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)

Compelling Masterwork

I liked Joe Ide's first novel, IQ. Not so much the successors. Hard for me to believe, but I enjoyed Blacktop Wasteland even more. The books aren't derivative, yet their protagonists in motivation and talents are hauntingly similar. Don't know which came first. Don't care. Although I might have enjoyed IQ less had I read this S.A. Cosby book first.

Adam Lazarre-White's voice feels as compellingly authentic as Cosby's writing. They take me to a place and moment so dramatically... I felt like a witness.

Black Wasteland is a towering crime novel... more importantly it's a greater visit into a bicameral mind that's struggling to pull itself into one whole... struggling to join its understandably fractured pieces. It's also a visit into a culture which generates an ensemble that's simultaneously scary yet logical in its adherence to the rules of survival.

Here's a book that will stay with me written by a master.

very well written, dynamic

Although not my typical subject matter i was rapt from the beginning and really cared about the characters
Terrific read.

Best Book of the Year (so far)

This is an excellent book with a protagonist that captures your attention. Beauregard is a complex character who is easy to love and hard to witness when things get complicated. All the car stuff was awesome, but I’m a gear head so that was a bonus for me. All of the characters were well formed and the plot was tight. I cannot wait to read more books by this author. The narrator was superb as well!

This book is not a waste in my land!

The story is tight and fast moving after filling in the characters backgrounds and motives. It was a fun book to hear and the narration was excellent. I have lived in Virginia and my Dad lived in Roanoke for 20 years so it had that familiar feel to it. SA is a great writer and this book is movie material something Amazon Studios should look into for production. You can't go wrong with any part of this book or author. .

Best novel of 2020.

Anyone even slightly thinking about reading this... PLEASE do. Best book I've read this year.

The race is on!!

Every character was well drawn, the story line was exciting and full of unexpected curves. Well done.

Fabulous Narration!

The voice of this narrator is perfect for this story. Each character is individually touched, and the voice truly moved the book for me. I could have done with a touch less of the violent details, but overall this is a good read.

Great book

This was a very very good book!
I hated when it was over. The narrator was the best I have heard. I’m already looking for more books that he narrates.

different kind of book for me

First time author for me. Listening to a book set in rural Virginia where there is both a black and a white society, fast cars, gear heads is not the type of book I would seek out for a listen. In fact the title, 'Blacktop Wasteland' isn't the kind of book I would normally gravitate to. But the book struck a certain cord with me and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The protagonist in the story is torn between two lives, being a good husband, father, and provider versus the man who is a driver in crimes of all kinds where violence is second nature to it and he likes this second lifestyle and is good at it. The book talks about how a person can't be two beasts, two diferent kinds of people, the person has to choose and that's a theme I've thought about on and off during my life, maybe that was the attraction.

A different kind of book for me but it was good one.

Loved it

Loved the excitement and character development in the story. Recommend it highly. Many twists and turns and moments of anxiety.