Mathews native Shawn Cosby has released his second novel, “Blacktop Wasteland,” a hard-hitting tale of crime and redemption that’s being praised by reviewers for its perspective on the black experience in the rural south.
Published by the MacMillan subsidiary Flatiron Books, “Blacktop Wasteland” tells the story of Beauregard “Bug” Montage, an auto mechanic and devoted family man who supports his wife and children on the income from his small repair shop in Red Hill County, Virginia—a town whose ethos is drawn from various parts of Mathews, Gloucester and Middlesex counties.
Bug’s business is struggling because of a new shop in town, and he’s worried about paying his mother’s nursing home bill, buying braces for one child, sending another to college. So, when a former associate he dealt with in his past life as a getaway driver for bank robbers presents him with one more job, Bug hopes it will be a way to solve all his problems.
Cosby said in writing the book he wanted to explore what i...