Blacktop Wasteland
S.A Cosby
The book is set in the US State of Virginia and follows Beauregard “Bug” Montage. A skilled mechanic and loving family man, he’s long since moved on from his former life as a ‘wheelman’ – the best getaway driver east of the Mississippi. Now he runs his own garage with his cousin, Kelvin, and takes part in illegal drag races in the over-powered Duster left him by his long-gone father.
But when life deals him repeated blows and everything starts to fall apart, he is unable to turn down one last job…
This book is so many things, but first and foremost it is a fantastic, page-turning thriller. The action is relentless, vividly described and visceral. The plot twists and turns, and Cosby invokes a real sense of jeopardy; he’s brutal when he needs to be, but isn’t afraid to be tender if necessary.
The central character, Bug, is wonderfully complex. Likeable and unpleasant by turns, you find yourself rooting for him, whilst despairing at some of the choices he makes.
The book itself is a study of poverty, embedded as it is in rural communities for whom the ‘American Dream’ is just a fantasy. Cosby depicts both poor black Americans in a society where overt racism is still rife, and self-confessed white trash, with an equally harsh, yet oddly sympathetic eye.
But what elevates it most is Cosby’s use of language. From the vivid descriptions of the sun-baked Virginian plains, which verge upon the poetic, to the authentically rendered-dialogue, the pages are filled with idiosyncratic turns of phrase.
This was an absolutely fantastic read, and I can’t wait to see what Cosby writes next.
