GUARDIAN BEST CRIME AND THRILLERS OF 2020
LA TIMES BOOK PRIZE WINNER 2020
‘BLACKTOP WASTELAND may be the book of the year.’ – MICHAEL CONNELLY
‘Sensationally good’ – LEE CHILD
‘I loved BLACKTOP WASTELAND’ – STEPHEN KING
‘Stunning. Can’t remember the last time I read such a powerful crime novel’ – MARK BILLINGHAM
“Bug” Montage: honest mechanic, loving family man. He’s no longer the criminal he was – the sharpest wheelman east of the Mississippi.
But when his respectable life crumbles, a shady associate comes calling with a one-time job promising a huge payout. Inexorably drawn to the driver’s seat – and haunted by the ghost of his outlaw father – Bug is yanked back into a savage world of bullets and betrayal. Like Breaking Bad in a high-speed collision with Drive, this dazzling novel holds up a cracked mirror to the American Dream – and tells the story of one man pushed to his limits by poverty, race and a self-destructive masculinity.
‘Every once in a while a writer comes along with an incredible voice … add S. A. Cosby to that list.’ -STEVE CAVANAGH
‘An urgent, timely, pitch-perfect jolt of American noir’ – DENNIS LEHANE
‘A superb character study wrapped up in a high-octane heist novel’ – Guardian
‘The action sequences are superb, the dialogue wouldn’t shame Elmore Leonard, and Bug’s experiences recall Walter Mosley at his most powerful … fantastic’ – Sunday Times
‘Spectacular … a voice as stark and distinctive as Elmore Leonard’s, and a humanity that touches the soul.’ – Daily Mail
‘A delicious slice of country gothic wrapped in smart, hard, contemporary neo noir.’ – ADRIAN McKINTY
‘The book will leave you breathless, but also desperate to know where Cosby will take us next.’ – LAURA LIPPMAN
‘S. A. Cosby reinvents the American crime novel. Blacktop Wasteland thrums and races – it’s an intoxicating thrill of a ride’. – WALTER MOSLEY