REVIEW: ‘Blacktop Wasteland’ by S.A. Cosby
Image courtesy of Flatiron Books / Provided by official site.
S.A. Cosby’s Blacktop Wasteland finds its protagonist, Beauregard “Bug” Montage, down on his luck and facing uncertainty in the future. He loves cars and enjoys the occasional drag race on forgotten highways, but these nighttime contests can’t pay the bills at his auto body shop or at home with his wife and children. To take care of life’s problems, including a tremendous medical bill for his mother, Bug decides to turn heist man one more time and take part in a dangerous, but enticing jewelry theft.
The dust-jacket summary of Blacktop Wasteland might make Cosby’s novel seem like it follows a typical crime fiction scenario. A former heist man going back to his old acquaintances for one last case is pretty much the definition of cliche. But Blacktop Wasteland is anything but formulaic. What Cosby does to flesh out Bug as a character and keep the momentum bubbling over from the first page to the last is truly remarkable. These pages tick by with intensity and finely drawn characterizations, so much so that believability is almost instantly achieved.
Bug, as a character, is fascinating. He’s a mechanic who has seen his business shrivel up because of a larger competitor in town. He refuses to be dishonest with the few customers he has left, and this edict sometimes hurts his bottom line. At home, he’s in love with his wife and dedicated to his children (though he has a strained relationship with his oldest), but there are problems aplenty when considering his parents. His mother is in a nursing facility and doesn’t seem to like anyone anymore, not her caretakers or her son. Also his father has been missing, and presumed dead, for a long time. Dad was also a car man, and Bug can’t help following in his footsteps, no matter how hard he tries not to.
Blacktop Wasteland offers commentary, sometimes subtle and sometimes obvious, about important issues that are impacting the world in 2020 — issues such as race, poverty, labor, entitlement, privilege, crime and law enforcement. This is not a “message” book, but there are powerful asides about Bug’s struggles in life and how he yearns to calm the waters and keep his head above the rising expenses of life and work.
As Cosby outlined on his Twitter account recently, Blacktop Wasteland is a particularly poignant narrative because it describes a world that is largely missing from crime fiction: rural Black America. Flatiron Books bills the book as having a touch of “Southern noir,” and there is a clear understanding of place and circumstance within these pages. Cosby has crafted characters with authenticity and credibility, and he has let the invigorating story play out in natural and convincing ways. Bug is an enthralling person to follow, and what he has to say is important to hear.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Blacktop Wasteland by S.A. Cosby. Flatiron Books. 320 pages. Click here for more information.
