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Bug Montage lives a straight life in the rural South. Formerly a getaway driver, the mechanic is now a dedicated father and husband who is worlds away from his criminal past. But when the bills won’t stop piling up and his mother faces eviction, Bug decides he’ll sign on for one last job with a payday big enough to solve all his problems. Rife with racial tension, Blacktop Wasteland explores the psychological side of crime and how generational trauma can keep a man trapped in its violent grip. Within his 2020 breakout novel, Cosby examines the internal war that Bug is fighting while offering a critique of toxic masculinity. His ability to tackle the sinister history of the American South is what sets him apart. A Los Angeles Times Book Prize winner, Blacktop Wasteland takes readers along for a nonstop, action-packed, full-throttle ride from its very first pages. —Meg Zukin

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