Blacktop Wasteland | S.A. Cosby

This episode of Books for Men features Blacktop Wasteland by S.A. Cosby. A thriller slash noir novel set in the Deep South about a reformed family man who gets pulled back into his old ways for one last heist. Just a superbly executed story, really. Listen for more!

Listen to the episode:

*Subscribe to The Books for Men Newsletter, a monthly round-up of the episodes w/ links, full book and author info, all the best quotes, and newsletter-only book recommendations!

READ THE TRANSCRIPT:

Welcome back to Books for Men, a podcast to inspire more men to read and bring together men who do. So we're moving right along here in sticking with the trend. We are moving into a fiction book this week, and it's a damn good fiction book, one that has received plenty of acclaim. So this is not an out-of-the-box pick, so to speak. It's one that if you haven't been hiding under a rock, you might already have heard about. If not, then you should know about it, and that's why we're featuring it today. And so, the book is called Blacktop Wasteland and it's by S.A. Cosby. So let's just start right away with the title. It's such a sweet title, Blacktop Wasteland. It's so gritty and fitting for the novel itself, which I will dive into in a moment. I had to mention that just because I really do love the title of the book.

(01:04)

I also am holding the book right now. It's one of those books that just feels really good in your hands. It's the paperback version. It folds nicely. It's not stiff. It's hard to explain those kinds of quirky qualities of a book, but when you hold them, you know it. And this book definitely has that good feel. I should mention that this book is also a perfect length at 305 pages. I think that for books of this genre, which I will get into in a moment, anywhere from even as low as 250, 240 for me, or even two 200, some of the older novels, I love a shorter novel. But anytime you get to, I would say the 350 or higher range, you start getting into extraneous territory. And what I mean by that is the book, in my opinion, is more susceptible to losing the core of what makes it great.

(01:59)

And when a story is put together super well, it doesn't stray too far from the core of what's making it great. And if you go too much out onto the edges, you lose that essence, at least in my opinion and in my perspective. But that's not to say that there aren't examples of books that go well beyond 350 pages that are excellent stories put together in a terrific fashion. And just to reiterate, it's not that the books are not great books, it's that you're just way more susceptible to having filler inside of the book. And that's why I prefer a certain length. And the length then dictates the pace, and the pace dictates the readability. And when you get too extraneous and too much filler, it slows down the book. And especially for a book of the genre, which I'm going to talk about right now, I think that the 305 length is perfect, great, and will aid your reading experience.

(02:59)

Additionally, I'm always in the camp of leaving wanting more, not less. And so maybe that's another reason why I prefer something in a shorter range as opposed to feeling like you just ran a marathon, which some books can leave you, even if you're satisfied after that marathon, I think you're still more hesitant to want to go back for more. But again, this is just my opinion. So now moving forward, the genre. So the genre is, I think it's billed as a thriller. In this book, I'm looking at the dust jacket right now and it says “A fast-paced, bare-knuckle thriller.” Stephen King is the person who gave that. I don't know if I necessarily would classify it as a thriller through and through. I mean, it definitely has, I feel like. So thriller is kind of its own category. It's a massive category. I mean, they do very, very well.

(03:56)

There are a lot of different sub-genres of thrillers, and I always felt like it falls under even a sub-genre of crime. So crime has mystery and thriller, and again, these labels are kind of pointless, but at the same time, they are a good way to classify what you are reading. I think the easiest way to peg a thriller is when the crime actually happened. So is the story told with suspense and dread and fear of the eventual crime, or did the crime already happen? And now we're trying to uncover the mystery behind it. And so sometimes books obviously combine both. And this one I think does do that. But what really gives a thriller, its thriller quality, at least to me, is that edge-of-your-seat suspense, that page-turning quality. And typically the books are cut really, really well together that do this.

(04:54)

Some are for me, more pure thrillers. I'd say look at a Lee Child book or something of that nature. Those are thriller thrillers. This book combines other elements, and that's what I think makes it so great. And even essay Cosby has kind of dawned a new style of book, which is always a good thing, and a feather in your cap, right, in that it's Southern noir. So what is noir? Noir really is a genre of crime that has elements of cynicism and moral ambiguity and often contains sometimes like amateur sleuths or something of that nature. And an amateur sleuth is basically just someone aside from a detective or a police officer or someone of that nature who's actually trying to get to the bottom of the crime or who's the protagonist in this story. And oftentimes they are an anti-hero, right? So there's a lot of moral ambiguity and there's a lot of edgy behaviors and actions by this protagonist, and you're not too sure on whether you like 'em or you don't like 'em.

