Last year I read Cosby's RAZORBLADE TEARS which I thought was a very exceptional fast-paced and gritty novel. After reading Tears, I was anxious to read more by him. Well, I finally got around to his earlier book, BLACKTOP WASTELAND, and I have to say that I enjoyed it even more than Razorblade Tears. This was a really superb noir caper novel that reminded me of some of the best of Donald Westlake and Lawrence Block. The protagonist of the story is Beauregard "Bug" Montage who is a fast driver and mechanic and who is also trying to make do for his family. But he is being squeezed out of business by a larger auto mechanic shop, has bills to pay, and against his better judgement, he decides to get involved in a diamond heist to make ends meet. The Montages have a family history of violence that Beauregard doesn't want to pass on to his children but he is desperate. Well, the heist seemed like a good plan but the person who presented it to Bug is less than reliable and of course the whole plan ends up going sideways and eventually Bug and his family are put in grave danger.
This was really an action-packed novel showing the grimy underworld of the rural South. It was also a great character study of a black man trying to be a loving father but who has his past and his father's past weighing him down. I enjoyed this one a lot and look forward to reading more by Cosby.
This was really an action-packed novel showing the grimy underworld of the rural South. It was also a great character study of a black man trying to be a loving father but who has his past and his father's past weighing him down. I enjoyed this one a lot and look forward to reading more by Cosby.
