at the same time. He holds himself accountable, but he says that he wouldn’t change.

This book is better than most movies I've seen!

This may sound cheesey but my new years resolution this year was to start reading regularly. I may as well have won the lottery by selecting this as my first read. It was a blessing and a curse because it was phenomenal but now...what could possibly compare? I loved the characters the story and the cherry on top was the narrator's performance. If you only read one book for the rest of the year make it this one! I liked this so much I also got My Darkest Prayer and have pre-ordered his new book coming out this summer!

Interesting & Entertaining Story

I found this book enjoyable, and I felt like I knew the characters. I am very familiar with the area of VA described in the book, and I really felt attached to the book and its characters because of my familiarity. In fact, I listened to the Audible on 2 separate trips to the Hampton Roads/Newport News area from DC.

I believe we will see more books from this author, or at least I hope we will. It was a fresh book, great ideas and had many familiar things like the Tasty Freeze, that was super familiar with as a child. I really felt like I could identify with Bug and his family as a black woman of that period. Great first novel.

What A Ride!

This gritty crime novel had me wrapped up in the life of Beauregard Montage and his family. I felt bad for Beau, whose father left him a legacy of failed criminal, failed father, and a fondness for driving fast cars.

Beauregard's auto repair shop is super slow thanks to the new place down the street, and his bills are piling up. His mom's in a nursing home and his son needs braces. His daughter from a previous relationship is trying to go to college and that costs money too. His vows to live an above board life are now paling in the light of burgeoning responsibilities. His wife thinks he should sell his souped-up Plymouth Duster, but he won't because that's the only part of his dad he has left. He decides to do one more "job." You know, just this one time only, to help he and his family get over this financial hump. I think we all know how that turns out.

I loved this book, I loved the characters, even the ones I hated, and I was pulling for Beauregard. I'm not sure why, exactly, but I know that he loved his family and he was going to do his best for them, no matter what. (I will admit to admiring his devious mind and his prodigious driving skills.)

I also very much enjoyed the word play and similes that popped up throughout. At one point, Beau's bill pile was growing so much that it was described as financial tectonic plate movement. I laughed out loud at that one, because who hasn't been there? It's a perfect and vivid description that I could immediately relate to while still being succinct.

For me, personally, this book brought me back to when I was about 8-10 years old. I was a daddy's girl and sometimes on Saturdays my dad brought me down to my uncle's auto repair shop while he worked on a car or two. (It was either the repair shop or the pool hall, where I'd rack them up for Shirley Temples and Pacman money, but that's another story.) My dad instilled in me a love for American Muscle cars, (as long as they weren't Fords), and I harbor that love to this very day.

I was on the edge of my seat until the very end of this tale; the suspense was palpable, and I had to stop what I was doing and listen to the last half hour with no interruptions. The narrator, Adam Lazarre-White, had me captivated with his deep voice and I just could not pull myself away until it was all over. The Audible version of Blacktop Wasteland has a bonus short interview with the author at the end, which I enjoyed hearing.

Highly recommended, especially to fans of gritty crime novels!

*I purchased this audio with my hard-earned cash and this is my honest opinion.*

Loved this book. A great read!

Love the descriptive driving scenes, brought back memories of the back roads of Mathews county.

Phenomenal Riveting Suspenseful Story

This was a such a great book and it took you on ride of an unpredictable turns and the heart of black man wanting to do right for his family while torn between directions in life and the absence of his own father. loved tbe story the adventures...the narrator was on point for each character

Greatest Roadtrip Book Ever

The narrator’s voice is smooth like a good bottle of whiskey. The characters are interesting and engaging. Some you wish you could meet and some you wouldn’t ever want to meet. The heist story is so compelling it made the hours we drove through Kansas on our way to Colorado just fly by. We hated to have it end. It’s one that will stick in your mind for awhile even after the thrill ride is over.