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A review by meresilenth
Brokedown Prophets by S.A. Cosby
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.0
This isn’t the rating I expected to give this book. I have really liked (sometimes adored) everything else I’ve read by Cosby, four books, and so I came in with high hopes. I discovered Cosby with Blacktop Wasteland and enjoy his writing style. He’s a masterful wordsmith able to invoke emotion, and make characters who are vastly different from myself relatable.
If this book will be your first exposure to Cosby; STOP, don’t pass go, and start with a different book. Everything that is beautiful about his other books is lacking in this one. Here’s my favorite quote from Blacktop Wasteland, I emphatically urge others to try that instead.
“Talk didn’t mean anything. Talk didn’t drive the car. Talk was just noise. He had one thousand dollars in his pocket. It was all the profits from the last two weeks at the garage, after most of the bills had been paid. He was $800 short on the rent for the building that housed his business. It had come down to a choice between the rent or glasses for his youngest, which wasn’t really a choice at all. So he had reached out to his cousin Calvin and asked him to find out where the nearest street race was being held. Calvin still knew some guys who knew some guys who knew where the money races could be found. … He needed someone who would look at the duster and see an easy payday, look it’s stripped down exterior and assume it was a pushover. … From here to the oak tree that’s split down the middle. … They took off for the split tree a quarter mile down the road, Beauregard hadn’t seen any other driver since they arrived. Most people avoided this stretch and used the four lane highway that snaked its way from the interstate up through shepherds corner proper. Progress had left this part of town behind. It was abandoned just like the store. A blacktop wasteland haunted by the phantoms of the past. … the engine sounded like a pride of lions … the secret ain’t about the motor, that’s part of it, the real thing - the thing most people don’t want to talk about is how you drive. If you drive like you scared you gonna lose.
If this book will be your first exposure to Cosby; STOP, don’t pass go, and start with a different book. Everything that is beautiful about his other books is lacking in this one. Here’s my favorite quote from Blacktop Wasteland, I emphatically urge others to try that instead.
“Talk didn’t mean anything. Talk didn’t drive the car. Talk was just noise. He had one thousand dollars in his pocket. It was all the profits from the last two weeks at the garage, after most of the bills had been paid. He was $800 short on the rent for the building that housed his business. It had come down to a choice between the rent or glasses for his youngest, which wasn’t really a choice at all. So he had reached out to his cousin Calvin and asked him to find out where the nearest street race was being held. Calvin still knew some guys who knew some guys who knew where the money races could be found. … He needed someone who would look at the duster and see an easy payday, look it’s stripped down exterior and assume it was a pushover. … From here to the oak tree that’s split down the middle. … They took off for the split tree a quarter mile down the road, Beauregard hadn’t seen any other driver since they arrived. Most people avoided this stretch and used the four lane highway that snaked its way from the interstate up through shepherds corner proper. Progress had left this part of town behind. It was abandoned just like the store. A blacktop wasteland haunted by the phantoms of the past. … the engine sounded like a pride of lions … the secret ain’t about the motor, that’s part of it, the real thing - the thing most people don’t want to talk about is how you drive. If you drive like you scared you gonna lose.
… you don’t want to have to rebuild the whole engine, you gonna lose …
You gotta drive like don’t nothin’ else matter ‘except gettin’ to that line. Drive like you fucking stole it.
Beauregard heard his daddy’s voice every time he drove the Duster. Sometimes he heard it when he was driving for crews. In those moments it offered him bitter pearls of wisdom, nonsensical chatter that reminded him not to end up like his daddy, a ghost without a grave.”