(05:59)

But at the end of the day, most of the time they're just complex. And so I actually really love anything that's noir based. This book definitely is. And what makes it a Southern noir is that it takes place in the southern part of the United States. So it combines all of these elements to make it what it is, and it's unique. And Cosby is kind of the person who's spearheading the genre, so to speak. It's a subgenre of a genre, and this is always a really good place to be if you're a writer or an artist of any kind, which is spearheading your own little subgenre. And this book combines all of the above that I had mentioned. So it's a mystery, it's a noir, it's a thriller. It's got all of that. But what really makes it great to me is the story. The story is so well put together.

(06:50)

Great stories are puzzles, and this one fits together extremely, extremely well. Sometimes you read a book that just feels like the author is pulling stuff out of thin air and making things happen just to make it exciting, and they don't actually fall in line to what's believable, especially for the story that you've already designed. So if you design the parameters and the rules of how this story is going to go, and then all of a sudden you break them, it's unsettling. And sometimes you could, that could happen even in a book that's super well written, at least in my opinion, this book fits together extremely well. Things that happen, happen for a reason. Everything gets pulled together in a way that's very, very satisfying for the reader. And just to tie this up, when I say satisfying for the reader, I don't necessarily mean that it's going to end exactly how you want it to or that is a happily ever after, I should say, but it, it's satisfying in a way that makes sense given the story that you just read.

(07:49)

And I think that that's really just a wonderful quality for a book for many reasons. But anyway, I have made it this long and I haven't told you anything about the story. So what is it? So, the story is about a man named Beauregard, and Beauregard is a man who just can't seem to escape the life, and the life is, of course, referencing a life of crime or something of that nature, and it was handed down to him via his father. So you learn a lot about the father-son relationship throughout this, which is an essential part. Bureau Guard is a getaway driver, or he was the best getaway driver in all of Mississippi, and he's trying to live the straightened arrow with his wife and children now, and he gets pulled back into this whole world, this underbelly in the Deep South because of some dire circumstances.

(08:44)

Then I'm not going to get into it too much because I don't want to ruin the book for you, but you should know that Cosby does an amazing, amazing job of really making feel for this protagonist and making you understand just how deep this runs in Beauregard, both his desire to get back into the driver's seat, his desire to protect his family, his desire to stay away from the life, and that's where that beautiful word comes up again in juxtaposition because he simultaneously wants two things at once, and we all know that you can't have two things at once. Something's got to give in the end. I think you're really rooting for Beauregard, and I think that's what makes this novel really fun to read and really exciting to read. I think you'll really enjoy it. And again, I'm not in the minority here.

(09:42)

I mean, this book has received a lot of critical acclaim, and for good reason because it is superbly done. One of the interesting things that I didn't know at the beginning or during this episode is that I'm actually reading his follow-up to this book right now called Razor Blade Tears, and it's a different story, but stylistically it's, it's very similar. And so it was, it's kind of weird to talk about this book and not get it confused with the book that I am reading, but I was reminded of Blacktop Wasteland recently because I had given it to my father to read, and he sent me a text message shortly after he finished that just simply said, “Hey, Doug, thanks for the recommendation. That book was great.” And with an exclamation mark. So now you also have my dad's nod of the cap that this is indeed a great book.

(10:31)

So thanks Dad, for adding to this episode of Books for Men if you're listening to this. All right, so I think we've shared enough about the book. I will say lastly that if you like writing that is hard, that is gritty, that is witty as well, then you will really, really like this book. I've heard people compare S.A. Cosby to Elmore Leonard. I'm not really crazy about that comparison. I think people probably are reaching a little bit there. I think stylistically they might be a little bit different, but that's just my opinion. What's important is that the comparison is made, and Elmore Leonard is an all-time great. So again, another great camp to be in if you're S.A. Cosby, and rightfully and deservedly so, because this book is great, not only in its story but in its execution and a lot of the themes that it covers, right?

(11:25)

In dead-end poverty, Southern culture, race, father-son relationships, and familial relationships in general. And last but not least, muscle cars. If you're a muscle car person, you're probably going to really love this because that is a great little sub-theme that runs through this book, given the nature of Beauregard's profession as both a mechanic and a getaway driver. All right, that's all I've got. I want to thank you for listening to this week's episode. As always, please, please, please continue to support the initiative, which is to inspire more men to read and bring together men who do. Probably the best way that you could do that is by sharing the podcast with friends, family, or anyone that you think would enjoy it. Word of mouth is everything when it comes to getting something out there and getting exposure for anything at all, really. So I really hope that you could continue to support and thank you. If you have been already, of course, you could leave a review or you could rate the podcast on whatever platform that you listen to it on. And lastly, just a reminder, you could visit BooksforMen.org where you could sign up for the newsletter, which is a monthly roundup of all the books and authors that you hear on the podcast.