Blacktop Wasteland

A high-speed, gritty, noir thriller set in the South

Action-packed, suspenseful, gritty, with believable characters, set against a sultry rural Southern backdrop, here is a gripping caper that doesn't let up around every hairpin turn. But the quality of this novel and the constraints of racial injustices and the stranglehold of poverty is more reminiscent of Richard Wright than the latest installment of a Jason Bourne book. Author interviews reveal that Cosby, a fan of thrillers, also chose to write in this genre as a way to make social issues more palatable for readers. And this is the kind of book you want to devour.

I have never read anything like this before. It's transportative. The reality of Beauregard's predicaments feel so real you can practically smell the grease from the well-tuned engine of his '71 Plymouth Duster. Even though Beauregard comes from a very different world than me and makes very different choices than what many people would make, I found his plight sympathetic and I couldn't help but cheer for him and his family the whole way. 

The narrator of the audiobook does a fantastic job, and the author commented in an interview just how well Adam Lazarre-White captured the cadences of how the various characters speak. Just watch your speedometer if you are listening to this book in your car--you may be tempted to take some corners faster than you should!